In the X-Universe your skill and relation to races is measured in ranks. Player ranks have effects on the game difficulty and the magnitude of monetary rewards for missions.
Player Ranks
Fight Rank
Increased by killing stuff. Each Ship class has a value of points given if killed In general the bigger and tougher the ship killed is the more points towards this rank you get. Ships killed by player owned ships out of sector give a reduced number of points. Affects the rate and number of NPC ships spawned as well as the amount of equipment and owned ships belonging to patrols and carriers. Affects the ships spawned for combat missions in combination with the class of player piloted ship and player owned ships in sector. Keeping this ranking low makes the boarding of some capital ships easier (eg. Valhalla). The second to final mission of the Shady Business plot requires the destruction of a total of 50 capital ships which will give a high fight rank if done by a player piloted ship.
X-Treme
Hero
Legend
Overlord
Conqueror
Battlemaster
Crusader
Warlord
Vindicator
Assassin
Warrior (large boost to spawn rate of NPC ships)(Xenon start frequent attacks from Xenon Sector 472)
Militant
Master Chief
Fighter Chief (corvettes start to spawn for combat missions and for pirate patrols)
Specialist
Instructor
Professional (starts the Operation Loose Ends mission)
Eagle Eye
Sharpshooter
Marksman
Veteran
Fighter
Skilled
Graduate
Competent
Trainee
Rookie
Novice
Greenhorn
Nuisance
Harmless (single M5 spawns as an opponent for combat missions)(Xenon activity???)
Trade Rank
Increased by buying and selling wares and stocks at values favourable in comparison to the average. Credits earned from missions do not count to this rank. The sale of wares at equipment docks and trading stations do not count (even if highly profitable) as the sales price is always average. The rank increases on the number of transactions and the magnitude of difference from the average price and not the profit or total credits made. This means buying and selling energy cells one at a time from cheap to expensive sources is a good way to boost this rank early on. This rank affects the amount of credits offered by missions and what ship classes can be found by return ship/return abandoned ship/return stolen ship missions.
X-Treme
Pan-Galactic Tycoon (missions offer 130,000-25,000,000 credits)
Tycoon
Super Magnate
Magnate
Mogul
Capitalist
Master Industrialist
Industrialist
Manufacturer
Master Economist
Economist
Master Broker
Broker
Financier
Petty Financier
Wholesaler
Merchant
Retailer
Petty Retailer
Entrepreneur
Master Dealer
Dealer
Trader
Apprentice Trader
Vendor
Petty vendor
Hawker
Profiteer
Journeyman
Opportunist (missions offer 1,200-8,000 credits)
Race Ranks
The race rank you have represents how much the faction loves or hates you and affects the prices at which they are willing to sell/buy ships, if you are allowed to purchase certain factories and ships, which stations you can dock at or if they want to shoot you out of the sky. Race ranks go from -5 to +10 and is based on a point system dependent on trade, missions and kills.
...
+3: 100-332 (can purchase TS small transports, M4 interceptors and M5 scouts)
+2: 33-99
+1: 10-32
+0: -10-9 (can dock at all race owned stations)
...
-5: -1,000,000-(-100,001) (reputation gained by missions will not affect the rank and only the blood of enemies of the race can dig the player out of this hole)
Argon
+10: Hero of the Federation
+9: Protector of the Federation
+8: Federation Overwatch
+7: Federation Marshall
+6: Federation Guardian
+5: Trusted Ally
+4: Accepted Advisor
+3: Confirmed Friend
+2: Federation Associate
+1: Federation Member
0: Citizen
-1: Suspected Foe
-2: Known antagonist (boarding a Colossus Hauler can bring the player from +10 to this if done wrong)
-3: Confirmed Insurgent
-4: Confirmed enemy
-5: Enemy of the Federation (Terran starting scenarios begin with this)
ATF
Boron
Goner
Paranid
Split
Teladi
Terran
Atreus
Duke's
Jonferco
NMMC
OTAS
Plutarch
Strongarms
Terracorp
Industritech
+10: Absolute Monopoly (stop getting Corporation Troubles random missions)
+9: Top 3 Most Valuable Corporation
+8: Top 10 Most Valuable Corporation
+7: Brand Leader
+6: Strong Competitor
+5: Trusted Bank Client
+4: Customer Favourite
+3: Profit Orientated
+2: Operating in the Black
+1: First Positive Steps (payout value at the end of the Corporation Troubles plot starts increasing over time)
0: Break Even (payout value at the end of the Corporation Troubles plot stops reducing over time)
-1: Operating in the Red
-2: Increasing Debts
-3: Losing Contracts
-4: Insolvent
-5: Bankrupt (liquidity of the corporation slowly drops over time)