FFXI's chat system was actually very, very limited compared to other MMOs. There were virtually no public chat channels at all. The closest thing was /shout, but even that had a horribly limited range (I think it was something like 120 yalms or so, which didn't even cover the entire area of a zone).

If not a Global chat channel, then at the very least there should be city-wide chat-channels. This is an MMO, after all. Communication is essential.