Good point. I guess the game's labeling system shouldn't deceive you like that, but it would need to have characters that promote non-functioning technology, after some warning that e.g. not everyone is reliable, that these people aren't the tutorial.
Best I think would be if the warning came implicitly as part of the game, and a little ways into it.
For example: The player sees one NPC Alex warn another NPC Joe that failing to drink the Potion of Feather Fall will mean he's at risk of falling off a ledge and dying. Joe accepts the advice and drinks it. Soon after, Joe accidentally falls off a ledge and dies. Alex attempts to rationalize this result away, and (as subtly as possible) shrugs off any attempts by the player to follow conversational paths that would encourage testing the potion.
Player hopefu...
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