Randy, as one of the newest "Junior Members" on the block I am more than glad to
provide (I feel) some impartial input. I haven't had the chance or pleasure to meet or bond with any of the fine persons of FlyerTalk whether they are regular contributors, staff members or silent observers--all equally important components for this type of successful forum.

I would suggest retaining "member levels" using different criteria than the sheer number of postings. It has been helpful to me, though not imperative, to be have at least some idea of a person's level of expertise or involvement with frequent flying when perusing and contributing to the boards. With that in mind, I propose the following ideas.

Plan I
Simply stated, our FlyerTalk level of membership would be listed as the highest level of any one (or more???) of our current Frequent Flyer programs. Give it your best shot! For example: CO GOLD, UA PREMIER, HP PLATINUM, etc. This could be accomplished
during the initial sign-up through a well formatted yet simple check list allowing changes like any others as they become necessary. This type of membership status is earned the old fashioned way, we've had to fly for it!!! Randy, if you need tiers, please see my example in Plan II.

Plan II
Rather than reinventing the wheel or having to get our scales or dictionaries out to
determine which is more valuable, let's stay with terms we are ALL familiar with:
Platinum, Gold, and Silver levels and add Titanium at the top and Bronze at the bottom
for some flexibility. Nothing new to learn! And Randy, if you need more than five levels for whatever wonderful things you have up your sleeve in the months and years ahead, you could add I, II, III, IV etc. to each of these five metals. Unlike your tier suggestion, the difference being, the higher the number, the higher the status, thus giving you unlimited growth potential within each metal!!! Upward mobility, as it were. Under this plan, I would suggest that current members and junior members be grandfathered in at the
(yet to be determined) appropriate member levels. Also, length of membership or
Frequent Flyer program experiences be factored in somehow in determining member level rather than just a simple count of postings.

Randy, I submit these ideas based on the limited knowledge of not completely knowing
what you have in mind. Take them with a grain of salt and a million miles!