As someone who tags up for strikes pretty frequently, I don't actually use ready checks most of the time because that's an extra button press over just waiting for everyone to get into the instance then talking to an npc.
You don't need a tag for anything except raids and wvw, and basic communication skills easily provide the same services for strikes and fractals, albeit slightly less efficient.
As an aside regarding the "paywall", I wouldn't want to follow a commander who considers 300g a massive block, especially in today's economy. That tells me that the person probably isn't playing the game much at all.