Can't announcements just be a line of text that doesn't require someone to click on it to view it?

Yes! I have many announcements set-up like that.

I never really liked how Announcements became a full page refresh if you had to read more. 

+ making them dismissable should be an option
+ more displaying conditions (based on usergroups, days registered etc. - similar to group promotions)
+ more individual places to display them (e.g. only in a sub-forum, only in a certain category in downloads etc.)

...please? ?

2 hours ago, MMXII said:

+ making them dismissable should be an option

Announcements were updated in 4.3 to include the ability to dismiss some of them. If you haven't already, take a look at our blog entry - 

 

I realized I had Global Announcement plugin - the output is much better. It informs the user without "action" 

I do like the other locations and how quickly it is to add announcements (with the new built in version) but the text placement style and required interaction isn't ideal.

There are also Sticky Notes by @TheJackal84 and Notices by @Fosters