(EDIT: I found my answer the answer to my question. Goodbye FromSoft for the foreseeable future. RIP One of the greatest game developers of the last decade and a half. Explanation at the bottom.)

At risk of bringing down a mob on my head, torches, pitchforks, and all, I'll ask the question. Is there anything in the DLC at all, story wise especially, that smacks of ESG backing or funding on the project. My main reason for asking is that I recently found out that ESG backing is heavily behind ALL of Capcom's IP's at the moment and that caught me off guard pretty badly.

SPOILERS:
There are some people who have suggested that the Golden Order ending quest line ,which ultimately reveals that Radagon and Marika are the same person, is an instance of a story writing decision that was influenced by ESG funding. Such maintain that the revelation that Radagon and Marika are the same person could be seen as a suggestion of Transvestite or Transsexual paradigm.

While I personally do not subscribe to this suggestion, it does cause me to worry. That was a side quest that I know I didn't fully discover until my second/third play through. It's off the beaten path of what the average player base typically experiences. But it's precisely because it is so subtle that there is a chance that other quest lines of such subtle nature COULD potentially be slipped in containing messaging or suggestions of the tropes and themes that ESG endorsing backers like to strong arm developers into including in their games.

(For more on what ESG in games is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEE9OqJIlM0)

SO THE QUESTION IS;
In so many words, has anyone who has completed the DLC and it's side quests come across anything that could be an indicator of ESG?

90% of ESG backed content is EASY to spot...but keep in mind that it's likely that if ESG content IS in Elden Ring in any way shape or form it's probably quite subtle.

EXPLANATION OF TOP EDIT: (This vod from 30;50-34:34 summarizes everything I needed to know and confirms ALL of the fears that I had prior to the release of Erdtree and then some.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-mY9CmHVWk

Also, listening to the rest of the review and factoring that against the mixed reviews status that the DLC held until very recently, how convenient for it to magically disappear at such a crucial moment in it's release time frame, it would appear that the game mechanics have not been improved. If anything the design choices seem to have had a degenerative affect on the experience of the game engine.

No worries. I picked up Lords of the Fallen instead, whose developers have MASSIVELY improved their game with every patch since it's troubled release last Fall, and am enjoying it thoroughly. It's like the better elements of DS2 combined with Bloodborne. I quite like it. Gives me hope that other developers will carry the genre forward with good design ideas and decisions without politicizing their games into an ideologue. Where FromSoft has fallen off the ever diligent indie scene and developers who prioritize game design above all else will move forward.)