Thought of this idea as a 3rd option for the infinite or finite leveling system. Considering a max lvl of 80 for example.
- After reaching lvl 80 the player starts leveling their rank.
- Ranks go from 1-10 and take a long time to level (like D2’s 90+ levels).
- Ranks must be accepted, you don’t get them automatically.
- Ranks don’t make your character stronger, but give you an amount of magic find and maybe a cosmetic reward(cool for seasons).
- Ranks don’t affect item levels, so you can max out your gear at lvl 80 with no ranks.
- Enemies get slightly stronger with each rank you accept.
- Dying causes you to go down a rank.
- You don’t get rank XP while in a group with people of a lower rank (so that people don’t abuse scaling by using others in lower difficulties)
Objectives with this system are giving an additional progression/challenge post max level and trying to make it able to fluctuate so that it isn’t a completely fixed end.
Another objective is making enemies stronger, but more rewarding, without directly improving the player strength (differently from paragons) for those seeking a challenge.
Posted a sketch of this idea in a comment before but wanted to develop the idea.