CyberPunk 2077 did a similar thing. Seems to be a new pattern. Promise free DLC to drum up support. Charge for the DLC. Wait for things to cool down. Do it again.
This game was the only one that managed to give me motion sickness. I don’t know what was up with the graphics, but I felt nauseous after watching my brother play it for a few hours. Maybe it was all the flashing lights, small fonts, repetitive music, and confusing camera angles.
You’re referring to a video codec degrading as it keeps rendering the video again, not just copying and pasting the bits. There is no degradation from copying and pasting a file as-is.
I was burned too bad with Cyberpunk 2077 that even though Starfield seems to be all right, I’m waiting until after reviews come out before I pick up a copy. That just means I wait a few more days to reduce the risk of more pain.