I recall the days when LE crafting first became a thing, and people complained that getting a T20 rare was impossible. The response was, as you might have guessed, the same as it is here: “You don’t need full T20 items”. Well, here we are, 4 or 5 years later, and T20 rares are pretty much the entry level gear to begin the end game.
The “you don’t need” defense is old, and stale. You don’t need quite a lot of things in this game, yet most of them are actually obtainable, without having to invest 1000s (or possibly 10s of 1000s) of hours to obtain them.
LP was introduced, because so many Unique items were absolute crap, when compared to decent+ rolled rares…where players were equipping them for a single effect, and the gear slot was a waste otherwise. It wasn’t introduced as a means to create chase items, that would rival Wile E Coyote’s chase for the Roadrunner. That, unfortunately, appears to be a side-effect that has fueled this draconian mindset to justify how annoying their acquisition can be.