Not everyone who posts in the forum is a full member but that's often due to their level of experience - if I was a starting out from scratch I would definitely join as a paying member for the lessons. If I had a resource like this available when I started playing years back I would be frickin Yngwie Malmsteen by now!
A lot of the instructors post in the forum and they DO know their stuff, not just a bunch of theory and patterns but the actual mechanics of style and composition.
Read through the fourm and you will find a lot of information, ask a few questions and you should get quality answers - this should give you an idea that the guys that post here are either learning a lot or already know a lot. That should help seal the deal and convince you to sign up. In my day it was either pay big money for an instructor that probably didn't play the type of music you liked or go it alone and learn by ear.
Here you get a large choice of instructors and styles that cater to all levels from absolute beginner to professional shredder.
Take the plunge and fast track your playing.

BTW this site is certainly NOT a scam.