aktchi, you did make some good and valid points. However, there's also another broader picture.

No big deal, indeed.

However, sometimes when people (especially some newbies) ask questions, they want to hear the answers they like. Not every one can take the hard cold truth and not everyone is that eager to learn. When they are not pleased, they leave. That's human nature, no hard feelings. Of course, people also have different styles to express themselves in the online fora. That makes it even more complicated. Mis-communication and misunderstanding are often byproducts.

In your observation, there seems to be more hostility than warmth FTers rendering to newbies in MR Forum. There are some parallel dynamics in other fora that I frequent so I am going to make it a more general scenario discussion with two real examples.

Some ground rules first. FT is a very established online community/forum with TOS. Member suggestions have to be moved by TalkBoard and passed before it becomes official. As you know, there are quite a few suggestions/proposals failed to move over the years. If not enough TB members favor the idea, nothing will happen. Correct me if I am wrong. In your view, the current MR Forum (Deals/Discussion) is too restrictive. Under the current FT structure, if you want some changes to that forum, you have to make a convincing proposal before TB even considers it. Not until it happens, members and mods are bound by the current rules. Agree so far?

I agree FT has to think about how we are treating newbies and how to help them. (There's another TB thread on this very topic.) In the meantime, we also have to think about the core missions for FT and what kind of new members we would like to attract and serve. It's simply impossible to please everybody.

FT has grown rapidly with 170K+ registered members. Active participating FTers are far less than 50%, I would say. Some folks estimate only about 3K in active "FT duties" .

Some newbies stumble upon FT for the "wrong" reason. We know there's quite some traffic here at FT. Google is a powerful search engine that brings FT unexpected "guests" over time. Here's the example thread for this kind of "accidental newbies": Credit Card Service Bureau Shutdown?

FT is the top one website when you search "Credit Card Service Bureau" (CCSB). The majority of the posters in this thread were virgin newbies. Did they come to FT because they enjoy harvesting miles/points? No. Should the mod keep that thread open so more discussion could go on? I don't think so. Even they did have "a timely upcoming need", I don't think FT should try to meet the "wrong" expectations of members, newbies or not.

Another kind of newbies with very short FT life-span are those who want a quick fix, short answers, or fishing for coupons/vouchers. Somehow they have a sense of entitlement or something. They usually are not good at rejections and generally never come back when they don't get what they want. Here's the example thread: Help! How do you upgrade award tickets?

True, AA Forum was a tougher forum back then. However, there were folks, me included, trying to "educate" this bride-to-be. Not only did she not like the "award tix not upgradeable" answer, but also she's upset when her finacial priorities were challenged. Her FT lifespan: 2 hours and 32 minutes (she joined and left us in the same afternoon). Did FT help her? Yes, at least we tried. The discussion was active for 6 straight days. Was she happy with our help? I doubt it. Otherwise, she wouldn't have left the building for good.

Please don't take me wrong. I am not anti-newbies. These two example threads may be a bit extreme. (But you get my points, right?) There are way more different types of FT newbies. There are newbies who view FT as godsend.

In a lot of ways, I still consider myself a FT newbie. I don't have the "privilege" to become a frequent traveller yet. But I've learned tons from FT community and am comfortable sharing whatever little I know or learn at this point. I always try to be gentle and provide constructive criticism to newbies.

It took me quite a while to get to this ""comfort zone" right now. When I first joined, I felt overwhelmed, intimidated and didn't know if my questions were good enough. So I started digging, learning from others' posts/questions. I started out as a taker and learner. Now I am not afraid to ask questions and know where to ask. I am even able to provide some answers.

Back to the discussion on low/best fare requests. I did see what the mods see. There are far more fare request threads than we like to see. For any newbie to have an enjoyable FT experience, s/he has to take and give at the same time. It's a two-way street. Expecting FT to serve them the "fish" doesn't go well with the core missions. I don't object to this low/best fare request forum, if FT is able to draw a line and maintain the balance by creating such a forum. A more clear guideline/definition/distinction among the deals, discussion and request fora has to be established though.

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4/25/08 - Edit to add 3rd newbie example thread (the quick fix kind that didn't even bother to look it up and post in the specific airline forum):

a quick way to find out about the site w/out surfing? (FT Lifespan: 14 Minutes)