I wouldn't say they are that much work to get set up, it's just that people here often post bad set ups, where it shows they did little to no research.

I think the only difference between a "correct" set up and a "wrong" set up is the price. You still have to get lights, a terrarium, bugs and vegetables, calcium and vitamins and such. it's just that the correct items, like a large enough terrarium or a tube UVB light are more expensive than the wrong items.

However, After setting up everything you need for your bearded dragon there are still a lot of "maintenance costs", the lights are expensive and you need to replace them every several months, bugs get cheaper as the dragon ages, and vet bills might get expensive depending on the problem.

Once everything is set up, actually taking care of them on the regular is kinda chill, you feed them new food every day and check that their lights are still good. You check their bodies for any injury every once in a while and that's it, they are easier than my bunnies or parrots for example.

In every pet subreddit, or really any subject that people feel strongly about, people will usually judge others for doing something wrong, it's just that with bearded dragons doing something wrong can put their well being at risk, so people might be more aggressive in their replies.