I think there will be a big difference here: everyone will be on the same page, so players would not feel being unfairly screwed.
I don't think you understand what makes people upset about this kind of thing at all.
First of all, no, everyone would not be on the same page. Just because you think it's a good idea doesn't mean everyone would, nor even that everyone would understand just what was happening.
Second of all, everyone would not be getting equal treatment, simply because that's totally impossible when restructuring maps in any way. One realm would have essentially no change, while another would suddenly have three other realms bordering theirs—which, depending on the relative sizes of the realms, could be a benefit or a serious detriment.
In short, it really is not possible to make any kind of major change to the way continents are structured—either merging or redrawing—without there being massive complaining, and probably a lot of people leaving the game.
