[artix-general] Bizarre - can't access forum + pacman questions

[4L1V3]

First and foremost, I cannot accessthe forums
At first I thought it was a browser issue, as the error message was talking about tokens. I thought to myself 'it would be ironic if the pre-supplied browser (Midori or whatever) is unable to be used to join Artix forum.
So I tried other browsers, and in the end, other distros.
Eventually I managed to create the account but then the validation link wouldn't work - again no matter what the browser.
Whatever I try, I cannot access the forum and ask what is my main dealbreaker question.
Can I get pacman to stop asking me questions I don't understand?
On EVERY other Arch-based system I've used, [-Syu] gets the job done, and I'm occasionally asked to say 'Yes' or choose between 'joplin' and 'joplin-git' or some such.
FIRST time I ran the update on Artix, I was asked about packages I have no clue about, including canberra and something else. I have a broad knowledge of linux packages but no one can know them all.
Is there ANY way I can modify my setup so that it behaves like it would on Obarun/Garuda/Manjaro, etc. where it JUST works?

I'd love to use Artix i3 and contribute to bug testing and helping maintain it, but that's not going to be possible if it's asking me too much right off the bat.

Thanks in advance for any response on these issues.

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