My question is: What is it that I'm not understanding?
I'm really hesitant to be that twat shouting "Dead Game". We're still very fresh into a new release, I know that's not true. I can look up server population estimates. It's obviously not an accurate statment.
I am having a helluva time finding activity on the new maps. Commander/Mentor tags disappear seconds after I notice them. Events are over/failed by the time I arrive at the markers. Meta is consistently not getting completed. I hardly even cross paths with other players on these maps. They legit feel lonely and empty to me.
Yet when the daily is "Complete a renown heart" I can hop over to Kourna/Jahai and find activity no problem.
I'm on Gate of Madness fwiw. Is it my time zone/playtime? Are my expectations off? Am I just not getting how the new maps work?
I'm not looking to mindlessly follow a zerg for 100% of my playtime, but it's been really hard for me to do any of the content that isn't readily soloable. Despite what I know to be true (lots of folks are playing this expansion), what I'm able to observe is that I'm often the only player I see around these zones when I'm playing.
There are times where maps are not that full, because not many players are playing, which is perfectly normal. Your server has nothing to do with it, because GW2 uses mega servers, where all players from a region are basically on the same map instances. Your server is only relevant for wvw right now.
The game dynamically adds instances of a map, when more players join a map, to keep them at a better performance level. When players leave, instances close again. This is best visible when metas happen
You can have bad luck and get put in the "last" instance with the few remaining players, but that shouldn't happen that often. If you see are on a meta with few players check the lfg for maps with commanders, they are usually full of players.
The commanders/mentors you see are probably players temporarily activating their tag for a single rift/event and are not doing a longer rift hunt squad.