chickenfeather wrote:
That would be nice, but then they'd have to find a way to resolve naming conflict...
I use to play Final Fantasy Online and the probability of having a successful server transfer isn't complicated and is easy to produce. Name conflicts is easily fixable. If your name is already taken on the server you wish to transfer, the game would force you to rename your charater(s), otherwise you will not be able to transfer.
The issue of imbalance on new servers wouldn't be an issue if you restrict transferring to any new server(s) for a pending amount of time. Such as waiting for the server to mature. Too many SoX items on one server? Restrict the possibility in transferring SoX items. Only allowing regular items.
Gold inflation? Not a problem. The game is already inflated. Concerning of new servers that have matured and aren't inflated, then restriction of gold amount on transfer can be administered. You can put a lot of restrictions on anything to make sure a server isn't potentially imbalanced - possibly even removing the possibility of transferring gold. The advantage of transferring to another server allows you to play with people you couldn't have before. Or to populate a underpopulated server (when merging servers isn't the right choice)
Although is this going to happen? Doubt it. But Joymax could charge 25 USD just like Square Enix (potential money!). Placing a 90 days restriction on any follow-up transferring to remove the potentiality of trafficking of items from one server to another. There's lots of ways to make this idea happen.
I'd imagine the foolproof way to stop imbalance is forcing people to transfer naked