Resourcing to webcache due to dead primary.

I love it when people get strung up by their own words

Post can still be seen with Google Cache, and includes a comment from Michael Harms, aka the project lead, expressing interest in this scam.
 
Here

@Masem  
OK, yeah, that screams that this is a scam. It was up not 20 minutes ago and dated from December.

This FB post has now been taken down.

@Background Pony #397E  
Hello Sam, I hope for you and your buddies sake you’re returning that money right now.
 
Have a nice day, son of a bitch ;)

And the saga™ continues here (click it for thread):  

@Background Pony #397E
 
This sort of reminds me of those /mlp/ posts in which anon claimed to be a good friend of <insert Dark Skyes dev here> and said he was a good person, would never make up such a horrid lie blah blah blah

@Background Pony #397E  
We really can’t tell if its a scam, but that’s why I said it is better to get the word out “buyer beware” and let them choose to proceed.

I’m hearing a lot of people saying that this is a scam.. but seriously guys, how do we know? Let’s look at a couple things.
 
For one, the one that has popped up twice in the comments here, an artist has said that she’s used recolours or just re-used un-edited commissions for art for the video and KS page. Now, what if time restraints didn’t allow her to create whole new things for the project? They don’t need permission of the original commissioner, as the art is theirs, and so they are allowed to do whatever they want with the art.
 
Next, why would this many people get involved in a kick starter program, that’s fake, and may not even hit their target goal of $7,500? Honestly, why take the risk? It’s not only morally wrong, but I also believe it’s illegal. And there’s no way that the people involved can’t know that this isn’t fake, if that is the case. There’s too many people involved in it.
 
I am willing to give this thing the benifit of the doubt, and say that this is probably for real, and a real project. If not, well, then I was wrong, and I will accept that. But if I’m right, then we get something that looks awesome. A PG13 dating sim is a good idea. I play a lot of dating sims, (Mainly because I’m forever alone, and can’t find a good girlfriend :( )But a lot of the ones I’ve found are mature ones, and until now, I don’t think I’ve actually heard of a PG13 pony dating sim, so that’s awesome.
 
Anyway, I’ve rambled on for too long, so I’m just gonna sit and wait to see if this is actually a real project. I’m hoping it is, and I think it will be.. but there’s always the possibility that I’m wrong, and knowing my luck, it will be the latter.

…And it’s on Horse News now.
 
http://www.horse-news.net/2014/03/from-skeptics-desk-dark-skyes-aka.html

I think the stupidest part of this is him calling it Project Mayhem.
 
I highly doubt he’s about to do some Fight Club level shit with this.

@Itsthinking  
@Background Pony #A457
 
For ~800 USD per person, yeah, that seems both like not worth it (considering she’s a commission artist) and extremely shortsighted (given legal consequences on top).
 
And if it’s not even a full scam and just a prank, as Masem posits, then that’s just burning her name for no gain at all.
 
At the moment I’d rather believe this is a coincidence and the FB post refers to something else entirely.
 
I haven’t lost anything (no pony waifu in game no money from me), but it’d just be generally pretty sad on multiple levels if this is an actual scam or prank.

One thing to keep in mind: no one has presently lost money on this - people have pledged funds, but as KS works, this money is not taken until the KS successfully closes.
 
If this is more a practical joke, they will likely cancel to the KS in its final days, going “ha ha, this was just a prank”, with a no-harm no-foul attitude since no one lost money, only the time. Yeah they probably will be slammed by KS for abusing the system but that doesn’t seem to be an issue for them.
 
If they actually did let this go through and took people’s money and then reveal it a scam, that would be different. Hence why it’s probably better to get the word out, “buyer beware” and all, given there’s no obvious conditions and evidence to bring the project down from KS itself.

@The Smiling Pony  
After all of the shit you deal with, you’re surprised at an artist being a shortsighted idiot?

@The Smiling Pony
 
Most of these artists are poor, so this would probably be an excellent way to earn a quick buck.

@Masem  
Yeah, I got confused as there is a Sam Gruszka that consistently replies to that account’s posts. FB isn’t letting me actually look at accounts, though.

@Background Pony #A457  
I dunno, I find it a bit hard to believe that an artist of that caliber known mostly for pony would burn her name for a scam that maybe would net 10k USD, shared with 12 other people.

@The Smiling Pony
 
PYOO-kee-pony is supposedly one of the artists for the game, as seen in her journal entry. Thing is, if you look at some of the artwork in her gallery you’ll quickly recognize that commissions she made for other people have been hastily recoloured, or even blatantly reused for the Kickstarter video/images in the description.
 
So yeah, the artists are definitely aware of the scam.

@The Smiling Pony  
Yea, it’s a different Sam. From FB:
 
“MDE is Million Dollar Extreme MDE is Sam Hyde, Nick Rochefort, and Charles Carroll”

Actually, no, wait, might be a completely different Sam. Shit would be a lot easier to check if I had a FB account I guess.
 
Would be nice if it’s all just a series of unfortunate coincidences.

@Background Pony #1545  
A scam is a scam, irregardless of how much it is. (6 of those backers, last I look, have pledged $100+ each for this).

Oh wow, he scammed $3800 from donations. Watch out guys, we’re dealing with a criminal mastermind over here.

@Itsthinking  
Unfortunately, no. The choices are:  

@Background Pony #A457  
Keep in mind that not everyone involved in the project may be fully aware of what’s going on; it’s perfectly possible that several of those team members are fully convinced they’re working on a real project.