Rank & the Weekly Respect Taper

Respect is your lifetime score, and there is exactly one thing in the game that takes it away from you: being killed. Short of that it only ever goes up, and rank climbs with it. Die and you drop a rank, with enough Respect going with it that the demotion sticks — you cannot simply commit one more crime and be straight back where you were. Ten ranks span the ladder, from Associate (0 Respect) up through Untouchable at 7,000, with the early ranks landing fast (the first five inside a couple of days of committed play) and the back half stretching out across a full season.

The weekly taper

Past 1,200 Respect earned in a single calendar week (Monday-anchored, not a rolling 24 hours), you keep earning — just slower: the next 1,200 comes in at half rate, and everything beyond that at a quarter rate. This applies in one place, covering every source of Respect at once (crimes, PvP, heists, territory, contracts, drug runs), so there's no untapped source to rotate to once you hit it. It's shown on your Profile page on purpose — a visible limit is a rule you can plan around, not a hidden nerf.

What the taper doesn't touch

Cash, gear, loot, skill proficiency — everything else — pays full rate forever, no matter how much you've played that week. The taper exists purely to keep rank a calendar-paced climb instead of a pure grinding contest; it doesn't slow down getting rich or dangerous.

Rank has real costs too

A higher rank isn't just a status — bail and jail sentences both get a rank surcharge (see Jail, Bail, Bribes & Breaking Out), so climbing the ladder means paying more for the same offense. It's a deliberate soft catch-up lever for everyone below you.