So FFXIV is officially down, and I'm staying away from WoW... I think I'm coming back to FFXI. I'm GMT+1 now, so I'm not sure what server or client to get(English speaker in Germany :/) I'm assuming there are still some active linkshells?
Yes, there are many active shells still, although I'm not sure which ones are based in GMT that are still active. I found a relatively recent thread on FFXIAH tossing around some names and servers: http://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/30495/gmt-ls/