The big thing that defines noobs from others in this game is the lack of knowledge, not a lack of avatar skills. When you have a decent level of understanding about how the game works, then you are no longer a noob. If you are still at a point where you have to ask about that, it means that you are still a noob (no offense) and that you still have learning to do.
I had a buddy that joined back in 2003 that ended up depositing a bunch to buy a full set of Eon and a Maddox IV + Dante (back then, amps always gave full damage on all weapons). Even with all that gear, I still never ceased considering him a noob because he never too the time to learn how things worked. Now days, skills can be bought and so can all the best equipment out there, skills and equipment mean nothing without knowledge.
As for ceremonies to cease being a noob - some of us have candidates run nude through a session of the UN in which CNN is reporting live. The candidate must manage to avoid capture and must also urinate on at least one world leader. Completion means not graduating to "mid-level", but to "uber"... so far, nobody has successfully completed the ceremony.