I pretty much agree with everything you say...I got a friend who can't join my server, I was lucky to get on my server during beta 4 only hours before they closed it down (and never reopened it since from what I can tell). I think more than anything, they're trying to find the sweet spot of their current servers (i.e. how many characters it can handle, how much of a waitlist it can handle, etc.).

So many people are starting to petition for free character transfers (either limited time or 1 per character), and I second this. Honestly, if they announced this RIGHT NOW, I think a lot of people would just create their characters on a server they know is working and play without friends for a few days.

And there shouldn't be much of a rush on the 27th, from what I've been hearing, the majority of players who will be playing are part of early access, very few 1.0 non legacy coming to play, I'd think.