Back to topic... the giving of 50 before the story only makes sense - why give out a storyline which no one can earn REP from? I don't need a new weapon or story without having some place to put the REP at
Will they raise the cap again? Not right away I don't think. The few who have grinded their way to 50 (legit or otherwise) before the next story are far and few - and those who did usually have more than a few mastered pirates which they can use to do a story with anyway (while parking their new 50 in a corner until the next cap increase).
My work has been so busy lately though - still haven't gotten out of Level 40 yet hehe