Several questions, mostly regarding character transfer

Hello! So, I had initially put in a ticket with SE support but I just got an automated response that it was outside of the scope of the GM team and to post on the forum, so... here I am! Here's my situation, apologies that it is long winded:

I played in the original 1.0 beta and had preordered the 1.0 CE. I don't entirely remember the details, but there was some funniness about the first character I made, and after talking with a support representative, they ended up making me a second service account (which is the one that I currently use). I guess at the time, I had made a 1.0 character to confirm whatever the problem was, but never really played it I think? In any case, fast forward to today, and I really have a main character on Ragnarok with a lot of progress and a separate character on Sargatanas. I don't have as much playtime invested in the Sargatanas character (7 days of actual playtime), but I noticed that I still had that 1.0 character, which I had apparently made on Balmung. I loaded it up, and sure enough, I have the Meteor Survivor tattoo and the seemingly coveted Hermes Shoes.

So my questions are:

Is it possible to merge characters, like say, merge the legacy status and items onto either my character on Ragnarok or my character on Sargatanas?

If not, then, should I delete the character from Sargatanas and transfer the one from Balmung, will I be able to keep my name? Or will I have to change it since I had already made a character with that name on Sargatanas? Additionally, since it is a 1.0 character, is there any sort of discount on character transfer, or would I still be stuck fronting the 18 dollars? (Oof...)

And lastly, I know this is much too late, but is it possible to merge the two service accounts I have? It's not a big issue, but I know that at 1.0 launch when people were accidentally making multiple service accounts, they were able to merge them somehow.

Thank you very much!

Merging service accounts I think can be done not 100% sure but as for merging characters no that is not possible and no there no discount for transfer regardless if it legacy or not.

Sorry, but you can't merge service accounts or move a character from one service account to another. Although I don't work for SE, I've seen the same questions asked many times over the past 3 years and never once have I heard of it ever happening, sorry! You can do things like request a transfer of service if you put it on the wrong account (like Heavensward if it was applied to wrong account for example), but nothing like what you're asking.

Regarding changing worlds, when you put in the transfer request it checks at this point if the name is already taken on the server and if so will force a name change when you actually login. So you will need to rename (for actual money from mogstation) your existing character first, or delete it. Then do the transfer. As long as your character name isn't on the banned list (which is apparently constantly expanding, but doesn't affect existing characters), it should let you keep the old name. Or you could just transfer it and be aware it will make you change.

Oh and the transfer fee is the same regardless of legacy status, sorry!

Edit: I know you didn't ask this, but just to clarify in case you're not aware, but if you want to play with a character on service account 1 and also characters from service account 2, you'll need to pay 2 separate subscriptions each month (as well as buy expansions twice etc).

Thank you both! The merging of service accounts isn't necessary or anything, it's just kind of annoying anytime I go into Mog Station because... well, it's there, and superfluous.

Good to have reassurance on the name thing, though! Do you know if there's any time period to wait? Like, should I delete the character on Sargatanas, wait till server reset, and then make the transfer? (I have no qualms about deleting the Sargatanas character, I just want to make sure that when I make the transfer, I'll be able to get my name -- I've heard stories where people transferred their characters before deleting the old character, then deleted the old one, but the transfer still couldn't take the old name, purportedly because they didn't delete the old character before actually initiating the transfer).

As far as I know, once deleted the name becomes available immediately (assuming name isn't now on the banned list as mentioned above). I have no first hand experience of this though, just what I've seen people say. May want to give it at least a few minutes just to be sure. Possibly check the mogstation too. Once that's all updated/it's gone from there it should be safe in game (in theory!).

And yes the people who transfer and are forced to change still are because the check for the name is done at the point of the transfer, not when you try and login after transfer. Once a name change operation has been triggered on a character it can't be aborted, even if the name you have is still available (and it will make you change, can't try and save the same name).