There are way to many players in the quake community who want nothing to do with n00bies. I say "Why the hell not?" IMO a game's popularity can often be measured on how many newbies are pubbing the game at any given point in time. I can't tell you how many people I have tried to talk into trying quake3 out for a bit, they end up coming back to me the next day usually with something like "those people are dicks, I got banned immediately for sucking."

Having no newbie clans/ladders/communities in a game is like a world where all women are sterile. There will be no new talent introduced/developed, and the game will be dead sooner rather than later. I can remember a time when clans were made by friends that could play together for fun and compete in ogl or cal seasons for fun, whatever happened to that?

Noobies are very important for quake right now, and in the very near future when Quake Live is released I think it important to lend a hand out to new players who find their way to the game. Send them a config and give them advice. We were all n00bies at one point in time. And if we ever want our game to grow we're going to need to let the noobies grow into it also.