This seems like the best place to ask this: Can we send personal messages through these forums? I can’t find any links/buttons/etc. to send them, so I’m guessing no. Or am I just blind?
If they aren’t currently enabled, would it be possible to turn them on? (There’s a reference to them in the profile settings, so I assume the forum software supports them.)
I have exactly the same problem 
I can’t fu**ing send GSB appreciation message to Cliffski
I’m afraid they are turned off. The reason for it is really depressing. In the past, when they were turned on, people who wanted to pirate games would sign up for an account and then spam everyone else asking to copy their full version of the game 
It’s a bit annoying isn’t it. Maybe there is some mod that lets a moderator pre-approve messages? I should dig around.
Maybe you could make it so you could only send PMs between mutual friends? And have made 5 or 10 posts in the forums? Pirates aren’t likely going to want to become part of the community, plus if they don’t have the game they aren’t likely going to have much to say, and it should be fairly obvious.
I don’t think phpBB supports that level of intelligence. It has an option to enable/disable PMs, and that’s about it. 
Sorry to hear that Cliffski. You’d think a person would realize a community of people who paid for the game are the least likely to help them pirate it. The nerve of some people…
Another way of dealing with this is for us, the Pre-orderers?!?, to take an active role in discouraging the spamming of the PM system either by several being given admin rights with respect of account/PM locking, or to let Cliffski know when someone starting spamming so he can warn/lock/delete the account in question. A sticky in the Main Forum area and zero tolerance shouldn’t add too much work once it becomes clear that it won’t be tolerated, even a little bit.
I hope you’re right, Wrath, but I don’t think so. There are too many preteen kids who will spam message boards with comments begging for things. I’ve seen it so many times in so many places. It’s sad to even think that so many kids expect to demand and receive. I suspect every new person who comes looking for a handout will make their request without even taking a second to look at the rest of the board. They will have no idea that we ridicule such beggars.
Ah, showing my age; perhaps… lol