Up until now, yes, events have almost been exactly the same. Last year, there were timeframes given for end of July (31 Jul), end of summer (22 Sep), and end of fall (21 Dec). In every case, Mark continued to state that they were ahead of, or on-schedule up until the day before. Once a few days passed after the deadline, they then kicked the can down the road and moved the date.
This is the 1st time that it was stated in the LTS (but I don't recall a previous LTS for the last few years), but it was previously stated in emails (for end of July), and the website / tweets (for end of summer and end of fall).
You can see the website stating the "Summer of 2018" here:
Sadly I've been reading old posts and it seems this is exactly the m o here. Also there were a lot of names posting then that don't talk about the ongoing shadiness with fins. Hmmmm Old timers just trying to get out maybe.