Every NA/EU server is locked for new characters.Follow

They won't be opening. Not until they add new servers.

I'm not even sure they'll open then, honestly. You might end up having to create a new character on one of the new servers next week with your friend. Or play on a JP server.

My friend tried to create his character last night and said that all NA servers were locked (though he said the EU servers were available). He tried this morning before he went to work, and our server was open.

The list of servers where character creation is locked that SE has been posting 3 to 4 times a day seems to fluctuate. Certain servers get on the list and come back off from time to time, while other servers seem to always be on that list. I don't think anyone can predict when your particular server will be open for your friend to create his character.

Yeah around this time (5:35pm EST), all NA/EU servers are probably packed to the brim. EU is still in primetime and NAs are getting home from work if they hold the standard 9-5 job. However, EU servers will start opening soon because they'll be heading to bed. Good luck getting on any NA server tonight though.

For your friend, honestly his best bet would be to make a new character in the morning when he wakes up, before he goes to work. Since most NAs will be at either work or school, the servers will be wide open. Or, you can tell him to just wait until SE boosts all the servers and adds the new ones early next week (you did tell him about that, right?).

The character creation is tied to login. Hence, if you spam character creation you will get in the same as if you spam login. Not saying its ideal, but its how I created my character on ultros to play with my friends.