I want to get excited about the new commendations, but do they really matter if you have already achieved “mastery”? Also do they need to be achieved by players who have not achieved mastery in order to get mastery? Pretty sure not. These should have been introduced in parallel with the associated reqs. It is much too late for these.
Then don’t concern yourself with them. It’s just a little something else for people to aim to complete. Most people likely complete them without even really trying anyway, so it’s no big deal if they have meaning or not.
The fact that they may not reward players with emblems is nitpicky at best, and annoying at worst. Oh well, at least the XP rewards aren’t too bad.