Its a tough call who the $12000 is aimed at. The way how most prof. composers work is in a template, the "get what you need when you need it" approach is not practical...it works when you are writing your score out first and then realize it with the library because you know exactly what you need and what you don't need. Still, loading in everything will take more time than we mostly have.
So in order to make this new library really work, you probably need 2-4 dedicated machines (I saw in the videodemo that the VA he was showing us used up 450MB of RAM !! that's one instrument only...) ...setup up a template with all the possible articulations and add them to your template. There is your VSL Orchestra, premixed, ready to rock...no loading time (which is another issue when using it on one machine...you switch between cues and have to load up the entire library again, at least with EXS shared samples stay in memory so loading time is reduced)
So the total cost for the VI + Computers + Audiointerfaces etc...is very high, I don't want to speculate but somewhere in 20G's range...
Only a composer who works on a very highprofile (and high paying) project can afford something like that...BUT most of those projects will probably record a real orchestra (a lot of XBOX games have real orchestras) so the composer doesn't need to deliver a mockup that contains every detail of the orchestra (in a VSL sense) but a mockup to show his concept of the music to the director.
Mockups have to be great (and a lot better than 10 years ago) nowadays but you can accomplish that with ProEdition/SISS/EWest other librarys...
So I don't know,...of course its not as black and white but in a nutshell...
Well, I am curious to hear the new stuff anyways...I always had my criticism about the slightly "harsh" sound of the library (especially strings). The phasing sound of the velocity layer of the Oboe in the VI velfade Demo/Video is mindboggling...as Peter goes thru each layer it sounds like a different oboe playing and partially 2 oboes playing in between....has anybody noticed that ? Not so great! Not very real sounding...I would chose one layer with a pure volume fade over that sound...
Although, I have to give the VSL team props ...a step into the future, somebody had to do the first step...others will follow. It's a beginning and will be wonderful in a few years when computers are powerful enough to load up an entire Orchestral pallette in one session.