Network transparency is not a "crucial" feature. 90% of Linux desktop users do not use network transparency. The other 10% can (assuming Wayland is successful) use Xorg, do without, or use VNC (yes, I know it is not the same thing).
You also have to weigh the utility of features. It may be that 90% of Linux desktop users would rather have fancy composting and a "cube effect" when doing fast user switching[1], but shouldn't network transparency win because it actually does something useful?
[1] See "Is Wayland replacing the X Server?" on http://wayland.freedesktop.org/faq.html#heading_toc_j_4
By providing a level of abstraction lower than that of X, Wayland provides a more flexible framework over which to implement whatever "long tail" of useful features the Linux community desires.
That's not very convincing. Assuming Wayland is successful, Xorg may vanish; that certainly seems to be what a lot of people are hoping.