Yay…! Some XTC… 
One of my favourite bands; watched them rehearse ‘Generals and Majors’ at a studio/rehearsal room (Tudor Studios) in Swindon once - what a treat; Andy and Colin were having a ball… great (seriously good) players all of them, much fun… 
Anyway, back on topic - did you get to try as musicullum suggested with a clean, empty project, launching VSTConnect and then adding/disabling tracks…? Was it still failing the connection…?
Seems a shame after the willingness to help/respond to your plight, its like the line sort of went dead (s’cuse the pun.!)… I’m curious what the outcome was…
(Also, hope its helpful, but here’s the specific place to post your ‘Feature Requests’ for Cubase (good ideas BTW):- Topics tagged cubase-8 - I get the impression that musicullum is not located in the same Steinberg HQ building as everyone else; just guessing… 
)
Good luck.!
Bob