Empty lobbies

Can we get an official response if empty lobbies since 2.5 are intended? After 2.5 launched, we started getting into games with terrible ping and rubber banding, those had players in them but were unplayable due to terrible connection. Went into settings to see if my region got changed from EU to NA or something, and noticed a new setting called crossplay and matchmaking settings that had matchmaking priority set to default. Me and my duo changed it to connection quality, and many of our lobbies since then were empty. I dont know if this setting existed prior to 2.5, if it did i never fiddled with it, yet i constantly got full lobbies with good connection up until 2.5. The queue times were longer before, 3-5 minutes while now it almost always seems to find a game under 2 minutes, but as someone who enjoys PvP in this game thats not a tradeoff im willing to take. The loot in empty lobbies doesnt feel earned, and whats the point of it? To use it on another empty map? Im all for making this game more approachable to casual playerbase with PvE modes and casual PvP like deathmatch, but not at the expense of the extraction experience. I would like to get an official clarification if this matchmaking change was intended, and if it was I advocate for its reversal. Im willing to sit in queue for longer if it means i wont involuntarily be playing a PvE mode with one free kit squad sprinkled in every 2-3 games

Ive only played duo queue, since it came out

The only map i never encountered an empty lobby on is night march

Im from EU, and play around 10-11 pm CET