It's because damage over time is invisible, and until you get to 65+, monk damage is high but not alarmingly high.
People see you hitting for 60-70 a punch, and a drk doing 90-100, or a rng 120. They dont do the math sadly, and are isntead easily won over by big numbers.
But the real killer to monk invites is a lack of distortion before 60. Many players were conditioned very early in the game to think that distortion is the best SC in the game, for any situation, any party, any mob lol. With or without black mages, they want to see a water WS on a pugil for 13 dmg...
The other killer is that bad monks are really bad. A bad rng is still effective in a party, but a bad monk gives us a really horrible reputation. Memories of ill-equipped monks hitting for 0 dmg in valk dunes seem to stick with some players well into their 50s lol.
I have no idea what level range you are in, but the 50-60 stretch is a well documented hell on the monk forum. They have group thereapy there waiting to help. Countless monks give up and quit after day 4 of LFG, but stick with it if you really care about the job. It is very rewarding in the 70s ^^
Edited, Sat Jul 9 18:57:17 2005 by Thornn