thats sorta what happens. the shared part of client and game look at the contents of where you are/were. the server has the main say in these matters.
the end result: that time behind till you hear that thump is also the time ahead that you pick up an item. you don't notice that in q2 too much but the 'overall' feel is that you get more of an instantaneous response when picking up or touching items. the client says "hey, i touched this!" the server says "yes, you did" or "nope, you didn't".
its just frustrating for flag runners to think they picked up the flag and instead see it respawn/hear it thump, so they notice it more often.
i could just take that away for the flag itself, but then you might not realize for a split second that you did indeed pick up the flag. that's the way it is in q2, q3 diehards will wonder a second. maybe. i dunno i'll debate it before release and just note it.
this is shaping up quickly now that this fucking roadbump is taken care of.
