I still wonder how many people care about the changes when you see scores like were posted from the Leaderboard contest. Time will tell if it hurts their overall numbers but I agree there is little incentive to become 7 Star anymore. For years ADT has been far more important than your Tier when it came to offers and value to them. This just takes that to another level. Diamond's who only visit a few times a year will be treated much better than the weekly 7 Star, but that has been the case in AC for years.
I still believe their goal was to eliminate what they consider "optimizing comps" as RE calls it. Now the question will be did they go to far? But this trend is nothing new in the CZR world and the sheep keep coming in the doors.