Not always true Ballzac, sometimes a member may be new to registration to the forum but long time reader. I can completely understand the cautious approach by long standing members and placed in the same position I would probably do the same. However with my first post I didnt even get a hello or welcome from 39 views!
New members need to feel welcomed, maybe thats the reason there is a good chance you dont see them return. Just food for thought.
I agree with psylo. Courtesy goes both ways and if you expect a warm welcome, then you can only reasonably expect it as a response to a warm introduction. To be fair, I never started an introduction thread and just dove straight into posting, but I also didn't expect a welcoming committee.
If anything, it's not that we're too tough on new members, it's that we are sometimes too lenient on old ones. As a mod, I have a responsibility to make my best effort at treating all members equally. But at the same time, if a member who has a lot of good quality posts (there are some who have thousands of posts of bullshit) posts something like this, the community are more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt, and also consider any help they give to be payback for a lot of the valuable information that the member has contributed to the forums. I think there is fairness in that.