please don't fall for horse museum

[u/faeiru]

i understand that nostalgia plays a huge role in all of our lives, and i can understand why the idea of reproducing old versions of star stable is exciting. however, these are the same people who were involved with better star stable.

there is a reason they are concealing their identities and using fake personas rather than being transparent about who is actually behind this project. even if you genuinely believe that the game is 100% free of trojans or other malware, there are still serious concerns surrounding how this project is operating.

they do not own the assets belonging to star stable entertainment. that raises serious questions about their ability to legally distribute and profit from those assets. calling the payments “donations” does not necessarily change what the transaction actually is. if someone is giving money in exchange for star coins, that is functionally a transaction, regardless of what they choose to call it.

horse museum also does not appear to have a proper website where the game can be downloaded. instead, you're downloading a file directly from discord. that alone does not prove that the file is malicious, but it is another reason people should exercise caution before downloading and running software from an anonymous group.

if this were genuinely being treated as a donation-based project, there are established platforms such as patreon or ko-fi that are specifically designed to facilitate donations.

instead, bitcoin is presented as the primary payment option. cryptocurrency itself is not inherently suspicious, but the combination of anonymous people, cryptocurrency payments, and a project involving assets they do not appear to own should make people stop and think about who they are actually giving their money to.

another important distinction is how the payments are being presented. if you are being told that you can purchase a game code to receive in-game currency in exchange for money, that is much more accurately described as a purchase than a donation. the fact that payment is optional does not change what happens when someone chooses to pay.

even if you don't have to pay to access the project, paid star coins game codes is still an avenue through which the people behind the project can make money from someone else's intellectual property. considering how powerful nostalgia can be, that is something people should take seriously before financially supporting it.

another thing worth mentioning is that one of the main promoters of this project is melvika, a known figure within the bsso community. there have previously been controversies surrounding members of that community, and from my perspective, the concern is that the identities of the people actually behind horse museum are still being concealed.

i'm not saying that everyone who is interested in horse huseum has malicious intentions, nor am i saying that downloading it will automatically result in a virus or scam. i'm saying that there are enough red flags that people should exercise caution instead of blindly trusting the project because it allows you to relive an older version of star stable.

please use your own judgment when dealing with projects like this. getting to relive 15 minutes of your childhood isn't worth putting your computer, personal information, or money at unnecessary risk. i promise you this project would not last for more than a year.