I agree. Would give basic frames a purpose, in 1.8 we will have 36 standard-prototype basic frames; way too many suits in the game to have be completely useless. I say they are useless because for the most part they are inferior versions of the specialized suits (like assaults, logis, sentinels, etc), and they can't even be used as a way to save money since they're oddly more expensive (this is reversed for vehicles, specialized vehicles like assault dropsips cost more than the basic ones); there is just no reason to use a basic frame when you have unlock the specialization. We should never have 36 items that are worthless.

I generally agree about making the basic frames a generalized middle-ground between the specializations, it would make the specializations truly specialized by comparison instead of just being basic frames with bonuses slapped on with some few minor changes (current assaults, sentinels, scouts). It would also give players the ability to test-drive roles before specializing, right now you can test out the assault role with a basic medium, or a sentinel role with a basic heavy, etc, but you can't test a commando or logi role with their parent basic frame; the current set up is bad for testing roles.

I generally agree giving the basic heavy an equipment slot should happen, but it needs to take substantial losses as a tradeoff given how big and advantage an equipment is.