I think a new IBB is an intimidating place, even one as friendly (if you don't think FT is friendly, go out to some of the shadier boards where even I feel intimidated).
A newbie thread stickied is a great idea. Every board would have one or two people who would be thrilled to start and/or maintain a Wiki/Thread. Give those people recognition as we do other people with titles, something like:
WikiTeam, Starwood Preferred Guest
I really think that having a well-maintained newbie thread with questions answered would make a lot of the trouble go away. Oh, it doesn't hurt to be nice to people with elementary questions, either.
FT isn't alone in eating their young, though. I participate in an Officiating IBB where the standard response to an elementary question is, "Did you look it up?" and the discourse usually devolves from there if a moderator doesn't step in.