Very good points. I keep a close eye on new posters and appreciate feedback, though sometimes it's better done through pms than posts.
Speaking of new posters, we've had a fair amount of promising posters over the past year or so, but for some reason they rarely post. They start off by making some quality posts and I see them on the site -- but they post rarely or not at all, or disappear altogether. As you mention, there's a small number of posters doing a lot of the heavy lifting these days, so new posters are very much encouraged to post and help build traffic and interest. And that goes for veteran posters too -- we need more participants and fewer passengers.
With that said, from here let's get this particular thread back on topic. The other things mentioned can be discussed elsewhere.