You know, when I first came to this forum, I thought it was a realm of miserable gits. I'm sorry, but I did. Every post I could find was wearily answered with a Don't Do This / Don't Do That / Wrong Place / Wrong Suggestion / You Idiot, You've Burnt the Cakes / We've Said That A Million Times / Have You Not Read This Thread From May '05 / Yes, But That Was in Version n and Has Since Been Removed / If Anyone Mentions X Again Then I will KILLThem.
And this was overwhelming. It wasn't in a couple of instances, but in pretty much every thread.
I must have spent a couple of evenings reading through notices or FAQs before daring to make a post, because it was such an established community. And this forum is still a little daunting, because it does feel as if everything has already been discussed and you're now just waiting to see it happen.
In the past month, though, my view has changed significantly. I may be new, but I've already seen enough idiotic posts to wonder how some of you have the stamina to stick around. I've seen people post questions right after a top-thread had already answered their question. I've seen the same topic appear three times in a day. And this isn't counting the general practice to post before following any of the rules or reading the FAQs. In fact, I've seen enough clueless noobs that I've even wondered if you shouldn't need a licence before you're allowed onto the internet.
I sincerely hope that the new measures do help newcomers get answers to their questions before they start getting impatient and tapping on shoulders. To those of you who still put in the time, and who can still approach an old subject with new ears rather than instantly dismissing it, well done. You are a better person than I.