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The Psychology of Gaming | Sacred Symbols+ Episode 144

Please welcome Jacob Ignagni to Sacred Symbols+. Jacob is a graduate student at the University of Nebraska, where he's studying Clinical Mental Health Counseling. A major point-of-interest for Jacob is the intersection of games and mental health, and our discussion on + focuses on this nexus. We separate things into three categories: The black skies of monetization and retention, the fairer skies of escapism and economy, and the blue skies of literacy, problem solving, and acuity. For those that are deeply interested in how games affect you beyond the controller, well... this chat's very much for you.

Comments

TheSilverLabGuy

As someone who studied in social services, I can say this gentlement is very knowledgeable and made proper association about stress and marketing. SS+ is so interesting, just wow! I would recommand this one to be public, I think it would make people realize a lot about their own habbit and trigger a good introspection for many people :D. The best way to help is talking about it ! (Sorry about my english, I'm a French person xD) EDIT : And proud of it dammit!

Cameron Lee

Thank you for all the content you guys release.

Raymond Stuart

Germany did ban loot boxes for sale to minors https://screenrant.com/loot-boxes-banned-games-minors-germany/

Raymond Stuart

This was a really interesting episode in the middle of Halo Infinite MP progression systems complaints. Microsoft is no different than Epic or Ubisoft or Activision or EA when it comes to designing a microtransaction system. They have some really smart people that work for them. They likely designed their drip feed progression system to sell more XP boosts and to sell more store based cosmetics. And ultimately, it's not designed for the people screaming the loudest because they are missing out. It's for the people that will absolutely not choose out to miss out. Who spent $200 to max out the battlepass on day 1; those who will probably still spend thousands for additional store cosmetics. It does bring up an interesting question that keeps coming up for me. As video game publishers look forward 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, are they seeing the changing demographic away from hardcore, traditional gamers to the casual gamers where every game is free and they just expect games to be monetitized through microtransactions? Is that why Ubisoft is betting so big on moving almost every franchise to F2P models? I love Xbox Game Pass, but I think the writing is on the wall that they will continue to layer in additional ways of monetitization. Either cosmetics or planned annual DLCs that aren't included in XPG or every game getting premium early access.

Anonymous

Game Pass is something that we did not talk about, but something I have looked into quite a bit. I feel like when people talk about the sustainability of Game Pass, they compare it to Netflix. This misses the point entirely I feel as games on Game Pass feature microtransactions and other forms of monetization not present in movies or tv shows. You see it with Halo Infinite going F2P, but Microsoft is banking on Game Pass subs for exclusive items, plus people paying for Battlepasses. RDR2 was on Game Pass for months, but Rockstar is still making money from Red Dead Online, so why not? The more people you can get into your ecosystem, the more likely they are to spend money in the games they are playing on your service.

Anonymous

Hey everyone! Thanks for listening. If your have any questions, comments, or insight of your own, feel free to respond below! Also, thanks to Colin and the gang for having me on, it was a blast.

Johnny Lamotte

Very great discussion. Thanks for the content as always Colin. Oh, and also Jacob!

Jordan Falduto

Incredibly thought-provoking conversation. Thank you for creating a vehicle where these conversations can be held. My only wish is elongating the discussion tenfold - there were so many items that were lightly touched on that could all account for an individual 30 minute conversation. A "mental health in relation to video games" series... I need longform essay Colin back

OCEL0T

Hey Colin, just wanted to say I really loved this conversation. It has me reexamining a lot of the games I play and why I enjoy them. As many have said, please make this free as it’s important for people to reflect on why they play the games they do. I hope you find more people to talk to about monetization in games whether it’s people who research the topic or those who even develop those systems in games. It would be really interesting as it’s a topic not covered too much. Thanks for all the LSM crew does!

Eric Bolella

Great episode gents. Jacob, I’m a licensed marriage and family therapist. Feel free to reach out if you ever want to chat about the field!

Anonymous

I’m a licensed clinical social worker myself. Currently working within the substance use realm. Great episode! Jacob, if you could link some of those studies, I would appreciate it.

Anonymous

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Great insights. Thank you.

Giovanni D'Amico

Great episode. Really enjoyed the look at all angles of psychology in gaming (good, bad, and in between).

Anonymous

Guys, we can make our own opinions about games. We don’t need to listen to three guys tell us.

Anonymous

I think these scholarly discussions on games are really some of your best and would love more of them. Fantastic episode and keep up the great work. Thanks as always for consistently great podcasts.

Jordan Knepp

I don’t reply much to these podcasts/videos but I just wanted to say this one was top notch. I mean, I love all the sacred symbols episodes but this one just may be my favorite. Great job, guys.

Anonymous

Such a thought provoking conversation and what an interesting guest! One of my favourite episodes, would love to hear more from this guy. Thank you. 🙏

Sam Lee

Loved this interview. Would be interesting to hear from people who work on the monetisation aspects of these games. Also, speaking of the elderly, you should check out this 70 year old lady who loves JRPG's and the Vita. https://www.youtube.com/c/Food4Dogs

Devilman84

What. Great interview god It felt so much like fireside chats…

Kbr Sports

This episode was so great. Thanks for bringing him on Colin.

Greg Shapiro

Such an awesome episode. Literally the best games centric Patreon out there.