Give me more "psychological conditioning" like fair DLC and expansion policy, no lootboxes, great games, no-DRM games shop.
Fair DLCs, expansion policy, no lootboxes, great games - subjective (excluding current game, it's at best mediocre-goodish), no DRM games are terms that are not related in any way, shape or form to the concept of psychological conditioning, they are (in general) financial policies and strategic decisions. Sure, it's commendable and I truly admire the direction CDPR is trying to push the gaming industry into, don't get me wrong. Make no mistake tho, these decisions are 90% revolving around profit, CDPR is not game Jesus, the company is just trying to paint itself in a friendly light (and taking action in this direction) to boost profit.
Now, when I say "psychological conditioning", I refer to the act of reinforcing certain ideas that consumers want to believe (through certain stimulus), in order to obtain a predictable response from them. This practice is not only limited to the gaming industry, it is widely utilized in many domains, most notably in marketing and advertising, because of it's effectiveness. Why do you think the game broke sales records on the first day of release, despite being a mediocre game. In part because of the straight up lying to increase our expectations and hide the flaws (which they have apologized for and are currently reaping the consequences - lawsuit), but also because of this conditioning and marketing. "If you play our game, you are cool, you are mature and socially savvy"..." if you buy our game you are a smart gamer" etc. Why do you think reviewers were allowed to show only well crafted gameplay trailers (beside the reason to hide the games flaws)? Why do you think you see and hear the words "pro consumer policy" excessively? Why not let actions speak for themselves, as you so eloquently listed above. Small gestures and words in the gameplay footage before release wanted to FURTHER reinforce the idea of buying the game the first chance the consumer gets. THE TEHNO-NECROMANCERS OF ALPHA CENTAURI !!!!
) ok, I will stop ranting...
TL;DR;
Joking aside, this is the way of the current world. Trust no one (except family), filter everything. Personally, I am not angry at CDPR, they just do everything they can to thrive. As for the concept of "psychological conditioning" u so expertly singled out, it is sadly an integrated mechanism of marketing at this point. Gone are the days in which adverts sounded like: "This is the product, this is what it does, try it and draw your conclusions. We think you will enjoy it and are proud of it."
Also, it is way to soon to draw any conclusion regarding CDPR. The way they are perceived banks heavily on the next course of action they take after the holidays, imo. And seeing as CDPR loves multiple choices and branching storylines *cough*, I will list a few of my own personal thoughts, just to stimulate this convo:
1: They fix the majority of the bugs and really add most of the laundry list of features the game is missing. (highly unlikely)
2: They fix the majority of the bugs, add small features that require very few resources and release modding tools to let the community fix the game, focusing on the next story based DLC and multiplayer (maybe)
3: They fix the bugs and pretend the game is "a masterpiece", releasing free DLCs like "alternate look for Judy Alvarez" or "Legendary laser katana" (infuriating)
4: They fix the bugs and abandon the game, leaving it as is, hoping to sell their big story-based DLCs to fanboys and move on with multiplayer. (weird, but totally plausible as they are being pressured to do so)
What do you think will happen?
