Frankly, it's not sad. It's the price of quality and hard work - especially if it's done in one's spare time. Would I prefer that the game had quicker releases? Of course, like everyone else. But if the consequence is burnout on TD and GIL, or an impact on the game quality, then I disagree. The alternative (same content and quality in less time) is just wishful thinking.
Sorry if I sound abrasive, but this is a pet peeve of mine. I'm a software consultant, and I cannot even remember how many times I've been asked to speed up the release time of my software ("You estimate this feature will take 20 man/days... That's too much, can't we settle for 10 man/days?"), as if it had no consequences on my well-being or the software quality.
Software development, especially when writing and art is involved, is not a souk, where you can haggle for better prices. There is no magical formula, or modern development technique, to speed up a game release for free. Also, adding more people in a process, or splitting a release in multiple chunks, has an intrinsic overhead and cost, that the developers / writers may not want to pay. And good for them.