Somebody didn’t watch the 45-minute gameplay video of the Witcher 3.
Of course I did. And what did that gameplay demo reveal about character, plot, twists and turns, or anything that would compromise the experience? I'll bring up again story arcs like
The Usual Suspects, Inception, The Sixth Sense, Arrival... There's simply no way to give a good indication of "what it's about" or "how it works" without spoiling the story. I can show a lot of action scenes for an action film. I can share a lot of jokes for a comedy. I can detail exactly what a documentary is about. All without spoiling the energy of the piece. Can't do that for stories that rely heavily on surprising the audience. Give away one wrong detail, and people may figure it out.
I honestly think it's more likely they want to avoid complaints for driving and combat which would decrease sales and pre-orders and try to improve them as much as possible before showing the game one month-ish before release. They have no problems in spoiling the story, as demonstrated from the E3 CGI (jackie hurt/killed and dex's betrayal), the deep dive demo (which has little gameplay and spoils placide's betrayal) and by the fact they let journalists and influencers say as much as they wanted about what happens in the demo.
Seriously doubt it. If CDPR worried about that sort of thing, they would have made numerous changes during development already. They've catered to absolutely no one the entire time. Nothing we've ever seen from the company has attempted to win favor or smooth the waters because people were "upset" with something. Someone is always going to have a complaint. There is always going to be that body of people that dislikes things. That's not scoffing at the people that hold such opinions, it's clarifying how the creative process works. I don't change my vision because a bunch of people shake their heads and put on sour expressions.
I follow my vision and deliver it to the audience that
does appreciate it. Everyone else is welcome to engage in something that's more to their liking. Can't please everyone. Foolish to even try. Even more foolsh to "hide" when the inevitable "negativity" reaches me.
(Responding in a general sense here, not directly to your comment: )
Despite all the spectulation, the "evidence" that some people provide (which is often just speculation
delivered dramatically, as if it carries more water that other speculation), or the massive "weight" that people think thousands of Reddit or Twitter posts carry...none of that is in any way involved in bringing a creative vision to fruition. Equally, neither is all of the "hype". Both extremes are largely...noise. When the real creative work is going on, people are too busy building things to be bothered by the commotion outside.
Now, that's not to say that feedback is not read and appreciated, and it's not to say that creators don't consider good ideas into account when they pop up. But the
vast majority of ideas, good or bad, are never going to be used. They simply don't fit the vision, and/or there's no practical way of implementing them.
If people share their opinions with the expectation of providing feedback on the very limited amount of info we all have, then great! That helps the devs get a handle on whether or not they're evoking the desired response from their audience. (And once again, there will
always be negative feedback. No matter what.)
If people share their opinions because they expect to alter the vision through "overwhelming opinion" and have the creators cater to their whims and wishes...I hope they are well-versed in feelings of frustration and disappointment. The world doesn't cater to me. Welcome to Earth. Maybe Mars will be different. But I doubt it.