A lot of the more active members of the community have moved on from the server, mainly to pursue a more hardcore raiding environment (to Ragnarok, Odin etc.). I recently came back from a 5 month or so hiatus and I have to say the server would probably feel rather dead to someone with no connections here. There are a lot of micro-communities in the form of Linkshells and Free Companies but people tend to keep to their own circles a lot. The server is still full of lovely people but you may have to go out of your way to find them.

Good for a fairly casual experience as it is right now. Raiding scene leaves a lot to hope for but it seems to be slowly resuscitating with new groups popping up left and right.