You can get weapons of the same level raiding savage.

From what I understand, there was no real comparable weapon to the relics in 2.xx. Now we have a different way to get BiS gear: doing skill-locked content. How is that not different?

If they continue relic progression throughout 3.xx, then you can get a good weapon grinding or raiding, whichever you prefer.
IF they don't continue it, then, yeah, that's wrong. But I have seen nothing to suggest this is the end. 2.xx wasn't just one level, so I would be really surprised if this was.