Reopen Bamung, it is 7:30 AM for crying out loud

[Anapingofness]

I know I'll catch sh*t for saying this but it really sounds like people like the OP think SE is keeping them from making characters on Balmung on purpose. Well, in this case, it is OP's friends which are prevented from doing making characters on Balmung.
To be perfectly honest, it is a frustrating situation. Being able to play with your friends is awesome so when something like this happens it is very frustrating and disheartening.
While there is a legitimate reason to be frustrated it doesn't make the mentaly of people like OP a fairly selfish mentality. SE isn't doing this to spite you and your friends. =\

However, as others have said, Balmung is quite possibly the most populated server on the NA side of things. These sort of frustrations are expected.
Also, as others have stated, I would consider a different server if this is becoming too frustrating for you. Alternatively, your friends and you can just do your best to stick it out.

Best of luck!

[Gemma]

All I can say is the RP community should keep hassling SE for an Official RP server. Having Balmung (a Legacy server) be the "unofficial RP server" is what makes it so crowded. You have the ppl that go there for the RP but you also have a lot of 1.0 players who don't want to leave the server they've been on for years. But I bet if SE came out tomorrow and was like "here's a server with the (RP) tag after it" That's where most if not all the roleplayers would go.

They had said awhile ago they would add one but then nothing happened. That's what I would do instead of making more threads about it constantly being locked. Best of luck.

[Catwho]

I think you're right. Balmung is the most popular server in the NA data center, followed closely by Gilgamesh, and creating a character on there is nigh impossible. It's not just the bots, it's the fact that everyone hears what a great and active RP server Balmung is and decides in their heart of hearts that it's the server for them. But there are many other great servers that DON'T have the high population problem. Unless you're hardcore into role playing, there really is no reason to go to Balmung or Gilgamesh at all.

Balmung's high population is making it harder to play the game, too. I saw the total wipe to Odin that got splashed all across Tumblr the other day. So many dead bodies... presumably because the thousand or so people in the zone trying to kill him caused everyone to lag out terribly.

[Hyrist]

All I can say is the RP community should keep hassling SE for an Official RP server. Having Balmung (a Legacy server) be the "unofficial RP server" is what makes it so crowded. You have the ppl that go there for the RP but you also have a lot of 1.0 players who don't want to leave the server they've been on for years. But I bet if SE came out tomorrow and was like "here's a server with the (RP) tag after it" That's where most if not all the roleplayers would go.

They had said awhile ago they would add one but then nothing happened. That's what I would do instead of making more threads about it constantly being locked. Best of luck.

RP is split between two servers, actually. Gilgamesh also has crowding issues. I'm guessing having a fairly large RPing community is the cause for both of them, as Gilgamesh is not a Legacy Server.

[Noshpan]

Balmung and Gilgamesh are not the only servers suffering from this problem. There are other servers that are often barred from creating new characters, even when the list says that they are available. Behemoth, Leviathan, Exodus, every Legacy server, these are the popular servers that people want to make new characters on. And as much as I would love to introduce new players to this game, I don't bother because I'm not going to force them to wait until Behemoth and Leviathan are available.

Someone suggested free transfers, thing is, that tends to not help alleviate the issue. Sure, it can but it won't because the number of people transferring off of a capacity server is far less than those transferring to (or creating) other servers. Blizzard has tried this tactic multiple times over the past decade with minimal success.

Be that as it may, I keep in mind that the budget that Square Enix has allocated for FFXIV isn't as vast as the budget Blizzard has allocated for World of WarCraft. I'm pretty sure that the FFXIV staff is doing what they can with the budget constrains, just as I am sure that there is more that they wish that they can do. Perhaps they will add more servers once this rumored EU data center is in place?

[Velox]

The RP community should just come together and focus their resources on making Zalera the RP server. Its population is low enough that it will be open for a long, long time. Instead everyone wants to cram onto the same server as the legacy population and then bitch about everyone cramming onto the same server.

[tocsin]

if you try, right before or after maintenance, it is open every single time.

I made a new char on both balmung and gilgamesh like 3 days ago in this way. its open for almost 15 minutes, so its easy.

We shouldn't have to jump through so many hurdles just to get their characters made on a sever. Why isn't SE banning these bots? This is disgusting and I'm considering just telling my friends to not worry about subscribing, and I'm considering not renewing my subscription because I can't play with my friends.

please do this. Helps to alleviate a problem, and creates a spot for someone that actually wants to play, rather than complaining.

[Chihaya]

Balmung is too populated, it is locked as it should be.

as someone who has worked with gaming servers on MMO's

Then you should also know leaving server population unchecked - having some server with extremely high populations and some servers with extremely low populations does not work very well either. High population puts heavy strains on the servers - as looking at launch day issues with many big name MMOs, unable to connect - or massive lag/disconnects during game play because the server just cannot handle it. Some companies choose to put log-in queues to alleviate this problem - ArchAge where you wait over 2hrs to log on. As Balmung already have log in queues every night as well as pretty much majority of the day during weekends - I do not want to see an increase to this.

EDIT: Using your subscription as a threat is piss poor attitude. All the developers hate it when certain players are using the "I'm paying you money so do what I want" attitude. They also have other customers to think about, not just you. Think of your problem this way - do they just want to please the hundred(?) of players wish to join an overcrowded server or please the tens of thousands of player already on the server with smoother game play.

[SarkdenTepes]

You must be a spoiled little princess. You won't be missed, but your slot will be happily enjoyed by someone who wants to enjoy the game.

[kyuven]

Think of your problem this way - do they just want to please the hundred(?) of players wish to join an overcrowded server or please the tens of thousands of player already on the server with smoother game play.

This is also the Japanese way of looking at things and probably why they haven't had free transfers off balmung yet, even though at this equivalent time in the game's life, WoW did (though again, they had the enormous budget to allow it and more than two hyper congested servers to deal with). Of course counter THAT with the fact that a lot of financial flop games like SWTOR did server MERGERS at this same point...well, life is complicated.
While yes, the best option would be to allow transfers off servers that are locked, it wouldn't necessarily make the problem go away.
Being on a smaller server is a unique experience. I get to sit back and watch as people try to cram into the FFXIV equivalent of Times' Square on New Years and just laugh.