For the record, you cannot transfer a character to a closed realm unless it reopens. So even if you give Square your money, you cannot go to Balmung unless you can also create characters there.

I've seen Sarg open off and on right after maint and between the hours of 3-6am, but I have never once seen Balmung open after the expansion. Is that the player's choice? What if all of their friends play on that server, as mine do? There's no battle tag system like Warcraft and no guesting system like GW2 and no megaserver system like ESO, so we're just... stuck playing without the people we want to play with?

It's easy for someone on the server of their choice to decry any suggested changes made to the system, sure, but new players and returning players who want to move are just... unsubbing or not subbing after their trial account at all.