This right here. I don't know how the new devs might go about it but an option would be nice. I honestly don't see it happening right now but it would be nice. I just really enjoyed that about SGs back in the day. Plus i could see where i stack up vs other people in the super group. Hell maybe they come up with whole new reasons to earn it. Not sure what, but something.
As for the being hard to build a base with everything unlocked. I find that hard because i cant narrow down what i want when there's so many things to choose from. But that's probably just me, a blank canvas was never my friend.