No, I get that it was not done. I get that they were focused on other aspects of the game and i'm extremely happy to be getting this book now. It's just the fan in me "wanting it all right now" if that make sense.
I for one am quite happy with the release schedule, especially being that I work in a FLGS and the time between releases has allowed us to sell multiple copies of all the releases. Adventures a little less so and I expect this will sell slightly less than those but by not sending out a deluge of material allows for people to get the word of mouth out about the quality of these books and therefore boosting sales in the long term.
Like I said, as a fan of the game I like books like this. Books about the settings and lore are some of my favorites and I hope that the next few releases are focused on other settings.
Ebberon, Dark Sun (Psionics could be introduced here) along with a Monster Manual. Maybe something along the lines of the Shadowfell/Ravenloft. Beyond that i'd love just more Qaulity adventures. I could see them perhaps having a schedule of release that involved some smaller modules that aren't just "Adventure Leaguge" exclusive material.
Another thing I will say is, as a fan of the old adventure "Boxed Sets" I would have loved to see those over the HC versions. A nice packaged Box set that included more material than the Starter Set. Give us a "Setting Book" for the players and DM, an nice "Adventure Book" for the DM and some higher quality full size color maps.
Other than all that, no real complaints from me. I'm quite happy with everything about 5e at this point.
