Have I been misunderstanding the new seating system this whole time?

I haven't been paying much attention, and always assumed that at time of purchase you got a list of available seats in your fare class, pick the seats you want from the available ones.

I just read a blurb that indicates this is not the case, but they will assign you seat in your fare class, with each fare class being split into preferred and non-preferred. If you are military, loyalty or bought preferred boarding you can get assigned (but can not choose) a seat in the preferred zone of a class, and can't even choose window or aisle.

Please tell me I'm wrong, and what I've read is just doing a poor job of explaining things.

If I'm reading this right, then an active duty military gets a preferred zone within a fare class, but not their entourage. Same for an elite pax. Since you can't pick your specific seats ahead of time, chances are very high that you won't be seated together.

Did they really design a system specifically to maximize seat swap/stealing drama on the planes?