Since I fit the bill as a new member, one thing I'd like to suggest to help maintain the atmosphere that the long-timers have established is to add to the FAQ section the guidelines for creating a new thread (ie what IS threadworthy).
Of course, there will not be full agreement as to what that guideline is, but there are some obvious ones. Like, read through/search posts from the last week that deal with the same topic before posting a new one. Also, it seems there is a general consensus (from the comments I've read) that there should only be a handful of active threads with most of the comments in those threads. I know I'm in the minority, but I did read through the FAQ to see what the guidelines/rules were for posting, and I never came across anything close to describing these kind of expectations. The only reason I know now is because of the harassment of the new posters who also may not have known. Even if someone were to just lurk for a few weeks, it would not be clear as to these expectations. Even though these things may seem obvious to you, they may not be for someone else.
I, for one, do not want to change the community but join it and contribute. I would guess many of the violators have similar intentions, but may need a little help
