Well that's to be expected though, the game is still in it's very early stages- but I think for the better of the game's future, gear related bonuses and Defense shouldn't increase a great deal, or even be crazy enough to say that gears should only require pLv 50 to use, with no exception, meaning that the player has the ability to grind up to 50 by shifting gear for higher values, but at 50 they have to actually start playing with several options that work for them, which shouldn't be numerical alone. Such a thing is probably a bit of a pipe dream though.