As Gold members had always access to front rows up to now at time of booking, this would be a major downgrade.

But, let me add some facts here ;
- MCE cabin is actually divided in two : seats reserved for elite only, and seats that both elite and non elite can book. So gold could just be limited to one of the two kind of MCE seats.
- A large part of the fleet wont have MCE ; those planes coming from USAirways
- the last time they tried it (remember ? More room throughout coach...) they had to step back, simply because most passengers choose their flight/airlines by fare and schedule and hate to spend an extra dime.

And what's more, I agree with the previous post, Elite and paying MCE passengers dont fill those seats at all.

My guess is that they'll extend it in 2014 until they'll cancel the MCE program.
Or, just thinking about flight 137 LHR-LAX where there are more elites than others, limit the number of MCE seats for golds. Some kind of rule like this, will let them make a difference with those few special flights.