New members likely don't even care who the knowledgeable posters are. They're not looking for those people. They're looking for answers. Whoever chooses to reply to them are fine with them. I seriously doubt they're going to ignore a response from someone just because they're not one of the "official" knowledgeable people... post count or otherwise. If someone posts a mistaken response, someone more knowledgeable usually comes along and corrects them.
The whole thing is rather irrelevant to anyone other than long term members and we know who the knowledgeable people are.
