Here is my quick reply:
Check the updates spread around the site... they help. May sound hostile here but lots of this stuff that we have done is in the public domain and if you want to see it as just "PR talk" then its just your view in the end. Overhauls have been and gone for pretty much all the factions with lots of work has been done.
Civil Protection has gone through a massive reform with the introduction of new protocols, overhaul of Dispatch-CP interactions, changes to how citizens and CPs interact (If you read the guide, you will actually find that Cps are 'nicer' to civs than before, even being allowed to be a bit generous towards them), divisions and ranks added, contraband is being slightly updated again... and no you do not get killed over it like the other post I saw earlier claims, etc...
CCA has been through its rework with DOP gone, CWU separated, BOI updated to make sure it functions as it is supposed to this time, not its previous failure which was due to 2 members deciding to attack their own forces among some other changes you can find on their updates. The conformist system by the way... is not a grind... all you need to do for t1 to t3 is the old point system, beyond that, the rest of the tiers is pretty much RP your way up. It is not that hard to advance and doesn't take long either. It only takes 1-2 weeks for some people to reach T4 to T5 rankings.
Rebels have their own updates with them being given more dangers to work around, being given the smuggling system and hidden stashes and the map changed to make sure they do not all stay or sit in a single area. It is pretty much sorted.
OTA had its reforms, mostly minor ones since it didn't have many issues apart from being on too often and in plain public view, to which they have been given new models, Ordinal rank, charger and suppressor, new weapons, balances to their skills, change in how to handle escorting, guarding, etc. And so on. They will mostly only show up during Code red now.
Ah, a new post to respond to:
Which should still be removed, namely a division system and all non-command ranks. : )
Specialisations... that is what they are. Default, Defending or Assault specialization for CPs who want to head down that route. Just a quality of life thing more than anything else. Already explained this many times before though in discord DMs. Ranks also most likely staying because it keeps things organised which has already been explained to you many times before, if you want to keep ignoring what we tell you, go ahead. But anyway, ranks keep new members in a position to continue learning with limited privileges and the better they do and improve overtime, the higher up the ranks they go. New members should never be placed in the same rank as someone who has knows the faction inside out, that is my view and in all past instances I know of 2010 all the way to the modern-day, the system works.
A fucking gestapo faction which was generally considered anti-RP early in the first server iteration. Not to mention being a concept that just begs for edgelords to shoot for it.
They have been changed massively since that point. Just wait for the server to see how they are now.
Oh, and the Core Administration, which holds actual administrative power and the ability to act as a vehicle for change, is completely dominated by community staff/staff held positions. Please change that. Somehow.
CCA management is currently made up of 3 staff, 2 players. It is not completely dominated by staff since the majority of CCA members outside of its management is players. And completely would infer that staff fill pretty much all slots... which they do not otherwise it would be 5 staff playing as directors/city admins... to which is not the case. 1 of those staff members in management isn't actually part of CCA operations at all, just the faction oversight who needs to view all documents and channels relating to it all.
So it is split between the 2 and not staff dominant.