As useful as I find the thing at times, I have to agree...what the hell are we doing, blowing through the hull of a starbase or the roof of a building to get the shot?
Well we're engineers, maybe we developed a way to phase our phasers through shields....and hull....and several kilometers of earth.....to hit a specific floor....and emerge from a point blank shot completely unscathed.
That said, I do love calling down the thunder regardless of whether or not it's the USS Enterprise or the USS Queen Clarion taking the shot. Maybe it will be like the Hammer of Dawn from Gears of War where it's only available for certain parts so it never looses its appeal. (and never fires indoors)
Who knows, maybe we'll finally see a starship execute general order 24 or at least get close to executing it.