Don't know enough about the new system to comment on it, but I do notice its significance, in that it is a very rare incident for HT to stand up and actually do something to the strat system. As a matter of fact, it's a change in the strat since ages, when AH eliminated the depot structures and replaced it with a town system way back god knows when.
I think it might mean that HT is rethinking the previous "invisible hand" theory of MA gameplay.
'Just let anyone up, fly, and fight in whatever they want, wherever they want, however they want' - used to be the MA motto. Unfortunately, it has been proven time again, that such unlimited freedom ultimately includes "the freedom of the players to wreck destroy their own gameplay". Finally, the problem seems to have been realized, and HT took steps to attempt a change in all that by actually limiting players and their actions to mold and shift the MA tendency into something different.
I hope it is a precursor to better things to come. I am not so sure if such a change will mean anything more than a temporary relief to the MA, but it should mean that the basic strat is now also a part of something susceptible to change in the days to come.
ps) Ofcourse, we all know how much HT hates it when someone says they know what he thinks, so if he may be offended by it, many apologies to HT in advance.