I've been playing MMOs since EverQuest back in 2000. I don't remember exactly when server transfers became a viable option, but I do remember the first time I ever transferred servers. They were doing mergers on the majority of the servers and you were allowed a free transfer off of the merge. At that time I had started losing real life and in-game friends and my gaming experience was becoming very lonely. Now, in EQ there were "serverwide" (across all servers) channels, and I had made several friends there. With the chance to jump ship, I tried finding a new life that I could have more friends in and to get a leg up on some content that I had been sorely lacking in.


Skip to 2015 and here we are in FFXIV, where transfers are relatively cheap and there are a handful of servers with defining qualities. I've done four transfers across the span of my time with FFXIV. The reasons? Exactly the same as the ones I had in EverQuest. MMORPGs are about the community, and I'd transfer again to be with people that make me smile and laugh.

tl;dr - social aspects.