I am on a smaller server, Leviathan, where I was placed in 2010 when my original server Remora was shut down.
There are actually zero Merc Shouts here, but there are the occasional RMT Gil-selling site link shouts. But it is very quiet, and most shouts are real players shouting for events and runs etc.
I love being on a quiet server. No queues. Easy to find good camps. Some occasional bargain prices for AH and bazaar stuff.
If you are on a quiet server, or you move to one, go to the Linkshell Concierge, and get a LS. Communicate with people on the LS, and make new friends! Team up with your new friends to do events and content clears!
I have all the gear I want, and I got it from either soloing with Trusts, or from teaming up with my friends, or even joining PUGs.
This game is designed to enable you to make friends and to team up with them, and to form bonds of trust with players you respect. Doing these core game things enables you to clear all the content you want to clear.
Sometimes on small servers you need to /yell a bit longer, or to postpone events / runs. It does require some extra patience, when the server is quiet.
More fundamentally, I would rather be naked and unarmed, than pay for gear and weapons. If I can't earn it myself, or with my friends, then I am happy to go without it altogether.
I have lots of nice gear that I farmed on this quiet server. I am happy. I don't need to cheat. If it was a straight choice, I would rather just wear my level one pyjamas and use an onion sword, than cheat to obtain gear.