There is a gulf between an outright scam; and promises of a future that may never be.
Exactly. The same could be said for BTC, weren't we supposed to be at $10,000 coin now or something? Must be a scam....
BTC does all it set out to. How widely adopted it is; or how high its exchange rate is, are expectations others place upon it. ETH on the other hand has yet to become its promise. Granted ETH aims at a much more difficult goal than BTC.