Right...

First of, the rules are in the actual board you posted this in. So it's pretty hard to miss as you would've had to go to this board to make a topic.
The rules can also be found on your sidebar, labelled "Rules & Guides". Not hard to find if you had bothered to look.

I cannot say whether you can download the site or not, as it's not mine, but I'd say probably not.

As for your thing about the DS and downloading, I got no clue what you're saying.

Well, this site doesn't host commercial roms. So if that's what you mean, you're barking up the wrong tree. If not, you'd have to be a member to use the download section.

You might want to send a message to retrohead about this, maybe you can figure something out so the app gets access to the downloads section.

It's designed intentionally to look like exactly the right tree, that's the thing.  Rom releases all have a clickable URL with the name of an archive "Archive Name: xxx-rom.rar", done to attract visitors to the site.

That's almost understandable, but then the harsh and brutal hammers of justice that come thundering down on folks not savvy to this trick is uncalled for.  I just think you guys should be more lenient if you're going to pull those tricks in the first place.

That isn't designed to attract visitors.
It's only clickable as you need to hover over it to see the directory. There is no need to click on it.

But people still ask "why I can't I download ROMs" when the Rules clearly state it, and the same message "DS-Scene does not host commercial roms" is listed in multiple languages.
So it's not a trick, and the way the staff act is up to them.

But:
- when they click on the archive name, they get a message in several languages (not all equally well translated, but understandable nonetheless, and this is an English site anyway so those other languages shouldn't even be there) saying there are no ROMs here
- when they sign up, they get to read the T&C (no one reads these for anything ever, but that doesn't matter) which state copyrighted material shall not be shared
- they have to not tick a box that says "I have come here to download illegal games", meaning they have to actually read and understand what is next to the box

Someone too thick to realise there are no ROMs here after all that shouldn't even exist, let alone be a member of this site.

It then begs the question why is it even done in the first place?  To either attract unique hits from Google and such, or to assist in helping people find roms elsewhere by supplying the archive names, or both?  Like I said, that's almost understandable, but to then treat them so harshly for even bringing it up is simply weird, self-gratifying behaviour.  Could I be treading a fine line here?  Being a troll and talking about roms?  Should I be banned?  It might just be why it's become somewhat a ghost-town.

I don't think anyone who came here to download ROMS is going to stick around for any length of time. The fact that they make it past the box tick when signing up, and (probably) click on the archive file, and yet still ask about roms - or sometimes post something asinine like "thanks" because they think it will unlock a secret link - removes much of my sympathy. It's also pretty easy to find sites that do host ROMS and say that they do. However I think I've always been a banning-as-last-resort sort of person, and would probably save it for the individuals advertising ROM download sites and posting links to them.

Regarding the archive link though, if it were just text instead of a link, I could still imagine people posting "thx" to 'unlock it'. I don't believe there is an easy solution to deter people who think this site is one of those those that post commercial games but claim that they don't to stay 'under the radar.'

You can't attract hits from Google when the 'bait' is only visible when you are already on the site. The archive names and such probably do attract hits from Google, but then this is the case with all sites where there is a public database of ROM releases so I'd say it only has a minimal impact. What Athmel said is also true.

I think there are other reasons as to why there's only very little activity here anymore, namely:
- the DS and Wii are dead, official and homebrew releases alike
- the 3DS and Wii U are doing alright with official releases, but there is nothing interesting happening in the homebrew scene (for the end-user)
- starting news categories for other platforms now is pointless and a waste of time
- most of the staff no longer have the time to post some news or even keep up to date with the latest happenings -- there are only two people more or less regularly posting news on the DS site and no one is posting anything on the Wii site
- the site is still running on a 6 year old layout, which 'veterans' don't really mind, but which detracts newcomers -- a new layout has been worked on, and I'd say it is about 65% complete but development's ceased since last year
- 'veterans' have left because there is nothing going on, and nothing is going on because they have left.