There's lots of people playing. There's about 4,000 people on my server at all times. Most are leveling the new jobs so lots of low levels. The "FFXI is dying" is just a rumour and has no solid proof behind it. The only thing that's really changed is the lack of RMT. SE is really hitting them hard and its way more pleasant farming again. There's a huge lvl 75 population now so it may seem like there's not alot of people your level but it's just because they're all 75 c.c