I would agree that this board tends to be harsh to new posters, usually.
This board does have its "own culture," and you can't fault newbies for not automatically knowing it.
Some new posters are perceived as coming out with "guns blazing," but sometimes they are only acting that way because they were immediately jumped on.
This is a very knowledgable and mostly intelligent board, but that doesn't provide the right to act like self-righteous elitists to new posters who just want to belong on here.