Let's take a look at this objectively real quick. When I get into a match I look at a few things:

1) Did I get in at the start of the match or am I being thrown in as filler for someone else that already left? (players usually don't leave battles they are winning)
2) How badly are we outnumbered? (this should never be a factor in the start of a match)
3.a) What does the other team look like; are they mostly comprised of squads?
3.b) What does my team look like; are they mostly comprised of academy freshies? (I can't be expected to lead people to victory as a veteran when I have no way of communicating with them)
5) What is the state of the map when I join; are most of the objectives red? (why should I be expected to fight an uphill battle and/or pickup the slack for the rest of my team?)

Truth be told there are some matches that just aren't worth the trouble. There is no incentive to fighting a losing battle except for some e-bushido and kudos. Pub matches are a little different because you still get an ISK reward for it in the end, so you can maybe run BPO suits and come out with a profit but it's probably going to be a grueling experience due to the lack of performance from your gear. Faction Warfare is a completely different story as there is very little incentive to fighting those losing battles - the lack of a matchmaker (note that I don't think this should change) means that a bunch of academy freshies can join in and not have a freaggin clue of what they're doing. I just left a match in which a player was trying to shoot me with a Swarm Launcher.

So when you get into an FW match in which your team is pulled randomly from the que, you're sometimes subject to one-sided fights. But what benefit is there to stay? You get dramatically less LP, no standings gains, and 40% of your ISK loss. With the time you'd spend doing that you'd be better off waiting for another match that might be in your favor, and thusly people leave early. This isn't even touching on the fact that it is just a horrible experience to spend the majority of the match spawning/walking around without getting anything accomplished.

Punishing players for leaving is -NOT- going to solve these problems, it'll just make them turn off the PS3 and go do something else. If I have to throw out a collateral for a battle that I get screwed in, or if I have to sit and wait for a timer to expire before I get into another match, you can bet your ass I'm not going to be playing this game much anymore - I'll go find something better to do. There needs to be more incentive to stick with the battle from beginning to end, more value in actually fighting. Give players a -REASON- to stick around, don't give them -MORE REASONS NOT TO-.

What it comes down to is a simple question: WHY should I stay in the battles I know aren't going to be in my favor?

Instead of trying to fix the match maker (which has had a negative effect if the forums are any clue) maybe we should be looking at what incentives there are to actually staying in a match that is primarily affecting the things that are important to us: Stats, wallets, time, enjoyability, and personal feeling of accomplishment.