Frankly, I don't understand why people get so pissed and tell people to search the forums first. Unless you've been to a lot of forums and know about it, you never think about searching. Searching the web is different... that's old and well-practiced. I know the only reason I search is so that I get my answer faster, but if I didn't have that motivation and I wasn't used to forums, posting would be the first thing I would do.
The same reasoning also applies when people get mad because people aren't reading stickies. You're not born knowing that forums have stuff called "stickies" that stay pinned at the top, less that they are relevant to you. In addition, a lot of forums have a ton of topics pinned and half of them are pinned only to keep the discussion alive, not because it would be something people should read before posting. What's worse is that, on this forum skin, stickies aren't even distinguished from the regular list of topics.
Good usability design is to get stupid people to do the right thing. If it ain't working out, you're doing something wrong.
My 2c.
