It is not new player friendly which is why the population is/has been slowing dwindling.
To put this plain and simple, it's too hard to level from 1-230 without cleric buffs the whole time because of the lack of population it's near IMPOSSIBLE to find a party to level with in any zone <lv200.
What do I propose to fix this problem?
-First there needs to be a way for players to level on their own without having to ask for buffs in junon constantly. I would suggest all new players from lv 1-125 should have a fairy with them that passive heals, gives a damage boost, and attack speed boost (something that'll help them solo.)
OR
Simply let players have a free 1 time per account boost to lv 100+ character with a 'starter' kit to help them out.
Also the amount of necessary item mall items needed to actually compete in pvp in this game is seriously out of hand. I think I did some quick math and just for all the passive skills in the item mall you need to spend over $100. There is no way to earn zulie in this game as a new player.
In order to fix this game in the long run something needs to be done to hold onto the new players. A server merge is 100% a temporary fix to the games population. I'm sure some old players will come back, but a lot of those players have friends or even accounts they can rely on.
We need to end the "please buff me" system in this game and focus on reverting the system to actually having players to party with in low level zones by keeping our newbie population playing.