Ross can be pretty geeky but TD, Mys and many other PUAs are also at their core. Ross is pretty dated at this point also, so most guys young enough to be impressed by PUAs like Mystery can't really relate to what he is presenting
SS works. I've seen it work way back near the beginning of the ASF newsgroup when a couple coworkers of mine used it to bag most of the HBs in the customer service department at our job (20-30 total) over the course of 4-6 months. One of the guys drove an old ass rusting car, was fat and lived in a trailer. It was total mindfuck seeing chicks demanding that he take them to lunch
There are many techniques and products that have been added and refined since that time as well. I've checked a few of the newer products (Rikers SS Manual, October Man, some of Ross and Vince Ks newer videos). Altogether they're a pretty good framework for pure seduction without relying on things like looks or social proof, and cover some inner game topics also
More recent proof that SS is effective was Sinns endorsement of IN10SE's October Man revelation as powerful stuff (hypnotic symbol fractionation) that he used as a beginner PUA but that he decided was too powerful to play with
unnecessarily
BTW SS lines are complimentary because you're getting your target to open up to f**k with their mind
Most of the guys I've met since I got back into the community just go ahead and do pure NLP practicioner or hypnosis training if they like and find they want to practice a style closer to SS