Having just performed an online check-in for myself (QFF Gold) and my wife (QFF Bronze) for the same flight (booked on separate tickets) I can see where this perception might have come from. For me I had access to select from about 80% of the seats on the plane, whereas for my wife there was about 30% available for selection, and all down the back half of the plane.
Certainly a change from the previous online check-in experience though, where very few seats were available to select from no matter what the status
.