IMO /near shouldn't be a thing on Factions. Just have it be disabled completely. It does not matter if it is obtainable for free or not. If players want to know who is nearby, they should have to look for them to figure out who it is etc.
/repair all is fine to keep a rank only thing as long as regular players have a relatively easy way to repair so that the repair all command simply becomes a convenience.
Players should not get a head start at SOTW no matter what rank they have.
The idea is to just keep the rank features as a convenience for those that have the ranks. If a rank gets it, non ranked players should be able to get it also especially if it is an important part of the gamemode.
This leads to two important points that those who are in charge of changes need to think about:
1. How important is that rank feature in regards to the gameplay?
2. Can new players get to that point relatively easily also? (If the feature is important, players need it to be easily obtainable)
For example, /fly is permanent for a rank on this server which is one of the most important perks in this gamemode particularly because factions rely on this feature to check for enemy cannon boxes in their buffer. If /fly is difficult to get, then it is likely that a new faction would not be happy. Also, do not go the route of making things difficult for everyone (i.e. something like removing the perk and making everyone grind that Kilton shop for the 60 minutes of /fly) Players do not want to have to worry about these sorts of things and would rather focus spending their time together in team fights at things like an outpost. If players really wanted to be sitting inside their bases all day, they may as well go play some survival or skyblock or prison. Most players want to spend their time with their faction doing activites and activities like hitting blazes all day in their base will make them essentially not want to play. Rather than possibly fun memories from things like team fights on the server, they will remember the server as that server that made them grind blazes all day... ZZZ... and first impressions of the server will certainly last a very long time.
This is why many servers offer things such as faction bundles that can get players up to speed with temporary ranks that only last a season. It does not provide their entire faction with temporary ranks, but they can get at least some of their members the important perks such as permanent /fly, so that they can buffer check. They also have ways for players to earn these perks in game temporarily for a season by having things like a cane shop where players can purchase vouchers that will give access to a certain perk until the season is over.
As long as the staff team considers those two questions fully, they should be able to plan out a balance for any of the ranks' features.
