Any current X-Men book just doesn't have any interest for me these days. I vote for X-Men 2099 but in name only and NOT connect it to the past 2099 comics but create an all new all different future and go bat shit crazy with mutation concepts and avoid the whole Dystopian crap-fest which has been done to death. 

Someone has voted "Other". It would be interesting to hear what "Other" you believe in.

So far, X-Factor and Elsewhen are the popular choices. Excalibur hasn't received any votes, so is sulking in the corner...

I haven't enjoyed any X-Men stories published after Cockrum's second run, so it's Elsewhen for me.

I hated pretty much everything about X-Factor, from the resurrection of Jean Grey to the gutting of The Defenders and the whole farcical "original X-Men pose as mutant hunters" setup. But honestly, even if none of that had happened, I'd already realized that A) I was not in the 10-14 year old female demographic Claremont was apparently trying to appeal to and B) he had run out of what few original ideas he had (i.e., everything not stolen from Star Trek, Alien, Modesty Blaise, the British Avengers TV series, etc, etc). This not only turned me off all things X-Men, it convinced me I was through with Marvel as a whole. Whatever claim the company had to creative integrity evaporated in the wake of X-Factor, at least from my POV.

Cei-U!
I summon the candor!

How about good writing, interesting stories and art in service to the story and not just selling original pages at conventions or online?

Or is that too old school?

I bailed on X-Men after Paul Smith's run; and, other than sampling Jim Lee and the speculator launch of X-Men (minus adjective) and never really looked back. Even the Lee stuff didn't really wow me and it was clear that Claremont was out of gas; then was dumped for even worse writing. It got too big and grandiose for any one writer to try to manage and the editorial office didn't co-ordinate things well enough to make multiple books work. I tried the first trade of Whedon's thing and, apart from his flavor of snappy dialogue, didn't read anything I considered fresh. The same plot lines have been endlessly recycled ad nauseum.

The book worked far better when it had a smaller cast and a tighter focus. it also worked when it had a good writer/artist combo who set out to do something different. Once it became a star book, it was about maintaining the status quo. You see it in all fields of entertainment. In a creative field, the best material comes in experimentation and taking risk. After that, it is just feeding the same thing to an audience that cannot grow further, which sustains itself only for so long, before the audience is sated and leaves. it happens to novelists, to tv shows, movie franchises, etc.

It would take a really fresh, unique take on things to raise a blip. Others have already done that kind of thing, with things like Umbrella Academy and other properties, mining the same territory. It would probably take a more closed-ended kind of thing to raise a ripple. Harry Potter was yet another series of school stories, which goes back to the dawn of formal schooling. however, JK Rowling had a different hook, with magic, and a saga to play out alongside the stories of growing up and dealing with life and school, giving these kids a purpose that other kids don't yet see, in themselves and their world. She also gave them great characters. X_men, at its best,w as along those lines; nothing original; but, a good hook and good characters. Also, the best material concluded. the problem became, "Well, now what?" since it was an ongoing series (which dogs Rowlings and others attempt to exploit the audience). Claremont eventually ran out of "Now whats" and started just repeating himself. Everyone that followed repeated his stuff, with less skill. Morrison brought a fresh approach, using his British childhood influences (Thunderbirds, as much as anything) and Whedon at least gave it snappy dialogue and embraced the geekiness of it.

Make it about school and family, again, and you at least have a starting point. It doesn't need to be saving the world every minute and it doesn't need to be a universe.