Personally I don't think it should be targeted so much on starting new threads. It's pretty difficult to get a taste of a new forum without responding to current threads. Not only does that give you a flavor for the site, but it also helps familiarize you with it's members.

I'd also love to see the posts required raise to around 100 or so (or at least 50). Anyone can post 20 posts in one login and then that's it IMO.