- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Though the game never had an official release date (hell, it still doesn't have an official release date) there was a generally accepted notion of when we could likely expect the game to be out. Perhaps this notion was never sufficiently backed by Bungie, most everyone in the gaming world did (at first) believe that it was quite possible that the game would be out as early as this spring, and then as that time approached, maybe by summer. Since this belief was so generally accepted, and since Bungie did nothing to dispel this belief (other than saying "We're Bungie, we don't do release dates until we're sure we can deliver, we never have and we never will") when it was finally announced that the game would not be out until the fall, the feeling was generally that it had been delayed. And so, though there never was a technical delay, since Bungie acted much like a mean-spirited (or perhaps ignorant) girl who will act in such a manner that allows you to fall in love with her under the impression that your love will soon be reciprocated, only to then snub you and leave you in a state of utter depression, confusion and longing that will eventually lead you to leave the country and spend the rest of your life at a hermitage in eastern Russia (that damn -blam!-!), one can see how many consider the game to have been delayed.
So in conclusion, Bungie is either a mean-spirited temptress who likes to play with our hearts and minds, or an innocent young maiden who through her ignorance ends up hurting those who love her most.
Maybe I'm over-analyzing?