There is a valid (but expensive) alternative, I had a friend who couldn't make a character. Instead he rolled a character on Gilgamesh and transferred it over to Balmung, it seems that the transfers aren't affected by the lockdown (as otherwise stated on the official site). As such he managed to transfer whilst the server was still locked, though he did transfer in the EU afternoon so, very early morning for yous. Though from what I can tell it's not the lockdown on creation that affects transfers. The catch is that the character has to be 3 days old (24hrs x3) and then it costs money.
And then you must pray that you do not get caught behind error 401 as my other friend has :/
And then you must pray that you do not get caught behind error 401 as my other friend has :/