Will a Dev please explain to me the purpose of removing the ship plaques from promotions and replacing them with Dilithium?

Here is my issue. When F2P ver 1 launched, we did not receive enough dilithium to purchase a ship at the next level upon promotion. So, I leveled my Connie Refit to RALH2 to save up enough dilithium to be able to purchase a VA ship. Well, F2P ver 2 rolled out tonight and I thought if I continued to level to RAUH I would receive a "discount" token to purchase a ship. This did not happen. Since I was already a RA when ver 2 was pushed, I was not eligible for the previous discounts. So now I can either purchase a CDR level ship to run RA/VA missions or continue to level to VA with my Connie Refit!

Honestly, this is all way too confusing, even for me, a seasoned player. Can you imagine how a Silver player would feel? One word, confused and probably not leaning towards paying for the game or purchasing micro-transactions.

I understand the business idea Cryptic is trying to achieve here. If Silver players are short on dilithium, they can purchase it from the C-store or grind it out; most will purchase it from the C-store. However, when things get too confusing for players to understand (because your discount does not show up until AFTER you get promoted), they tend not to be continued customers. I think this deserves a serious look since most of STO action takes place onboard a ship and not having the proper Tier ship at the proper time will drive customers away.