Hi! Just achieved Contributor rank today.. thanks everyone for supporting me all this way!
I'm suggesting, that if you have achieved certain usergroups, that you are able to retain these features no matter what rank you decide to have.
e.g. I am on Contributor rank right now. Previously, I was a VIP and I had 2 name changes a month as well as 5000 message storage. Now that I have chosen Contributor as my usergroup, I have been limited to just 1 username change / 90 days and 1000 message storage. I feel that it would be extremely convenient if regardless of the rank you have chosen, you retain features and permissions of the highest rank you have purchased/obtained.
This would mean that regardless of if I choose VIP or Contributor as my usergroup, I still have that 5000 message storage, access to VIP forums, +2/-1 likes, and ability to change username twice / month. This would also apply to Nova, Aqua etc., assuming I have bought those ranks.