Count me in among the bummed folks. Chris, your videos have been helpful for understanding what's going to change and I certainly understand that change is worth considering as one way to address low entry numbers.
I and my older agility dog LOVE x-hoopers, in part because it's the first place she learned to work comfortably away from me with distance -- and for me to learn I didn't have to be that close to her

.
As I work with my new girl, it's hard to imagine working that tight a circle from a distance without the initial support of the gates at the novice level. At more advanced levels it feels very doable for a dog that's built up to it. The gates give a newbie dog some clarity about options -- only 4 "exits" to choose from. My older girl first found speed and confidence with x-hoopers.
I'm one of those people who will deliberately seek out something that challenges me, as I did when I was intimidated by both x-hoopers and chances. Now, both are my favorite courses to run. So I will continue to run the new hoopers and be challenged in new ways, but I'm disappointed that for new dogs, the "support" offered by the gate circle will be gone. Maybe it was a crutch in some ways, but man, it was fun and less visually confusing for a newbie dog.