Prestige was nothing ever but frustrating to me. I found it worthless. I was never interested in base raids, especially since they made zero sense. When was the last time the Avengers raided the Baxter Building to steal something from the Fantastic Four? Stupid concept. So because of this meaningless grind, it took several years on Live (and a cost nerfing) to get the base I wanted.
Currently, have a max-sized base for most of my characters that I spent several hundred hours building to my heart's desire. I've made a few smaller bases since, and am currently working on another max-sized base made to look like a city. I've been back in CoH for less than a year. Prestige? Not interested in the slightest.