Why remove it? Would it not be better to add on to the game than to overhaul it (again)?
What benefit would this have?
VR levels are the reason you have to slog your way through Cadwell's Silver and Gold for weeks if you want to level an alt.... IT"S BORING. Leveling an alt from 1 to 50 is not a big deal, but VR1-VR14 (now VR16!) makes me want to tear my eyes out because I've already done it for my main.
Now that we have the CP grind for progression, there is really no need for VR levels anymore.
Again, I don't think them removing VRanks is to lessen the leveling burden... it will likely remain. By removing them, I think they will simply be streamlining the naming to be levels only. Right now, it's confusing new players going 1-50 and then finding out that's not remotely close to max level.
More than likely, whatever they go with next (maybe changing VR1-14 to levels 51-70 or 51-80) will likely take the same amount of time and effort as VR1-VR14, but will not leave players misinterpreting where "endgame" begins