They were kind of ahead of the game with the first Gen Levo. It looked nice and rode well. The internal battery and relatively sleek downtube made everything else look like a DIY e-bike conversion or a Grand Tourer with space for your weekend luggage in the downtube. Even now the 1.3 motor out performs the EP8 in terms of power and range.
Your second point is equally valid too though. With a lot more bikes in circulation there were a lot more problems. Add in a lot of owners being new to MTB with the Levo - so more problems and questions. Throw in extensive use of de-restriction, a maximum cadence of 30 from chilled out riders in Turbo - with a motor which likes/needs high cadence and many owners having a monthly subscription to jetwash.com = problems. Plus, you only have to look at the Levo SL threads and the Kenevo SL threads and it's pretty clear that many Spesh owners spend a lot more time talking bikes than riding bikes. A lot of other brands owners just ride their bikes , or ride and put pictures up.
There's also the issue that higher than average proportion of Spesh purchasers are also incapable of using the search function or reading threads - even if there's only 4 posts in it. Check any Spesh thread and the same questions are asked page after page, thread after thread - a bit like groundhog day. Maybe the search is just disabled in the Spesh section ?
Yes, I own a Specialized. Yes I've asked dumb questions on the forum and spend more time writing than riding. Yes, it's been de-restricted at times to try to solve problems. Yes, I own multiple jetwashes. Yes, I've ridden with too slow a cadence. Yes, I've ridden through water over 50cm deep for long distances. Yes, I'm a knob.