I'd say the lack of dedicated figure and whatnot is simplicity... I wouldn't be shocked if that hull is a roto-cast thing like those giant 31" figures at Wal-Mart.
Why they wouldn't make it exactly compatible with figures, I don't know. Maybe because they don't want you annoyed that you can't open it and put a figure in it, so make it a different scale?
That said, if the ship is 29 or 30" long like was being said, it's really VERY close to the figures... 1:17.
Star Wars figures don't really have a specific scale... POTF2 ranged from 1:16 - 1:20. These days 1:20 seems more their scale, but astromechs may be more in the 1:16 range actually. It's weird.
And like I've said, "scale" on Star Wars ships is open to some interpretation. There may be official dimensions but some of those are horribly off. For eons it seems the AT-AT was listed at 15 meters when it's anything but that short. The X-Wing had a LOT of models of it, and none match exactly. From the lifesize one, to the CGI SE one, to about 3 different studio model scales... They're all different to one degree or another. The Falcon's even worse, actually.
I'm anxious to get one of these in my mitts and really examine it against figures. It may make a great base to customize.