You have me intrigued about this bolded part. What exactly are you referring to here?

The "core idea of the game," as I understand it, is for a first person shooter MMO, where the emphasis is on character skill customization and having a real impact on a virtual universe through the shooter mechanics.

How would you change the current implementation? Why does it need a rewrite? I don't know if a rewrite is required or not.

I think there are a few key issues that need to be addressed, and I think they could solve the core idea of the game/implementation problem if done right:

Since there is a widening gap between new players and vets--linked to sp/gear/isk/general skill--there needs, then, to be areas of gameplay that become accessible when certain metrics are achieved. Areas of gameplay that offer more risk/higher reward-style--say, these "front line" areas would have the most impact to the Eve Universe but be the most dangerous, cost the most to maintain, and really "require" proto gear. So anyone could join (high risk/high reward) but the environment is less forgiving because of the proto gear death squads that the reward isn't worth it. (Think of current pub matches from the new players prospective.) There also needs to be some implementation of PVE so that players can play and enjoy Dust without having to be subjected to public matches as the only outlet. Hark back to the early days of Eve, CCP. Give us some "mining" to do to preoccupy our time. Let Dust become real, too. A strong--or hell, just any--pve environment gets people familiar with the controls and lets them have some action in the game as well. It doesn't have to be "perfect" now, it just needs to be.

"But this is EVE! It's a sandbox! The smallest frig can have an impact on day 1 against the biggest battleship!!" And while I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment as it relates to Eve, that same logic cannot be applied here. "The smallest frig" in this case is a new player in militia gear and the "biggest battleship" is a proto gear vet. But the new player, outside actual fps skill differences, cannot have such a major impact when he's getting stomped repeatedly by what is essentially a player that's in better gear, stronger weapons with better optimals, rates of fire, tank amounts, etc. So, unlike Eve, as gear improves here, the Merc actually gets stronger. It's not a class vs. class thing. It's not a paper, rock, scissors thing. Everyone is using rock, but some people have bigger rocks that go farther and hit harder. David and Goliath doesn't work here, since proto vets don't have an Achilles heel.