They could take this path if they commit to only ever releasing criterion dungeons well after the savage tier. Otherwise you get the M+ situation where raiders resent having to do non-raid content in order to optimally prog the raids.

I didn't have much sympathy for that standpoint during Legion, but I played the game specifically for M+ so I didn't see it as a burden. When BfA made you constantly engage with every single abysmally-designed side activity (lmao island expeditions) in order to prog anything, M+ or raids, I understood the problem - and quit WoW. If you haven't played WoW, imagine if equipping your raid gear drops also required you to do PvP, Bozja, and max out Island Sanctuary to boot. The memory of that slippery slope is part of why people react so negatively to the idea of raid-equivalent gear from non-raid content.