[Firefly]

I work in the gaming industry. Let me assure you, it is incredibly rare that a company releases a game (specifically, an MMO) on schedule. Mostly this is for the same reasons you mention. Unless there's an evil overlord behind the scenes, as was the case with EA Games and the Warhammer: Age of Reckoning MMO, a company will most likely push the date back until they're ready to go. And even then, there will usually be a patch on launch day.

We're also overlooking a major fact, here. This is SOE we're talking about. Remember them? Rather, remember their staggering lack of publicity for the development of the game? And the lack of publicity surrounding the launch and continual operation of the game? It doesn't surprise me one bit that there's very little news here - and in all honesty, that doesn't make me very happy and it doesn't give me great vibes regarding the success of the game. I firmly believe that the lack of marketing for Planetside is what kept the game from being a huge game. I *STILL* talk to hardcore FPS gamers who are in my age-range that never even heard of the game.