It makes some sense to me. My preference has been for the @{ ... } style of dereferencing. That style becomes cumbersome when ... is a large expression. I would hit the end of the expression and bounce back to the start of the block to remind myself what was needed. My workaround for that was to add temporary variables whose only purpose was to make @{ ... } easier to read.
...->@* reduces the need for those temporary variables because it allows a clear "treat this thing right here like an array." I don't know if this is better or worse, considering that we've been doing it the other way for years. It's just different. I'll try it, because I am a sucker for syntax.
