Yes, there are already many more Sages than there have ever been and Maestros.

I guess so...but it gets more and more difficult to get to each level.

That may happen but I am not sure anyone will ever catch Firebrand or Kevin.

No, because people drop out or take long breaks from AB. And some just don't bag as much as others. There are people from 2005-2006 that aren't even half way to FB or Kevin. Each summer vacation brings in it's own brand new batch of members. There will always be new and old.

1) Here are the points that I can give now: "When you rate something, it's worth: ans ques Helpful Rating +6 +5 Not Helpful Rating -5 -5" I have Level 55 now and I think that I could already give +6 +5 as helpful rating since at least Level 49. Maybe the negative ratings have changed since then, but I don't use them. As I never received more than this, I think that people with higher Levels cannot give more points. Please tell me I you have another information. If this is true, that would mean that starting with about Level 49, all Levels are the same, as far as the points they can give are concerned. So practically, we would already all be on the same level, after Level 49. 2) The further Level would just look nicer and the greater amounts of points would just bring an higher ranking. Of course, some people like to compete for a better ranking. 3) I had for some time the idea that the Levels and maybe the points could stop after you reach Maestro. You would just be recognized as a "Great Answerbagger" and get a little more power than the newbies have. Since that time, new titles have appeared: Guru, Swami, and the first two ABers are already half the way to the next title. But actually, those are just points. And real life is something else.