I know you've been making progress on your current server, but maybe it's time to consider moving to a server that's flourishing more than your current one.

I have a friend on my server who decided to swap servers because of his old server's issues and I think he's much happier in my server now, and seeing how we recently got merged, our combined server is really much more lively.

However, I don't think your server seems to have much chance of a merge until many months later, which by then you'll lose all interest to play. Dying servers are sadly common, so perhaps it's a better idea to move to one with more life, even if it means starting all over. Maybe if you make friends you can ask for an account that isn't in use anymore as well, then you won't be completely starting over.