Can we do without Random Server Assignments?

As so many are already discussing (and it seems, shockingly, that the community as a whole agrees), hiding the server names and killing lists and Linkshells already threatens to cause confusion and issues trying to keep contact when transferring. But there's another issue: random server assignments after March.

I've got friends who are intending to come back with 2.0, or even within the next few months, but can't, due to simple FFXIV/MMO burnout, life situations, or financial issues. According to the given info, "Players who do not select a destination World during this period will be automatically distributed across the Worlds."

It sounds as if anybody who is not subbed for that time period will be randomly thrown to a server. We're already losing Linkshells and Friend Lists, and now, any returning players over the summer or for 2.0 will find themselves potentially chucked a world away from their friends.

For those of us who are subbed, this isn't a problem, and I know some people will respond: "Well, they should have been loyal and stuck around, forget anybody who didn't."

But this is a fairly standard process in today's MMO world. It's common, in cases of this nature, for returning players to simply receive a dialog box when logging back in for the first time requesting a world change. It just seems like yet another unnecessary hurdle when it comes to communicating and forging bonds, and entirely against standard conventions.