I'm not even sure why I'm even posting this because I'm literally asking to be flamed, but really, I just wanted to understand what everyone thinks of this gripe I'm having. That and it probably won't change anything because it's something that's never going to go away as long as we're human.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to get across is pretty much what I've said in the title. The reason I'm saying this is because I just see so many shouts that's just... not well thought out.
One of the most common examples of this is Ul'dah shouts like:
34 job, please invite to exp PT.
or
Ifrit Bleeds, please invite me.
Now, let's think about those shouts for a moment. Unless a group just happens to be forming the precise moment you're shouting AND happen to be in range in hearing your shout, you're not going to get an invite. And do not expect strangers to help you make a party FOR you, because a.) you're a stranger and they don't have obligations to and b.) it's takes a lot of effort creating a full group of 6 others to help your single cause. You're better off making your own group instead.
It just annoys the heck out of me because those people are basically forfeiting the thought of trying to make their own group and hoping on the inane chance that someone will make the group for them. And it's usually these types of people who complain that the community is not being friendly. Guess what, it's not because people are not friendly, but it's because what you're asking is not exactly a 'small' favor as you might think.
On a related note, people need to stop using shouts as chat channels because it spams the chat log, and because of that I might miss a party shout I'm interesting in joining. The majority of us don't care what you have to say. Take it in tells. Why won't I just use blacklist, then? Because I don't want to blacklist people in case I happen to land on the same party as them at a later date and because I blacklisted them I might miss something important they might say.
It's called common courtesy people. Use it. Please.
Edit: For the record, as many people have missed my main point and instead pounced on my 'aside' comment, when I mean people should stop using shouts as chat channels what I mean is stop using shouts as regular means of communication as if you were talking in an LS. If you want to shout for the sake of party recruitment, then by all means, go ahead, as I believe that should be the shout's main purpose.
And if people are worried about if towns are like ghosts towns, there always is say, you know. I have no qualms of people using that as a chat channel. I just think that shouts should be reserved for party recruitment, 'tis all.
If you don't like it, then don't look! is not a valid excuse as I can't filter off shouts because I want to see recruitment. There is blacklist, but again, I won't because of reasons stated earlier.
Oh, and while we're at it, how about we discuss the validity of pausing and thinking before posting on the official forums too, hmm? /sarcasm