I agree with so many others, please don't change SoG in the way proposed. I do use it rarely (I say sheepishly as an ancient with only 2m hoard) but, like the car airbag analogy given before, it is so nice to know that it's there if there is a hairy situation I need to try and escape.
I actually really like the Silver Shield idea above. It costs less (and subsequently does less) than SoG but doesn't remove SoG from the picture in case I need it. Much like silver strike vs. gold rage.