Ok, I'm a little late to the party --- only because I just saw this thread ---, but I think a "newbie" forum is needed. Heck, even I would still use it to ask "newbie" questions safely without being flamed. Remember that newbies are more likely to ask first, read later. You take away that place for them to ask, then they are still likely to ask before reading the sticky. Moving it all into a sticky pretty much sends the message of, "We're not newbies here and newbies aren't welcome; so, read up on this sticky so you become one of us --- which is someone who is not a newbie." It's like expecting a baby to be an adult by handing them a book and saying, "Here, read this first before asking me anything." Babies instead need their crib to grow in first. That's just my 2 cents.