Allow Free Transfers For All Servers

Evening GMT? EST? PST? All time zones?

US server... US time zones.

... which is a 4 hour spread. Meaning when people in PST are getting on and ready to start groups/raids/whatever people in EST are getting ready to stop and log...

I'm really not sure what you are trying to prove/accomplish unless it is to be able to log in and be the only tank online capable of tanking X thus being revered by the dps around you.

A 4 hour spread ain't a big deal at all, so

unless its to show you have no idea how to find a group.

I can see that, which tells me Crushbone has a viable population.

However the following US servers either are not viable or are at the least highly questionable:
Butcherblock
Guk
Permafrost
Unrest

Loots to me if you combined Guk/Permafrost and Butcherblock/Unrest, then yes, all US servers would be healthy again.

I left the non-US servers off the list, as they present some higher challenges.

So combine all 4 into one or 1 + 1 into 2? Not my call, it still doesn't address the OP wanting to merge ALL the servers regardless if they need it or not.

Enough with the server merge crap already. If you seriously believe that this magic idea that has ruined multiple attempts at fixing it the correct way when the company was decently staffed will work this time you are sadly mistaken. Pros and cons with consideration of how many dev teams are actually left. This will create more problems including the ones above and smashing everyone together to destroy all of the markets. Only pro i can even see to a server merge would be competition for contested encounters which only affect the top tier. There is nothing unique in the game anymore to keep interest other than some items/mounts created to entice the heart of a child. Between that and the FTP accounts this game will sink faster than you can repair it. Enjoy it while it lasts and make your decision about whether you want to fund the "Next" Day Broken Game.

Have you ever tried to move toons between servers? I have and a game gives you an option to rename your toon if the same name exists already. So no x really required.

Add to it everfrost too please

As unpopular as it may seem people have been lamenting about a lack of groups since the early days of EQ Live. Even when they had to split servers because of over population, there were still numerous threads complaining there were no groups to be found.

Now when you consider that the bulk of players are deemed to be casual in nature, what do those proposing Mega-Servers feel that the result will be? They might be correct in assuming that they will have 5x-10x the amount of raiders and groupers available to them, but what will happen to the rest of the population?

Some of us, get this, actually enjoy solo/duo/small group of friends play. Do you think we will stand in line like the angry passengers of Airplane waiting to swat a mob and explore a dungeon? Unless they were to instance the majority of interesting dungeons in the game, one could forget about visiting them if the usual crowd that often occupies them now is increased even further. Mind you, this is the content that so many claim is never used by players, even though almost every alternate my wife and I have raised has passed by the majority of them. That's because their being wiped from front to back in short order by an over-powered alternate with a Mercenary of small group of players mentored down to either help a friend or farm a dungeon.

The problem with the suggestion of one time free transfers offered is that no one can predict the outcome. For example, 500 players might opt to transfer to Server "X" while 750 more leave because they liked the population as it was.

Renaming my toon is not an option. Period.

Not as cut and dry as you might think based on the arguments presented when they did so in the past on this and other games:

1. I've got a long standing paid account and Fluffy is my level 10 character that I love, for whatever reason. Does the level 100 named Fluffy moving in deserve that name more? Easy answer, right?
2. The level 100 "Fluffy" was created 2 months before my "Fluffy", but on a different server. You moved here, not me? Why should I lose my name?
3. The level 10 "Fluffy" is just a friggin mule, I should lose my hard earned name and reputation to that player?
4. Level 10 "Fluffy" was named after my cat who saved a troop of wandering minstrels that were lost at a Renaissance Festival who has since passed on. If I lose that name, I will forever be scared and rage quit the game.
5. I came back to the game after "x" amount of time and "Fluffy" is now "Fluffyx"; forget me subscribing.

So yeah, it's really not so simple, cut & dry!

Yes it is. Move letters around so the name still sounds fluffy. Problem solved.

Then quit. You see I can say something with period too. Like you. No compromises either.

I guess it really depends on the person. Personally if I had to name change a character that I have had for 10 years and everyone knows me by, I would be pretty upset.

Not disagreeing with your logic, but simply stating that there were pages upon pages of arguments over the issue in the past. Some people are far more passionate about their names than others.

I would love to see how you feel about 2 servers when they are supporting a phantom sea 16 and the servers crash every 20 mins because they simply can't take the load. Raiders would crash each others zones as it happened with Drinal in the past. 5-10 guilds sitting out at AoM/PP entrance forming up to attempt avatars. That will sure fix everything. But hey maybe if we get 40% of the pop to quit due to having an "X" after their name it might actually even out.

I always had people say they were never gonna group with me cause I was mean. I told them I don't care cause I still run what I want.
And I did! Make the group, run the zone. But yea populations have gone down, you can spend more time making a group than running the zone the group was designed for.

I never understood the whole concept of it
>>> guy A says less people less lag, better raiding.
Personally having played this game for so long, I lagged in the beginning when we had alot more people, and I lagged near the end when we have 1/4 the people. So I am pretty sure the servers themselves could hold more people without the lag increase to an unplayable level. Unless they decided to go backwards in technology.

You claim you have been playing so long so by that statement alone you should have recognized how many times it took to correct the login servers, how many times the servers have crashed since AoM, and how many day after day patches there have been. Proof is in the pudding, I mean if you honestly think now more then ever after the migration that the population going beyond AB level is gonna work I don't know how else to break it down for you being on that "high" pop server since the AoM dropped.

1. Make server transfer tokens free for a limited time or for subscribers only, or both.
2. Deal with mergers later for the people that don't want to go or don't log in.

I've suggested similar approaches as the OP for about 5 years now. It is the CHIEF complaint on several servers. Yet, there's a handful of people that prefer having less than a 100 players online at the same time on their servers. It is far easier to give out transfer tokens than it is to merge servers, primarily because of guild halls and the fits people have that can't create an original name, getting tagged with an x. Free transfer tokens = player on demand action and forces the player to come up with a different name if it is already taken.

You could easily merge all PVE US servers into 2 servers and that still wouldn't rival the population that once was online at the same time. And, yes, I was here at launch, the servers most certainly could handle it without a major lag issue.