Originally Posted by wharvey
I'm sorry... but I believe many new posters bring new insights and oftentimes ask very good questions.
Some do, but I think the vast majority do not. But since I frequent only the MilesBuzz, Amex, Starwood and Hilton forums, my experience is limited. I think FT should give UpgradeMe some sort of special recognition for busting the chops of people too lazy to do a search.
Originally Posted by wharvey
I have also seen members with 1000's of posts ask questions that could easily be answered with a simple search... so number of posts is not necessarily indicative of member knowledge of what is available on Flyertalk.
No arguement here. I can think of one member with over 1,800 posts whose every thread started is a request to be spoon fed. But I do think there is a high correlation between limited post count and limited member knowledge. Of course there are, however, a few exceptions - but not enough that I've seen to make me change my position.
Originally Posted by wharvey
Finally, by implementing a minimum post count to start a thread will only cause people to make more invaluable posts to pad their post count. We do not want that, do we?
Actually, I'd be fine with this idea. I've seen people that started padding their count just to get on Omni(?) or the Coupon Connection, but it seems they give up well before reaching their goal - it's not worth the time. Hey, if I see someone who seems to be doing just that, I just add them to my ignore list. But if the same person wants to start up (what I deem) a usesless thread, it does bump other threads down the list and I can't ignore it at or near the top of the forum topics page.