I've appeared from the shadows to say, while that backread was shitastic, the thread can stay as long as it gets mildly sort of back on topic. I pruned some reported posts, but ignored most of the reports.
I don't know jack about Shiva, but I'd think for a returning player that really wanted to relearn the game, they'd want to figure out how to play again. Whether that be through in game things or LUAs or whatever you crazy kids do now, it'd probably be best to get into an atmosphere where they can do it at the pace that they want. I'm a slow learner imo, so I like to be alone and figure some stuff out on my own, and then consult forums/wikis for things that I cannot.
Which was probably my favorite thing about going to Sylph. I originally transferred just to play with Lina some, but that quickly went the way of the dodo. All I really wanted to do was figure out XI's item level system, where to get some cheap ***, gets the story done i119, and then peddle my way through the story with Trusts, and I did. And since the population was so low, no one really bothered me, and that was very nice. Yet, everyone wants something different, so it's gonna vary person to person.