The Noob Legend
Smash Ace
I realized that right before I read your post.You're absolutely right about being patient, but working in the software development industry, I'd have to say that none of the delays were to add any functionality. What's more likely (and happens all the time) is that they just evaluated their progress at a certain point, and decided that they needed more time to finish everything that was in the initial docs/specs for the game. Same thing with this most recent delay, but on a much smaller scale.
It's more of a business oppurtunity to match or outsell Halo 3.
Maybe they will fail, maybe they won't.
But I mean in the end, it's just a good game off empty shelves.