I quite like the MM, I find that you just need to crew form with a few friends and it's a lot more enjoyable, sometimes you get stacked matches, sometimes you find your other friends also in the queue and there's times, and often, where games is down to the wire.
It been more fun, games start sooner instead of waiting in lobby, giving the game a nickname, lobbies of Icarus, which some people prefer, but that's why we have custom games still.
I honestly barely look at the match list now, preferring to invite anyone who's in lobby or crew form (sometimes they have just 1-2 other people and you can merge up to form a full ship or two)
In a way, it's a good thing you came after, because then you can enjoy the game currently instead of marred by past experience.