Sent it to the Devs and got it confirmed that the new (lobby) system will have some fixes for late joiners so the timer doesn't hurt them.
Although it may not be the excact solution, I guess the problem has been thought through and it may be fixed in the next patch (which should be some time before 2015).
so the patch along with matchmaking? I know the timer is going to change with matchmaking, but I hadn't heard anything about how the timer works for late joiners.
they've been suggesting an early october release for matchmaking if things stay on target. that's why I'm a little confused by the vague "before 2015".
I think that was because Mr Disaster didn't know that little tidbit XD
But yeah, the match timer increases when people join late. In the last test where I saw this happen, it reset to 60 seconds, but I think it's different now. Not sure. Generally though, unless people are leaving the room all the time, it should be full by the 120 second mark or sooner, so this won't even be an issue.