[BigChiefSmokem]

I can't say this wasn't unexpected. I've read so many useful questions on there that were seemingly derailed by the mods and people complaining to the mods in the comments section. I understand their point of view about the strict QA format. That's their business model and it's how they became who they are, but not listening to your core audience begging you to reform your policies is a clear sign of stagnation and complacency.

Leaves them wide open to be dominated by a newcomer.

[alfasin]

That is simply not true! SO has changed a few times over the time, discussions, suggestions to improvements are constantly being discussed in meta. For the most of it - most of the changes that I saw in my 3+ years there were good changes. That's a constant uphill battle that must take into account malicious users and trolls.

And to the article writer: once you wrote a question and people responded it is no longer "your" question. It belongs to the community: as an example I'll give you a 3 lines question that was answered by a few paragraphs answer including screenshots, links etc. Who put more effort into it? the OP or the guys that answered ? Now, if you delete such a question - you're deleting all the useful comments and answers as well. And yes, if you try to do that for multiple questions in a row - it looks suspicious and you should be stopped!

As for the "attitude" towards new users, this happens only when the user posts a bad question, and by bad I mean: 1. impossible to understand 2. impossible to reproduce 3. already been asked multiple times 4. HM or alternatively, posted a question that is far from perfect but can be improved - but then he/she bails off and not respond to comments.

In all the scenarios above - I'd rather have this question put on hold, until the user improves it.

And in general, when you join a community you should put minimal effort in learning the guidelines of acceptable behavior - if you don't like it - don't use it.

Personally, I find these guidelines useful and helpful.

All in all, I like the interface, I find it as a GREAT resource of learning and developing my personal skills, and unlike the author - I LOVE SO.

[PhasmaFelis]

> As for the "attitude" towards new users, this happens only when the user posts a bad question

This is not true in my experience. Several times in the past month, I've googled for some problem or other and found a StackExchange question with my exact problem and several useful solutions, which had been closed because a moderator deemed it insignificant or overly broad. I understand the need for community standards in a site like this, but if your standards are getting in the way of the actual questions people want to ask, you need to change the standards, not crack down on legitimate use.