I'm a SampleTank customer since version 1 and bought ST XL shortly after it came out as well as SampleMoog, SampleTron (and another Tron library from a German maker, MelloZone, for ST1 that they don't sell anymore), SonicSynth 1 and 2, Miroslav Philharmonik and a bunch of the expansions under various names. I really want to get ST 3 in 64 bit mainly to play those libraries, but heck, if they can do a version with decent sounds that lets me upgrade for $99 USD (which I recall seeing at KVR), I'm in.
Sure, I'm disappointed that they didn't put out ST3 several years ago or at least a Windows 64 bit version, but it's water under the bridge (I went through my disappointment years back when I moved to 64 bit). I already use KONTAKT for detailed sample libraries like guitar, bass, drums, piano, strings, but I really enjoy the ST synth libraries I have and I'm interested in what the new version has going for itself. I don't feel they ripped me off and they lost out on a lot more sales they would have had from having a few different major releases by now. But if they can do it for $99 USD, I'm good. I love AmpliTube, so it gives me hope that IK is capable of great things. My expectation is not for them to be a KONTAKT killer, but if ST3 runs smoothly, has a bunch of nice effects, some good organs and synths, and plays my existing libraries, I'd be happy.
As far as social media reps making promises, having led digital marketing at major brands (Fortune 500s), including social media, my guess is that these guys could have been told stuff was coming that never did. I know Peter from KVR (years ago, I sold him a copy of KOMPLETE 5 or 6 I bought shortly before the next version came out), and I haven't asked him all the details, but he seems to be a good guy to me. Admittedly, I've followed the thread at KVR more than the ones over here, but I really don't think IK's social media reps were intentionally misleading us. Even if you're super cynical, what would be the purpose behind some social media guy telling you that a product is coming that doesn't arrive, that is indeed super late? There's no benefit to IK or the social media guy for doing that in any sense, in fact, it's embarrassing to both parties, especially to the social media guys who are dealing with disappointed customers and IK doesn't make money off of not having released the product 3 years ago. IK easily would have made A LOT more money if they had released ST3 several years ago and were on to ST5 or ST6 by now, but instead, they chose to chase the iStuff. But IK isn't exactly a giant company, so it's not like they're Microsoft with a ton of resources that wrote off this market. They clearly didn't write off the market, even though, I agree, not getting a 64 bit version of ST2 out was super disappointing to me. But in the end, I don't find them deceptive. Just maybe not as savvy of a company as I think they could be and their dedication to ST is not what I would like it to be either, and I am going to upgrade to ST3 being very aware of their past neglect of the line and that will certainly severely limit the future investment I make in SampleTank. The mass of my sample library investment is going into KONTAKT because of its great scripting, great devs are making libraries for it and NI has proven themselves to be committed to the product. But if IK can provide an upgrade path for me that's inexpensive enough, like $99 USD, I'm going to do it. At $299 USD the bar would be considerably higher.