Not sure either. I had found a solution last week in the Advanced mode with minimal lag but then SD added Big Team and changed the modes. The matchmaking seems to search for bots and human mix rather than just human. Seems almost by design. Or in fact, by design which I'd prefer just humans and no bots. But, having bots available speeds up overall matchmaking. I really do know 100% that the key with Brink is having friends on playing. You will automatically be joined to friends playing by design. I love Brink, but also feel that it will be a game that goes through some growing pains, patches, and tweaks to optimize it. I think it tried to do so much innovation that there's some tweaking needed to iron it all out.