I still don't understand this, at all, personally. Sanction is just another form of Signet in FFXI, under certain conditions, with signet, gear could be much better and replace things much better. (To me, most of the sanction gear is on par with the good Nation gear anyway.)

You have a ranking system in this game, just like FFXI. Why not make Sanction last based on the rank of the person getting it, and through death? Reward people for actually being able to get/use the items in the first place. Granted, ranking up isn't all that hard, but I'm sure they're going to add more ranks later. Right now I'd put the rank at the equivalent of rank 5 in FFXI, make it last a few hours, and improve it later.