New-ish to Audiogon Forums... Is it always like this?

yep you purdy much got the fix on things here

but one needs to understand that many people come here not knowing, have money, not knowhow, needing to learn, so it behooves us who have been around the block to have some capacity to educate

but i do agree, if, upon prompting for more info, the asker of the question still doesn’t step up, it is then clearly worth my time and effort to answer thoughtfully

As with any blog, these is good and bad. I agree that lots of folks come here looking for a simple, straight-forward "what should I buy?" question, or confirmation that they already know the right answer, and are not looking for a discussion or for someone to say that's not correct. But there are enough people who come here who do actually want help. Even when they don't respond, for whatever reason, the  "I have X, buy it. I tried Y, don't buy it." is helpful. 

Don't give up yet. I have only been here a few months, some threads don't go anywhere, many are dups, some go off the tracks, but overall most are good, and personally I really hope I've helped out a few folks, at least a little.

"...The thread ends up being a running list of members' favorite gear..."

It's hard to recommend gear that's not our favorite or we haven't heard. 

I've been here over 20 years. It ebbs and flows. Keep trying. Sooner, or later, a great thread will come along and you'll be rewarded with a "thank you" and a sense of accomplishment for your efforts.

"Do a good turn daily". Good words to live by.........

BTW, some of the most active threads on AudiogoN are "music" related threads (What's playing on your TT, CD player, streamer, etc). Lot's of good participation, no trolling, no competition, etc. Give them a try if you want a good, active, long running thread , in which to participate.

Sadly, much of what you have observed hits the nail squarely on the head.  It seems well over 90% of the time when someone suggests a piece of gear it is unqualified.  And, as you observed, the OP often never lists what qualities they are looking for.  So it is garbage in, garbage out.  It becomes a predictable and unhelpful exchange of the same things over and over.

On other hand, there are some threads that have been wonderful sources of information that have run for even years populated by some members who are real gems.  Just wished that occurred more often.