I think this would be great to do even now. It would give add some more gameplay for those who are not interested in Ghost Town PvP. I vote for such treasure hunting roleplay. 
I like the idea. Perhaps it would draw in even more players and make things more interesting (right now we're around 65 or so). It would definitely create a ton more of PvP areas all over the desert and perhaps even revive some faction activity for the time being, who knows. If devs agree, maybe they could add an outfitter/guard team in every bigger city entrance (New Reno, SF, VC, Boneyard etc) to make equipment more accessible for base-raids?
Shit, if it doesn't work, people can always go back to GT and continue the usual PvP massacre.