Shortbow usefull for a mage character? And some general tips for a DarkS player?

Heya, I'm going to start Demon souls for the first time soon and I wondered if it is worth it to level strenght to 12 to be able to use the shortbow for a mage character. The ability to aim yourself seems pretty handy, but Im not sure if it is worth the points.
Also, do you guys have some tips for a former Dark souls player? The game seems pretty simular, except voor the mp and the upgrade system, bu I might be wrong about that. Thanks a lot:)
Oh and another question:
Would it be better to have a high magic and use the insanity catalist and a weapon that scales with magic or have an medium magic and faith stat and use the talisman of beasts (Going pure mage)?

Hey,

what version, do you have, we might get some co-op running?
NA, EU or Asian Version?

Bows:
Composite is the best in demons souls
as a mage you don't need a bow, but it doesn't hurt to have one.

Playing Demons as a mage is pretty lame....i did it in my first playthrough (played it before Dark Souls) and ended up with poison cloud on everything that is not resistent and then the plague might help. with thief's ring the enenmy don't even react to you, just learn to aim it manually (for that a bow is perfect, but binoculars works as well).
Don't go for the crescent falcion in 4-1 as everybodys says, it isn't as good (well for a mage it's perfect i must admit) and a dagger is also perfect for a mage - stunlock everything to infinte that can't be poisoned, only needs correct stamina managment and timing. No poise in demons, daggers are OP.
Doing 1-1 and then 2 from 2-1 to 2-3 in a row, ending with sl30 and a PWWT in 2. After that i have good stones to make me weapons in 2-1. And then i go for the rest in free order, looking to get the PWWT events. The PBWT are easy to get, just suicide.
If you go for friends ring do it first, and then go for foes ring.

But the best tip is:
Don't ask any further, don't read any further, just you and your sword, or catalyst against the rest of 'em
play online and always alive to get the rest out of the dying online community.
Don't care about getting special items or WT/CT just enjoy the first journey, it's always the best one!

***edit***
oh...if you stop reading, only one tip:
if there are suddenly corpses in the nexus, talk to everybody you can find in the nexus! Don't ignore it, that could hurt your playthrough.

Ha, you are right with that best tip! Ill take your advise and just experience. It souls not matter that much if I scew up, I will only learn from it (On my first playtrough of Dark souls I pumped points in resistance;)).

Im in the Eu. (The Netherlands). Im planning to do a bit offline and play alone, but If I get the hang of it it would be great if you could help me a bit and show me the ropes:).

Walter has the idea pretty good up there.
Also, make the lava bow after beating Armor Spider/Flamelurker (keep a composite though). Even without the requirements it has enough damage to kill off just about anything you don't want to get close to until you learn how each enemy works. Plus fire spray isn't that good unless you know how to utilize it correctly.
Watch out for traps, there are a lot more in DeS than in DkS from my experience.
Only use the Crescent Falchion in 4-1 if you need to. It's just a crutch and becomes useless later.
When it comes to magic, in DeS magic can easily cheese most of the game, so if you're looking to challenge yourself don't use it as much.
And lastly,if you want to stay in neutral/white character tendency, be careful while summoning in Tower of Latria. Keep that separation stone handy.