There is truth in most everything that I have seen written, at least to some amount .
to be clear, you proceed early twice a year to give you an 18 day rotation (proceed on day 13 of your off days) . You bid for these at the end of the year for the next year and they are based on seniority. It’s to you when you choose them but outside these days ( which are mandatory) you don’t have to do extra even if they ask you.
Iccasionally you will get home standby by getting home a day or two early or even starting a day or two late. On average you will probably be away from home for about 205-210 days per year, some years more and some years less . That may or may not work for you.
there are lots of downsides, but there are some upsides. You have to consider the fact that not everyone lives 15 minute away from a major airport with good quality and high paying airlines . If you live two hours away and do not want to move your whole life and family to be near an airport you are limited to a handful of operators. If you can’t get into Netjets you become even more limited.