Still, I'm a big believer in experimentation with your own equipment. I figured I would give this a try with the ACO 2151 data I collected recently. It would be pretty easy (or so I thought) to simply not use my master dark in calibration and then compare results.
I used the PixInsight batch preprocessing script and created a Master L using my 57 light subs but leaving out the master bias and master dark. I did use my master flat. No cosmetic correction was done. As anticipated the result was pretty horrid, but not for the reason I expected.
Here is a 100% crop using the master dark, master bias, and master flat.
Here are some stats from PixInsight before the images are stretched.
Still, the results are interesting just as is. It is certainly easier to shoot 100 bias subs (what was used for my master bias), than it is to shoot 20 dark subs (what was used for the master dark).
I will need to be evaluating this further. But I certainly can't dismiss the claims based on what I'm seeing here.