You have to take the subjective statements out of the equation. AFAIK the mission had two objectives:
1. Loft Dragon into an orbit from which it can chase and catch the ISS.
2. Loft the Orbcomm test/demo payload into some orbit specified by the customer.
During the launch they lost an engine. They still achieved objective 1. They did not achieve objective 2. The most interesting thing to know will be why they didn't achieve objective 2.
Sounds like they needed a second stage to get the Orbcomm payload to the correct orbit, but they were too close to ISS to detach the first stage rockets. This is because, after compensating for the loss of one of the engines, they didn't have enough fuel to get to the minimum-safe distance to detach the stage 1 boosters.
1. Loft Dragon into an orbit from which it can chase and catch the ISS.
2. Loft the Orbcomm test/demo payload into some orbit specified by the customer.
During the launch they lost an engine. They still achieved objective 1. They did not achieve objective 2. The most interesting thing to know will be why they didn't achieve objective 2.