Hmm. I am on Primal and the Maelstrom GC as well and have the exact same issues. It's impossible to go in with eight people, and even when I go in with just my boyfriend the queue can sometimes take 30 minutes. I wish parties had the "queue in progress" option too. I have also had it where I would get into a game and there would be a ton of spots left to fill but a friend who would be queued as in progress would not get the spot... so I'm leaning towards there may be some DF/matchmaking issues too.