As a riding concept it is a lot of fun and fast paced. Unless you are into pedaling until you spew.
As a spectator sport, where else in MTB can you watch the whole event start to finish? Pump tracks and slope style are about it, but they are scsrce too. What's not to love???
As a participant, racing or recreational, the accessibility of this style of track can be superior to all other styles of MTB, except maybe pump tracks.
For parents...no more shuttles! If the kid cashes they aren't necessarily out in the forest miles from help, if you're into watching it's all right in front of you.
What's not to love?
I think perhaps a bit of evolution may have helped...let the pump track scene be the blurred lines between bmx and MTB. Leave the big mega super stunts for slope style. Then push 4X back towards the rougher trails of dual slalom and perhaps some dh or shore aspects, while keeping the tracks short enough. None of that is going to come easily, but a lot of bmx can be squeezed into a short space, so it's not impossible.
I can understand that a 4X track may have been an expensive prospect, but in modern times how would it compare to having these long professional machine built trails her we see much growth in?
For me trail accessibility is always going to be a primary concern, especially if we are going to actually try and reduce unnecessary carbon emissions. Sure I love getting miles out of town and into some wild mountain trails. But...how good is it when there is great riding close to home? Or accessible by public transport? How many parents (not you parents...the ones who don't ride) really want to be driving their kid out to bike tracks all the time?
I also hate having crowded trails. I would rather people stopped liking MTB and I could to back to being an underground edge lord sharing the trails with 3 other people.