I do not know anything about this Combo project, but what makes you think they actually have a reputation to protect, don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that i know for sure that they aren't going to pay bounty participants, but what i know is that bounty projects fail to pay their bounty participants more often than not. What makes Combo a large and reputable project?
This was concluded through the leading partners that Combo cooperated within their Ecosystem and the vast communities of their project on social networking sites. Their currency is listed on many of the leading exchange platforms in the market, Do you think that if they did not have a reputation, clear goals, and a track record of achievements, would their applications for listing on these exchange platforms be accepted? 
You can check out their documents, website, CMC, and social media, and you can finally judge whether this project is large and has a reputation or not:
[1] https://combonetwork.io/
[2] https://docs.combonetwork.io/introduction/overview
[3] https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/combo-network/
My conclusion does not mean that I am defending them; this is just what I discovered about them, and their success in distribution and payment in the end is what will determine whether my conclusion is correct or wrong.
Well, we do not know what will happen in the future regarding payments but you are right participants should at least have patience. I would advise unhappy participants to explore options with the bounty manager via PM before creating what essentially could end up being unnecessary threads. There is no need to take a premature decision.
Yes, I agree entirely with you, sir 