In many cases, there are enhancements to the user interface that are advantages to the libraries that can run on the free player. The cost for that service is often passed along to the purchasers of the sample libraries. What you keep referring to as a bounty, is a scripting service that NI provides as a fee to format sample libraries to be playable in their free Kontakt Player. No, I’m not aware of any product that will allow you to load Kontakt libraries without using Kontakt.
Or, you can have multiple virtual instrument tracks with Kontakt loaded, each with different sample libraries.
Then you can load as many libraries within Kontakt within that track as you’d like. It loads as a virtual instrument in a track within your DAW. If you were so inclined, you could even create your own sample libraries that could run in the full version of Kontakt. It just so happens that it can run third party developed sample libraries. For many, if not most users, they’re mostly using it for sample playback.
