I agree with Banished suggestion; give the XP back gradually to those who already have the maximum rank, no one should have to do the grind all over again for their ranks, ship xp and crafting xp. There will always be newbies, and they will always get slaughtered by experienced players sooner or later, and so full wipes would only serve to piss people off, and the majority I've already talked to are indeed pissed off over this decision. If you think this won't drive many players away from the game, or that the release will bring forth a renaissance of new players then you're just delusional.