People don't talk much in /say and the starter cities are mostly afk mules. Most of the chatting done on Shiva is done by those in /shout or /yell in Jeuno or Adoulin. Not sure if its been said yet but keep your crystals for when you rank up and your beastmen seals. Unfortunately Bastock doesn't have many easy to repeat quests that will raise your fame like Windrust and Sandoria. Try and get bounding boots off from Leaping Lizzy as you can wear them for a loooong time. Weapon upgrades tend to be more important than armor. For non mages I would say armor if you're lacking on funds can be upgraded every 10 lvs. For mages you can stretch it to every 20 at lower levels. Try and keep you skills near if not at cap, because if they are too low then you will have a whiff fest or hit for 0. Also if a Mage your nukes will do the same or your debuffs will wear faster. If a healer then you will run out of mp faster because your cures won't be at cap. Sell things that don't sell for much on the AH at npcs. Right now I hate to say it but a good reason why it looks like no one is on Shiva is because the new zones are still shiney and is crack to so many of the older players.