Here's a weird notion
I use the term VST but I really mean musical instrusment since that's what vst's are for me. I don't own and down't have any interest in owning hardware synths. YMMV of course. This isn't about the quality or integrity thereof or the accuracy of vst emulations. I don't care about any of that.
With that said I find myself having some odd attitudes. On one hand I prefer to use actual emulations, such as Repro or some Arturia stuff. THis is because I like working within the parameters of those synths, their limits, and because of their iconic sounds. Repro 5 sounds great, as does the Arturia CZ.
On the other hand I've used a few of the 'jack of all trades' synths, such as Pigments, or Diva, and I own Zebra. These plug ins are amazing and can create a lot of great sounds. But they lack those limits (which means analysis paralysis and sometimes steep learning curves - i don't really understand the oscillator choices in zebra).
So I am kinda torn. It seems a bit facile to use emulations on the basis that "hey i'm using the iconic DX7, or Proiphet 5, or whatever", but I actually quite like that. I think it adds character to my music, and, on a weird creative level, it inspires me.
But I also like the sound design options of something like Zebra. I used to own pigments which i think is a fantastic piece of software, it's so easy to use. (My only, and personal, issue with it was that it just sounded rather thin, so I transferred the license).
Not really sure if there are any answers to this. Maybe it's just me and my creative idiosyncrasies.