Crashes and Anti DC Parties
Yes, I had that problem too, on occasion.
I think most people are just too lazy to start a group or invite you. Especially on maps that did not reach a high meta level (yet).
To get a group nonetheless, I usually just invite random people doing events with me. So far this worked well, and nobody complained yet.
As for other map responsiveness, it pays to taxi around to find a map with a more active map chat.
I’ve definitely noticed the eerie silence. Seeing 50+ people in a map and having silent/unresponsive map chat is weird.