Gods, I hate seeing people do //afk, //brb, //back and the like in areas like Cordor where a lot of text in various conversations flies past like crazy. It's fine in events and when RPing with a smaller group, though. Or say, a perhaps soon to be hostile situation where people should be aware of each others' statuses.
Which brings me to the point: I think OOC on the talk should be used only when it concerns everyone in hearing distance, and perhaps people not in your party. At other times, it's good to do it in the party chat.
Why are areas like Cordor an exception then? Well, the chances are you're not involved in RP with every single person in Cordor, you don't need to broadcast your OOC messages to each and every one of them and they don't give a shit if you are quiet for a few minutes, anyway. If you're just RPing with one person in a crowded area with several ongoing conversations, you can just as well use a tell or whisper your OOC message.
Not to mention, //back usually triggers several //wb's and ... well, think of
that in Cordor. Need I say more? It's not a bloody Facebook where you need to update your status every five minutes!
