I personally don't like the gear gating concept. When I heard Alex Savage, I was expecting SCoB Savage style mechanics. Instead of getting intense mechanics, we got gear checks. The argument that these encounters are hard is incorrect. The mechanics in and of themselves aren't anything special from what I have seen. They are mostly gear checks and will make the encounters laughable in no time. The majority of players couldn't beat Savage SCoB in full Dreadwyrm/Ironwork BiS at lvl 50 and that was outgearing the content. That is how it should be, hardest content should actually be difficult, not locked behind gear.