could load balance at character creation thusly:
give them a questionnaire before the server selection screen that asks if they want pvp or normal, with a brief explanation of how they differ and then whether they want quick create or manual select. explain that quick creation will try to place them on a server layer with the best chances of avoiding login queues. and that manual selection may result in long login queues.
with quick creation, the system could survey where the population was needed the most and least, and place the player accordingly, thus load balancing.