I suppose, but people who complain when their point of comparison is an event that was held 4-5 (or more) years ago is kind-of silly. It was a one-off event that was seen as *too* lucrative (20/20 hindsight) by the staff. Which I do think that being able to gear several characters with a full set of T10 within a few days is indeed waaaaaaaay too much.
We're much happier with the rewards now as they don't impact the economy in any invasive or disruptive manner. That stability is more important to us than a once-a-year thing that the players who miss out on are S.O.L. I also really don't think the lack of rewards on a once-a-year holiday event is in any way going to harm the server or its image. The balance of lucrative rewards and not being overly-rewarding is a fine line to tread, one that is very easy to cross, so I think that it's better to not risk crossing it - playing it safe with some minor rewards and ensuring that the content in question is as high quality (which doesn't require rewards in order for it to be) and fun as possible.
I understand the desire for lucrative rewards, but I don't believe that everything in the game should be, especially once-a-year holiday events that players can very easily miss out on. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this type of event is the most ideal type event to hold back the rewards on due to that fact - those that *will* miss out. As opposed to the things we create that are accessible on a more regular basis, such as the transmog scroll system, or the seasonal content on Frostmourne. That's not to say that we don't understand the desire or appreciate the desire for such rewards, but as I stated earlier in this post, that is a fine line and one we decided that's better to not risk crossing.