Did anyone honestly expect them to release it at the industry guess that we were given?
I was hoping they didn't - Well, I say that, what I mean is I
expected it to be delayed.
It's really a win-win situation for everyone involved. Valve would never release a sub-standard product and even if there are a lot of bugs in the v1.0 release code (totally inevitable, no matter how experienced they are) it's a surefire bet that they will release frequent and concise patches shortly after release anyway.
I speak from experience. Let's ignore CS. I remember the patches for HL

M that came out in 1998, 1999 and so on. Patch announced one week. Then released and all servers came down. End of the day the servers would start coming back online with the new version. Bugs would be reported by the community and then Valve would release a patch the following week addressing each and every one of them. In some cases they'd release an emergency patch the following day.
Considering they are not being paid a penny beyond the cost of the boxed game, that's awesome customer service.
I honestly don't think the reason for this delay is refining code or ironing out bugs.
Everything was in place by the time they produced the demo, all they had to add was content. You only have to look at the SP game for HL to know that by content they aren't talking about 9 missions, 10 player-made multiplayer maps and some new weapons and models.
They're talking about a totally involving and lengthy story and sturdy net-code for multiplayer, with a good 7 quality DM maps to start with. And Valve know how to make good MP maps. Snark-Pit, Bootcamp, Datacore and Stalkyard are examples of some of the finest DM maps ever created.
Only now you can move every object resident in the maps, so there is another dimension for them to impliment and refine.
I do agree it's a little frustrating, though. I simply cannot wait to batter some noob shitless with a radiator, or matress. Anyone who isn't excited by that proposition just ain't right in the head biggrin: