Does native have all the balance changes, equipment choices and custom builds of cRPG?
No.
But Native does have, basically, a freely respec-able STF with no character progression or rewards for long term play, and everything is obtainable in about 3 minutes.
Making cRPG more like Native is not a good idea.
I'd agree that some changes need to be made, but I'm not sure what.
I know when I first started playing cRPG, I got my ass kicked even harder than I do now, but I stuck with it because I knew it'd be awesome once I leveled up and got used to it.
It's one of the things that works well for the game too, in my opinion; the people who don't want to commit to it and put in some time are weeded out, and they're the weaker links anyway.
That aside, heirlooms and high level players existed back in the day too.
Goretooth was a fucking nightmare, but I still hung in there. A lot of us that still play did too.
The game is old, less people are purchasing it, less people are signing up on the website.
Strictly my opinion, but everything eventually dies, and I'm not sure if a huge overhaul is going to keep people from leaving for newer, shinier games with bigger playerbases.