You're right. Conspiratorial attitude definitely has its place. However, with regard to the question of whether other actors in this space are deliberately trying to put Invictus in the shadow, I think there are so many other factors in play that a potential conspiracy is a tiny footnote in the overall story of how Invictus has positioned itself.
One factor is that bytemaster has continually been ahead of the game, and as such has been facing incredulous stares when presenting his ideas. Another factor is the question of mining and the perceived threat and denigration that bitcoin users and especially miners might feel. Third is the lack of connections and viral, grass-roots campaigning.
Blanks have their place when one needs attention. I feel that Invictus has not yet really wanted attention. Hopefully this will work out even so, as it is only now that real products are beginning to emerge anyway. At any rate, when the new site hits there will be no more excuses to being lesser known than NXT/MSC/ETH, and if there is a lack of Bitshares buzz 2 weeks from now, I'll be very aggressive in pointing out what I think should be done.
/until then!