Why are Criterion dungeons so hard?

[Besame]

Spent a couple of hours trying the new Criterion dungeon out and got part way through the first boss. Having done a little Savage and EX in Endwalker, the Criterion dungeon comes across as yet more Savage level content. Why so hard? Especially since there's a Savage mode for it as well.

I was hoping we'd get some sort of middle ground - a duty that takes maybe 3 hours to clear for an average player. I can see the Criterion dungeon taking a lot longer than that.

I've seen a lot of people drift away from the game after msq because there isn't a good endgame for casual/average players - Savage/EX is very hard and time consuming, while normal stuff gets repetitive - and there's nothing inbetween. It's sad to see people go, but the right level of challenge isn't there to keep people around. The Criterion dungeon was an opportunity to fill that niche, but sadly I don't think it's going to help.

I tried a solo and a group. Trash was fine, bosses were taking forever in both soooo...I won't go back, I don't need the rewards bad enough to go through it.