I’d logged in a couple of times earlier and been the only person in the game. I did have a friend light me in their constellation while I was cr-ing, but I never got a chance to see them (this person often logs on for really short times though).

A peek at libreddit confirmed that there is a server issue and this was pretty much game wide.

I logged in again now, and was alone for a good half hour. Just finishing up geyser when I finally merged with some other people! 🎉😂

On the one hand, I really appreciated the emptiness and not having other people suddenly flash bang you or get in your way, but it also highlighted how much cooperation there actually is in the game - trying to do geyser and grandma alone was a real pain in the ass, and I had to skip big wax drops I knew I couldn’t do alone like the big plant in Sanctuary or the 8 player door.

Glad it’s fixed now!