I think you've expressed it very well.

The changes will effectively eliminate regular silvers and reduce regular golds (50K to 100K) to silver unless they pay significantly extra for the status. The majority will not pay the extra.

This is what EK wants as numbers of these have grown with the airline and they just can't cope any more.

The question as I see it is that once all the dust has settled is the overall EK/Skywards experience, at whatever level, better than the alternatives?

It is a bit galling when you see the profit figures, but it is their business after all.