As a programmer and DBA (who's also run private MMO servers in the past) I don't see why there should be unresolvable technical issues with regards a merge, sure it would take time and resources and it's down to yourselves to decide whether the expense involved is worth it for the sake of saving a large percentage of long term subscriptions, personally I think the decision not to merge and keep the characters as they are is somewhat short-sighted and you'll lose out big time in the long run as a result.
With regards making it easier for newer players - I was a relatively new player having restarted Ryzom with a new character about 18 months ago (previously I was a guild member within the opposite faction), and I would much rather start the game with the help of established high level guild members, it's the fact that everyone starts from square one that primarily puts me off re-subbing because I can't face a hard tough grind with only similar level players around to assist and no higher level players available to run treks for newbies. My other reason for not re-subbing is that I just can't see the game surviving this in the long term with the number of long-term players you're going to lose and I don't fancy putting any more time and effort into something that may well be in its last days.
I really think you ought to reconsider investing into a merge that will keep the existing characters intact if you want the game to survive
With regards making it easier for newer players - I was a relatively new player having restarted Ryzom with a new character about 18 months ago (previously I was a guild member within the opposite faction), and I would much rather start the game with the help of established high level guild members, it's the fact that everyone starts from square one that primarily puts me off re-subbing because I can't face a hard tough grind with only similar level players around to assist and no higher level players available to run treks for newbies. My other reason for not re-subbing is that I just can't see the game surviving this in the long term with the number of long-term players you're going to lose and I don't fancy putting any more time and effort into something that may well be in its last days.
I really think you ought to reconsider investing into a merge that will keep the existing characters intact if you want the game to survive