Tried to log into Balmung last night around 7pm Pacific time.

Queue was at 1500+ (down from the 3700-4500 I have been seeing). Waited an hour, it never got below 1000 in that time. At that point I closed the game, and went and did something else with my life.

Did the forced downtime reduce the queue? Yep. Did it help me get into the game. Newp.