I think most of us presume it was a joke to get us riled up, but there isn't really any sure way of knowing unless Badspot or Rotondo tells us.
It was definitely not a joke, that'd be extremely stuffty of us to do.
We just made the mistake of announcing a feature before it was 100% set in stone.
At the time it seemed like a sure thing, which is why we thought there'd be no harm in talking about it.
I'm pretty sure Badspot or I mentioned this somewhere, where we lamented talking about it so early before it was fully planned out.