Tiercide: the removal of tiers. There should only be 2 dropsuit tiers, MLT for testing things out without needing skills, and STD for when you have the skills to use the dropsuit.

There are many threads on the subject, this and this, but I thought I should make one specifically about how it should be handled. gbghg's thread covered why it needs to happen, and this thread is mostly about how to implement it, but basically here is why it needs to happen in case you don't want to read a bunch of paragraphs:

Tiers create imbalance in PVP, and there are no options besides PVP for new players to engage in until they can compete. This means players with less SP have an unreasonably massive disadvantage, and no other option besides getting stomped by vets for months to catch up. Some people might say something stupid like "New Eden isn't fair, HTFU", but this hurts player retention, and ultimately hurts the game's longevity; even EVE got rid of the tiers on the ships, and chose to go with just specializations.

Tiers also lead to many items becoming obsolete once a higher tier version is unlocked.

Removing tiers would make the game much more fun since there will no longer be such a massive difference in HP between players using the same suit type, so basically everyone will have a chance to be effective, and do well without having to worry about massive advantages and disadvantages ruining their fun.

[What should be tiercided & what should not]:
Dropsuits and ONLY dropsuits should be tiercided. Weapons, equipment, and modules should remain tiered; this is because low tier weapons, equipment, and modules still have a purpose as low PG/CPU costing alternatives which can be useful in making a fitting. Low tier dropsuits however have no such advantage when creating a fit.

[MLT basic frame dropsuits and their skills]:
Militia tier needs to exist as a way to test things out without SP investment. Make militia gear equivalent to the current ADV basic frame dropsuits. They should retain the same ISK cost as MLT suits.

[STD basic frame droptuits]:
Standard basic frames should be the equivalent of the current PRO basic frames. Should cost the same as the current STD suits.
The operation skills for basic frames need to give some kind of bonus to justify having 5 levels since specializations are unlocked at level 3. This bonus should also apply to all dropsuit specialization in that racial frame size.

[Specializations]:
Some of you may be thinking "without tiers, why would I spend SP on dropsuits?", the answer is to unlock specializations, and skill bonuses. Specializations should be a bit more expensive than the basic frame counterparts, but not by much since they aren't meant to be better, just more specialized at one particular area. Tiercided specialized suits (like assault or logistics) should be equivalent to the current PRO specialized suits.

[Monetization]:

Specialized suits with no skill requirements could still be sold. Having more specializations (at least 3 per frame size) would lead to a lot of dropsuits CCP could have for sell.

Certain AUR suits could have skill-bonuses of that specialization built in and maxed out to incentivize spending AUR. Don't want to max out Amarr assault skill, but want to be better with lasers? buy some AUR Amarr assaults.

This is basically how I would want tierside to be handled. Only dropsuits should be effected, MLT will basically be ADV, STD should be PRO level, no more ADV and PRO dropsuits. Basic frame skills should give some kind of bonus, and there should be more specializations.