In some cases what you call post padding I call being polite.

If someone spends time assisting me, the least I could do is say thank you and vise versa. I do it in the thread.

What you may think is a stupid question just may be important to a new person to the points game. Eventually (hopefully) they become contributing members and start answering their fair share of "stupid" questions.

That's what a real community is all about.