Hi panda,
I have thought on this since I read it this morning and I agree that dog-piling is probably a little intimidating, it was for me when I said some wrong stuff.
I often see people who will repeat what others have just got done saying/asking. I have done it more than once, often because I was failing to look at previous post, other times because I felt I could state a question better.
Maybe when The same basic question is repeated by a number of people moderation could request that that people refrain from doing it, I think it is a rule. Also letting the person who faces the dog-pile know that he can choose to respond to the question in a group reply, not everyone needs to have their version of the same question answered individually.
When the dog-pile consists of different valid questions I guess the person in question will just have to suck it up and choose where to start.
"I hate to advocate the use of drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they always worked for me." - Hunter S. Thompson
Ad astra per aspera
Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione.