never cared for prestiging. Would be cool if, like others said, they just make a lot of levels and a large journey to leveling up. You get all the guns. perks, attachments, and killstreaks quickly enough but some camos and etc can take longer.
I think of the journey to level 100 in gears of war 2 for this. How reaching final level there meant getting a golden shotgun for gears 3. (which everyone wanted)