[spleen]

All of this is being taken into consideration. Unfortunately, with the recently implemented changes to the forum (which were planned and underway before the padded room discussion began), there's been a forced hiatus from practical research and development on the idea. As to whose input will be taken, the input already made will certainly be taken into consideration. WRT technical input, that will also have to wait until the admins have finished the current site upgrade, and put a bit of time into looking at the solutions available.

To respons to your post, though, it's not just about "ensuring new players are properly observing forum rules and norms through evaluation of their posting habits". A large part of the idea is also to shield new players from the abuse they would typically suffer from the "stupid" questions they will invariably ask, and to eliminate the hostile noob-bashing "me-too" lynchings that inevitably result. In short to improve the general enjoyment of the baord for all users by keeping these two groups of people apart.