@tricky: well 5-10 levels a year shouldn't be too much. not to mention going from one level to the next would be a pain in the ass already.
bc won't last forever, and going 5 levels a year wouldn't hit to the max level possible coding wise anytime soon lol
but balancing ya would be an issue. screw whole sets, just certain items that give slightly higher bonuses than current items (i.e e.f's, flags, etc.)