I think what the GM might need to look into is giving players as 72(3day) or 96hour(4day) delay on ranking whens a new nation is taken/bought.
When buying/taking a C3 would need atleast 3-4days would be suffient to get it up to par or to a level where it shouldnt cuase derankings to there level. Being at level 6 is where most want to be to get access to corps. Running 3-5 already established nations but then taking a C3 can greatly reduce players rankings. Drops employment, SS, FI index(if you war and blow up all the corps), Education, Health. These can cuase them to fall 10-20Points = the difference in leveling. I think that adding this "buffer" would keep players from falling and give them a chance to throw the corps they need into the new nation. As well as prevent them from overnight dropping level(s).
Sometimes it counts the nation next month sometimes it takes a few days. A Universal established time frame i think would help people a lot more. Also one more thing, ive heard from alot of people.
Gamemaster is there any chance of getting a level comparison for level rankings. When you click your game level it only shows, Current/Needed for level ____
Id like to suggest something like this
Current-----Needed for level ______ -----Needed for level 16
Alot of players want to get to the higher levels but sometimes wonder what all the requirements are and cant always constently check the docs. Plus a any player can click it and know to reach the highest levels ill have to have this, this, this. Nothing major but something to look into