Here I was thinking I was getting ahead by purchasing the base game and the expansion for $22 on Steam when I should have just tied HW on to my garbage SE account and ate the immediate subscription.
Character creation is pretty much fucked on all but the dead/low-pop servers like Famfrit, Malboro, Bryn, Exodus, and Diabolos. Want to play on Leviathan with all your friends? Better pay for a transfer or fuck off!
Ugh.