Hi sk0rt, You mistake the Newbie discussion forum as a place for "testing new users" whereas its actual purpose is to minimise the impact of the mass-spammers that post their "bitswing / btkoin / mtgix" etc. spam / scam. The 50 post rule was implemented to keep that spam in one area until a moderator can delete it so as actual discussion can take place on the main forums. If that spam were allowed to get out of hand and be posted in the main forums (as it used to be before the 50 post rule was implemented) it would make such discussion impossible. I quite like the Newbie discussion forum due to spending so much time in it answering questions and I feel it has much to offer the community. I opened up discussion some time ago with the rest of the moderating team and the administrators with a view to cleaning it up and perhaps limiting the "spam to 50" posts to one or two mega-threads but there has been no consensus agreed upon as of yet. Perhaps this will change in the future, perhaps not, but the reason for the Newbie discussion forum is to corral the mass-spam into one area to keep the rest of the forums relatively spam free. It also serves a second, unintentional purpose of keeping new users confined to one section until they have a chance to learn how things work on Silk Road, meaning they ask the questions (that there are already answers to posted all over the forums) here instead of filling up the main forums with the same repetitive questions, something that would hinder proper discussion in the main forum areas. I understand that it can be quite frustrating when you are attempting to have a serious discussion in this forum and users come along to post spam in the thread, but you will see the benefits of 50 post rule once you begin posting in the main forums. Libertas