Hi! Welcome to the RPC!
Balmung is almost always locked, unfortunately. ...lots of dicussions on it. Your best chances are getting in for free are usually tied to the occasional server crash or trying to get into the server the moment maintenance ends. (And it ends early OFTEN!) Otherwise, there are some growing communities on other servers and there's also server transfers. If you're paying monthly subscription, you can transfer up to 8 characters from one server to another under the same server transfer fee. ...so if you like alts or want placeholders, I'd recommend doing a mass-transfer instead of a single character. ...better use of money.
There are a few old linkshells that were based on Midgardsomr, although I can't vouch for how active they are, if they still exist. (They were all pulled from our archived Linkshells section)
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=13425
Highwind Skybandits
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=3116
Coalition OOC [OOC Hub]
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=6613
An Unshakable Faith
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=5582
Society for Eorzean Archaeology
Regarding Gladiators, these here's a little bit to go on to help get you started.
-Gladiator Lore
-Gladiator Roleplayer Directory
-Race Lore (if you need it!)
Regarding your character's name, you might be interested in Doman lore. They are Edo-period Japanese-themed, and you should be able to get away with a Japanese-sounding name. ...I'll have to dig for a link at a later time if you're not able to find any threads. (there should be many). I do know a handful of people that have in-character names different from their in-game nameplate. Don't feel like you are required to have them be the same, although many people tend to do so.
Balmung is almost always locked, unfortunately. ...lots of dicussions on it. Your best chances are getting in for free are usually tied to the occasional server crash or trying to get into the server the moment maintenance ends. (And it ends early OFTEN!) Otherwise, there are some growing communities on other servers and there's also server transfers. If you're paying monthly subscription, you can transfer up to 8 characters from one server to another under the same server transfer fee. ...so if you like alts or want placeholders, I'd recommend doing a mass-transfer instead of a single character. ...better use of money.
There are a few old linkshells that were based on Midgardsomr, although I can't vouch for how active they are, if they still exist. (They were all pulled from our archived Linkshells section)
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=13425
Highwind Skybandits
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=3116
Coalition OOC [OOC Hub]
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=6613
An Unshakable Faith
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=5582
Society for Eorzean Archaeology
Regarding Gladiators, these here's a little bit to go on to help get you started.
-Gladiator Lore
-Gladiator Roleplayer Directory
-Race Lore (if you need it!)
Regarding your character's name, you might be interested in Doman lore. They are Edo-period Japanese-themed, and you should be able to get away with a Japanese-sounding name. ...I'll have to dig for a link at a later time if you're not able to find any threads. (there should be many). I do know a handful of people that have in-character names different from their in-game nameplate. Don't feel like you are required to have them be the same, although many people tend to do so.