Hello there - yes indeed in the EU region it's the same - you could almost hear the wind blowing while you stood there a few weeks ago.
Lately things have improved quite a lot though, so all I can suggest is trying at different times of the day, if possible, as other from different world regions will be coming online. From recent experience, late afternoon GMT timezone onwards to early morning is good, as then you'll have players from Canada and the Americas online.
Hope that helps - otherwise have a read through the forums for posts by players who give their availability times on the platform ID threads.