Welcome to Eorzea! And roleplay within it as well :3 If you love those kinds of stories, then your going to adore the main story. Even if it's a bit slow to start at first, once it starts rolling your going to be in for a riiiiide.
As for your questions, I shall do my best to help!
How open is everyone to a new player in the group?
It rather depends on the group your with, some are super welcoming of new player and others are not so much. Best advice would be to ask any Free Company (guilds) your looking into joining if they would be alright with someone new, and would be open to helping you learn the ropes and offer a helping hand.
As far as the general population however? I've only come across people who are welcomeing of newbies, and are even excited to know that we have fresh faces to the community and the game in general. So as far as general walk-ups go? I think you'll be alright
How easy is it to transfer to Balmung?
Very easy. Your characters just need to be three days old (72hours) and finished the first few quests with the adventurer's guild within the main city. After that it's about 20$ to tranfer a character, but here is the good part. You get to transfer up to 8 characters, who are on the same server, at the same time for no additional cost! And considering Your characters will all get a free fantasia as your first veteran reward. That means you have 7 potential alts alongside your main already on balmung when you want/need them. And if you name them all after names already taken on balmung. That's a free name change for each of them as well!
Does everyone get really strict on naming conventions?
Some do, some don't It honestly depends on the person. Thankfully there is a really handy set of name generators out there to help you! Such as this hyur one here.Â
How far can I get being lore handicapped?
Quite far. The MSQ (Main story quests) teach you A LOT about the world around you, and various aspects of it. By 50, you should have a pretty solid grasp on the basics, and be able to learn the rest on your own through RP with various different characters. Or by chatting with people if your curious about aspects.
As for your questions, I shall do my best to help!
How open is everyone to a new player in the group?
It rather depends on the group your with, some are super welcoming of new player and others are not so much. Best advice would be to ask any Free Company (guilds) your looking into joining if they would be alright with someone new, and would be open to helping you learn the ropes and offer a helping hand.
As far as the general population however? I've only come across people who are welcomeing of newbies, and are even excited to know that we have fresh faces to the community and the game in general. So as far as general walk-ups go? I think you'll be alright
How easy is it to transfer to Balmung?
Very easy. Your characters just need to be three days old (72hours) and finished the first few quests with the adventurer's guild within the main city. After that it's about 20$ to tranfer a character, but here is the good part. You get to transfer up to 8 characters, who are on the same server, at the same time for no additional cost! And considering Your characters will all get a free fantasia as your first veteran reward. That means you have 7 potential alts alongside your main already on balmung when you want/need them. And if you name them all after names already taken on balmung. That's a free name change for each of them as well!
Does everyone get really strict on naming conventions?
Some do, some don't It honestly depends on the person. Thankfully there is a really handy set of name generators out there to help you! Such as this hyur one here.Â
How far can I get being lore handicapped?
Quite far. The MSQ (Main story quests) teach you A LOT about the world around you, and various aspects of it. By 50, you should have a pretty solid grasp on the basics, and be able to learn the rest on your own through RP with various different characters. Or by chatting with people if your curious about aspects.
 Want Rp? Send a whisper in-game, pm, or check out the links below! 
