Are any of the current preferred servers worth playing on

[Lilly32]

So Im returning to the game and havent played since level 50 was the cap. I figured Id just start on a new server and the gold star ones with bonus exp seem like a good place to start. I wanted to play on Aether but they dont currently have a preferred server. Crystal seems to be the only Data Center with bonus exp servers. I was looking over end game progression and Crystal is by far the worst collection of servers in the world. Do Coeurl, Zalera, Goblin, and Brynhildr even have decent populations with good communities? If I eventually want to raid should I just pick a non preferred server or will I just have to pay for a server transfer once I hit max level?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

You can transfer between servers ingame at will. You just go to the Ul'dah/Gridiania/Limsa aetheryte and pick which server on your data center you want to go to. You can raid with anyone else on your data center.

Right now, the server you create your character on only dictates your housing options (you can't buy plots on other servers) and which guilds you can join ingame.

If you want the road to 70 buff and housing options, pick a preferred server.

[The Casualty]

So Im returning to the game and havent played since level 50 was the cap. I figured Id just start on a new server and the gold star ones with bonus exp seem like a good place to start. I wanted to play on Aether but they dont currently have a preferred server. Crystal seems to be the only Data Center with bonus exp servers. I was looking over end game progression and Crystal is by far the worst collection of servers in the world. Do Coeurl, Zalera, Goblin, and Brynhildr even have decent populations with good communities? If I eventually want to raid should I just pick a non preferred server or will I just have to pay for a server transfer once I hit max level?

I have been on Zalera since patch 2.4 and have done just about every bit of high end content there is outside of Ultimates (parties are available, but my schedule prevents me from wanting to commit that much time on a weekly basis). I've had other members of the static I usually play in clear though and they did it with entirely people from our server.

My situation is not unique, but I will say before Zalera split from Aether to join Crystal, I knew plenty of people who moved to Gilgamesh because "that's where the raiders are". In every situation they did not accomplish their goal because if you weren't raiding before, switching servers isn't magically going to make it happen.

Personally I would pick whatever you fancy and find people who share your end game goals/dedication and develop a plan. You can accomplish it from any server or data center.

[Caperfin]

Im on Zalera. All good people but don't know how it compares to other though.