This is great! I have been looking forward to this for a long time, as must of us have I am sure. As Arma pointed out they plan to allow players to host servers, thus the player servers can be set up (or moded) to that owners specifications.
This is very exciting and I look forward to fighting along or against many of the posters of this board... >

)
I would suggest against levels, otherwise it becomes a WOW fest of who has more levels.
I will be looking for one of the player servers that supports/mods more "real" combat and preferably one that requires the players to register with the host. This should eliminate some of the worst cheaters and hasslers.
Will there be any possibility of wearing personal banners on your shield/coat?
This could be cool, but unfortunately this would cause shields with Homer Simpson or Metallica on it 
I think you can't rely on the player's responsibility to choose adequate banners... 
If there are player controlled servers with the ability to Mod, you could simply submit your banner to the Host for approval and then once approved use it on that server.
I predict that player controlled servers will be much better than public ones. Look at the quality Mods we have to choose from. I look forward to servers that are strict on who plays on them being the best servers to be on. It would be great to have our own team banners and play against other teams of mature professional players. Heck I just might make my own server to make sure there is at least one.