[Mas*Mind]

I did exactly the same hack a long time ago (never released it though), but with one different aspect: It's a combination of the number of post and how long the newbie is registered, this stops them from posting useless posts to get the right to open new topics. EG: When a newbie has 50 posts AND is registered for more than 30 days he can open new threads. I also made a special error message for it. I must say this is a very usefull hack on my forum, newbies can still ask to open a topic by asking a mod.

I allready suggested a new vb-feature to accomplish this kind of things automaticly: Create an option to let members fall into a kind of usergroup when they reach a certain number of posts. This way you can create to usergroups: one with new-thread-posting abilities and one withouth. Specify that a member falls into the second one only when they reach a certain amount of posts and when they're registered for a certain amount of days... voila
This would make vb even more flexible. Endless possibilities