Okay, so, I've been thikin about this player/gear situation. I came up witha couple of solutions, that some people on vent liked(not naming names).
1.) One giant quest chain, awarding 5 badges each(not the frost ones, maybe valor or conquest), repeatable, like 100 parts, sends you allllll around the worlds. It would be a talkto quest chain, basically. :p just to give players a chance, maybe a better chance ingame
2.) Also, take away the ext cost on the valor/conquest/heroism gear, make it easier to get players gear, then they can work for higher up gear