There are a lot of posts and such here on this forum. This can be overwhelming to the new member. I recommend as a new member making use of the "Mark All Topics Read" feature. This will allow you to easily see any new posts since your joining, and make browsing the forums much easier for you.

Here is a link: http://hammerfistclan.darkbb.com/index.htm?mark=forums [Warning: clicking the link will mark all topics as read]
This link can always be found also at the top right hand corner of the forum area you are browsing.

For those of you that don't know what this means: It refers to a small icon that appears next to a forum category or topic. An unread topic will have a different icon next to it than read topics.