My advice (is personal opinion, don't take too deathly seriously):
Roll a, for now, level 1 alt on a couple of the alternative servers that stick out to you as the most interesting. Spend a couple of hours on each, at your prime playtime, scouting about and seeing what you can find RP-wise. If you want to, you can reach out to linkshells through the RPC, too.
The key thing you're looking for: roleplayers that don't all know each other. This is a sign of a community that's on its way to longer-term stability. But if you just find one group, and you have fun with them, then that's certainly something to consider strongly as well.
Once you've found "your people", decide whether you want to transfer or level your alt. My personal recommendation is to level the alt - transfer fee is still £, and you'll find questing goes much faster the second time (because you can skip cutscenes and not bother to read the dialogue, plus you already know where all the objectives are). So your time wasn't wasted - it was spent practicing.
Don't wait for Balmung. A quick look at the numbers tells us it's going to be a long time before it opens, and you have roleplay to enjoy! Go out there and find it!
Roll a, for now, level 1 alt on a couple of the alternative servers that stick out to you as the most interesting. Spend a couple of hours on each, at your prime playtime, scouting about and seeing what you can find RP-wise. If you want to, you can reach out to linkshells through the RPC, too.
The key thing you're looking for: roleplayers that don't all know each other. This is a sign of a community that's on its way to longer-term stability. But if you just find one group, and you have fun with them, then that's certainly something to consider strongly as well.
Once you've found "your people", decide whether you want to transfer or level your alt. My personal recommendation is to level the alt - transfer fee is still £, and you'll find questing goes much faster the second time (because you can skip cutscenes and not bother to read the dialogue, plus you already know where all the objectives are). So your time wasn't wasted - it was spent practicing.
Don't wait for Balmung. A quick look at the numbers tells us it's going to be a long time before it opens, and you have roleplay to enjoy! Go out there and find it!