That is one thing I agree with.. On USM, every new person is welcomed with at least one or two posts..
It's not a rule, it's just something that some of the regular users like to do to make others feel welcomed.
I think that's what I dislike about this place the most, is that a good portion of new members are almost shunned for joining a discussion when they don't have many/any posts under their belt. I know I've been overlooked a lot while leaving my opinion, and that is okay, that's not what I mean, but I've also been insulted for wanting to get to know others better.
Some people like to hide behind their anonymity, and think that treating others rudely or being crude, is making them look all big and bad. When to people like me, that don't have any facades, and just really are a projection of our true, offline self, it makes them look silly.
It is the internet though, and through that you meet all types. This forum in comparison to larger forums/sites, is still relatively new, and the admins may not be accustomed to actually being enforcers/mediators yet. That does take time to really get to know, so I don't want to put them down for what they are trying to do here.
It's just like everyone on here, most of you have had a new job where you didn't know the ropes from day one. Your boss didn't expect you to know everything the first day, but did expect you to catch on fast. Learning to be a forum/website administrator/moderator, and doing it well, takes about 10x as long to do in comparison to the above scenario. Especially if there isn't someone already on staff that has worked as an administrator or moderator.
I was lucky enough that when I became an admin at the site that I help with, they already had set rules in place, and admin guidelines. Of course this is a different forum. There is a leniency here, and that makes enforcing rules a little harder to do. They want you to enjoy their forum, but as in all things you can't please everyone all the time, and most the time if you try, you still have a few people that are not satisfied.
The admins here are going to have to feel out that, and make some guidelines for themselves in order to make this work and last. Everything in life has at least some rules, and here should be no different. There should definitely be a rule about being obnoxiously rude or offensive to others, that's one rule I'd make at least.
I still think they are doing the best they can, and it's going to take time. If you really like this forum, stick with it, because it's still new. They are still getting the "feel" of the place, and until they really get things in full swing, we must be patient as possible.
~Manda~