I think that would be a mess--it would only encourage more useless posts by people trying to reach the next level. Why reward spammers? I've been here longer than just about everyone, but under your system I would only be a "Junior Member." I think it's best to leave it as it is.
neither, just because you have been here longer doesn't mean you deserve respect as you could just be a promo lurker(such as a few people I know), same goes for the number of posts.
+1 it should be based on the total number of hours someone has logged on TA instead of the post count
interesting, no wonder i've never heard of them...no locations in my state...only in the NE apparently