Hi Kuanshi,
Nice, thanks for having already been proactively thinking about/working on this! I don't know how most uses interact with openquake/local features. But I can definitely imagine it - in my case, that would mean having the custom gmms added in the local openquake version, without needing to remember to add them in the R2D version. Or having two local versions - one so I can replicate Nick's results on the old version and one to replicate the NSHM results on the new version.
One of the biggest benefits that I see is that it might allow me to switch back and forth between running openquake from the command line and from R2D, without needing to delete the db.sqlite3 file. Do you think that would be possible with what you are describing? For me, the biggest benefit of R2D will be when I can run it on DesignSafe for huge jobs, while there are helpful things about running openquake locally without R2D (such as being able to easily manipulate the .ini file, e.g., listing multiple poe values).
Thanks,
Anne