I'm a little confused about how the experience paid for Background Packages works.
On page 26 of the IH, it states that "Any adjustments to your character by selecting a Background Package do not count as an Advance for the purpose of increasing your rank, nor do increases or reductions count towards the improvement of your Characteristics through normal means."
Strictly read, this means that the experience spent on the package also does not count towards increasing your rank. So, if you take the Void Commercia background, you deduct 200 xp from your starting XP. Then you spend your other 200. At the end of the session, you gain 200 xp and spend it. However, you are still Rank 1, because the 200 xp spent on the package doesn't count.
Is this correct? I'm confused, mostly because that line could also be read as simply clarifying that the skills, talents and characteristic improvements gained from the package do not count towards increasing your rank. Ie, a Void Commercia character does not start at Rank 2, even though the gain roughly 800 xp worth of skills from the package.
Is there an accepted way of interpreting this?