[Rock 'N' Roll Outlaw]

I find that a newbie that doesn't hear what (s)he wants calls everyone an elitist regardless of what they use. It just seems to be a defense mechanism for people that have their backs up against the wall with answers of "you need to spend more money than $100 to start playing airsoft". Just like schoolyard kids that call each other fags without the other person actually being a homo, just a defense mechanism for the first kid to try and feel superior for a brief fraction of a second.

Originally Posted by Crunchmeister

IMO, that's what noobs should do. There should be a forced period of at least a week (probably more) where a new user can read but can't post. And I'd still be all for locking down the noob tank so that noobs can start a thread, but only the OP and members who have been registered for over a certain amount of time should have the ability to post replies in the thread. That way, it would avoid issues of the blind leading the blind as it seems to happen so regularly.

Personally, I found this site in about July of 2007. I immediately recognized it as being a wealth of information. I read every sticky, and read everything that I could find of interest to me, and anything that I thought would be useful to know. I finally signed up for an account and started posting in November. By then, I already had a good foundation. I knew what was what and who was who (for the most part). I knew of the grey legal area of airsoft, I knew we couldn't import, etc.

Now I did post questions to stuff I didn't find answers for, and some were noob-ish questions. But I got some very friendly and helpful answers and was never flamed once. Why? Because I took the time to research, and when I did post a question, I made it apparent that I had searched before asking. That in itself goes a LONG way to avoid the usual hostility towards noobs. The only flaming I've ever received on this forum was at the hands of noobs who don't agree with my 'elitist' advice.

And it's ironic that I've been called an 'elitist' when I'm a big supporter of budget brands like JG and Echo 1. lol People's standards for elitism are pretty low, it seems.