I often visit the Beginners & Help board and I can’t say I see Newbie questions go unanswered. Often at least one or two high ranking members will comment on threads where the question at hand has two cents of though placed into it, and the author seems to at least have tried to genuinely do a little legwork to grasps the basis.

On the other hand, If the question is placed with an attitude based on "I’ve just got here lads. Let me sit down light my cigar, and tell me all about it", while placing the feet on the table, then, well, the answers may not be to everyone’s satisfaction.

On aggregate, I’d say that the higher ranks take down their tone at least two notches on the Beginners & Help board, and that it is fellow lower ranks that seem to try the "let's play the bad guy" role more often to try to get some attention to their post.