[Groombug]

Letting newbs order guns from the States en masse will result in gun seizures at customs, en masse. What do you think that does statistically? Especially if the Liberals retain power?

The automated PM might work, but it's not guaranteed. You can always delete a PM without reading it. Even if they do open it, they may or may not follow the instructions.

Stickies will help.

Bandwagon-gang-shitting newbs will also help.

Strict moderator enforcement of stupid posts will also help.

Here is what I suggest:

A dedicated Newbie "Holding Pen" forum area in which newbs can post to their heart's content and we are free to read or ignore what they post. This section would be cordoned off not unlike the Trash Disposal - a standalone forum area.

This area would be accessible to everyone registered on ASC. Newbies, however, will be allowed to access and read the other forums (except for age-verified areas) but NOT POST. This prevents stupid questions from escaping the "Holding Pen" and entering "the Real World".

Newbies will be assigned an avatar or signature or some other mark that denotes them as such. They will be given privileges to post in "the Real World" after a certain time of probation. This can be an automatic xx days or a manual release by moderators/admins.

Newbie posts in the "Holding Pen" will not count towards their "Real World" post counts. This prevents spamming or "wow-cool-awesome" posts to jack up post counts.

The "Holding Pen" will include stickied FAQs and other such newbie material. You, as established members of "the Real World" will be able to jump-shit-storm-gangbang any newbies in the "Pen" to your heart's content. Moderators will occasionally look in and ensure that the jumping-shitting-storming-gangbanging is all going along legally and in a cordial manner.

With this idea, I hope to prevent the proliferation of uneducated, stupid-question-packing newbies into the open forums. We hold them at the gates, and we fight them there. Should these newbies become educated and/or wise, we'll let them in.