That is a fascinating link, thanks. I'd mentioned this tactic was likely the reason for scrypt.cc to continue communicating with their marks but I was unaware it was a studied sociopsychological process.
Apparently these days the practice is used
more by colleges [wikipedia], "to encourage the students to adjust their expectations or redefine failure".
if scam or not, you will be very sad, because scrypt.cc will go back online. You can use your strong analytic brain and look to history of the project.
I won't be sad if they go back online. I'm not invested in any way in the success or failure of their project. It looks scammy, appears not to take any steps to look less scammy, and so is probably a scam. It's sad if people lose their money to scams, but it's going to happen. People are greedy and stupid and don't want to listen to warnings. That's just how it is.