Bow and Longbow and Rus Bow (possibly Yumi. I've never used it) have a delay as well. I see no reason to remove it from the bows so why removed it from the xbows? Remove the preconceived notion of it being a gun that fires the moment you pull the trigger.
I actually have never played an archer, so I didn't know that. And yes, I know to compensate for the delay. My problem is when delay prevents firing on an oncoming cav right after reloading. Both Xbowmen AND Archers should be able to drop the shot as soon as the projectile is primed, not stand there while the cav knocks them over before they get a chance to fire due to delay. Both crossbows and bows have a natural delay: the time it takes to raise the weapon to shoulder or to draw back the bow.
Here is why your gun thing makes no sense to me: the primitive locking system of a medieval crossbow was a drop-away block.. So the greater tension of the string would tend to drop the block
faster. That it would delay as long as it is has nothing to do with the lack of springs and firing pins. For the record, bow delay makes EVEN LESS SENSE. As if a trained archer can't release his fingers when he intends to, but rather .5 sec later.
Just state: I believe the delay is still needed for balance. Don't make up horseshit about "preconceived notions."
Here is a short video about medieval crossbows. He reloads and fires a 200LB Xbow at 0:40. It looks just the same as a rifle with a two-stage trigger, he pulls it slowly so that he gets a clean break for maximum accuracy, but he could choose to sharply pull the trigger if something is very close.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxN0FZkYk78I understand that these historical/physics based arguments will not sway the CRPG developers. That doesn't mean I am wrong.
And regardless of the physics, I believe the delay is too long as-is, and is beyond what is required for balance in a skill-based game.
