The systemic role of gold rounds is, in principle, to serve as a credit drain so you go for premium time or tanks to sustain battling – fine. But these rounds completely take away much of what makes World of Tanks a dynamic and interesting game to play (positioning, weakspots, angles).
At the same time, credits earned per battle are (for most classes) fundamentally tied to damage (and this to winning = Victory bonus). More damage and more winning – more credits. Due to this, gold usage can even become profitable.
My reasoning goes: if you remove gold ammo, you render the average player less capable of dealing damage, and this reduces his credits income potential (ie an indirect credit drain). Why not go down this option? The result is potentially the same – make premium time & tanks atractive. On top of this, you foster a more dynamic and interesting gameplay. And, most importantly, you reward personal improvement.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/WorldofTanks/comments/kah09q/wild_thought_on_gold_rounds/
