pkg update -f
pkg upgrade -f
pkg update -f
pkg version -v | grep updating
pkg install -y -f thepackage
All the time, yes. Been doing it for about 20 years.And do you mix ports and packages ?
possible the package was build on 11.4
% pkg provides /usr/local/lib/libepoll-shim.so.0
Name : libepoll-shim-0.0.20210418
Desc : Small epoll implementation using kqueue
Repo : FreeBSD
Filename: usr/local/lib/libepoll-shim.so.0
% freebsd-version -kru
14.0-CURRENT
14.0-CURRENT
14.0-CURRENT
%