I regularly come across players or entire teams in Ramones who are clearly able to run around before the starting timer has finished.

This lets them position at the center of the map before regular characters are even finished with their initial battle stance animation.

Is this a bug, an official gameplay mechanic, just a really bad result of lag, or sign of a hack/bot application bypassing the user input block?

If it is the latter-most, is video evidence enough to report cheaters?

Thanks.

Hey,
these are players who play via emulator, such people can bypass the block via arrow keys or WASD and start running earlier.

Wouldn't call that a bug or cheat, but you're right and it gives them an advantage.