Thanks, I really like videos like that. Just watched the entire thing. Since I'm something of an aspiring game developer myself, it's very enlightening to see the veil pulled back and better understand why the mobile market is full of the kinds of shit it's filled with. I've always preferred more simple games that don't nickel and dime people--you buy once and you get your whole game. But watching that video helps me better understand the modern game market on mobile as well as on Steam.
And you're right, when dipping your toes into the topic things really do veer into feminism and dating strategies when you study psychology and using it for own benefit, but all of it is fascinating. I think it's probably all related and all human nation. And from getting people to keep clicking to on a mobile game, or preordering ultimate editions of games, to buying costumes and cosmetics, to buying things that are "on sale for a limited time" it's all the same. But the good thing is once you really learn to notice it, it's hard NOT to notice it. You just have to know what you're looking for. I feel like a learned a lot from a 20 minute video, so I can only imagine how much power professional marketers develop after years of training and practice.
This might be slightly veering off-topic, but I read The Murderer Next Door by David Buss many years ago and found it really fascinating. It goes the evolutionary psychology reasons why people kill. It's interesting how people do have hard-wired behaviors, and while in that book's case it dealt with killing, I can see where knowing how people operate at a lower level can lead to more ambitious people using whatever tactics they can to get whatever it is they want. I started to read the 48 Laws of Power many years ago but it's hard to read stuff like that because it kind of does feel like a manual for being an asshole, but again I think it's probably also full of advice on how to recognize those behaviors. Same thing with YouTube channels like Jake Tran or Moon. They talk about all kinds of social manipulation going on. I'll watch them occasionally but sometimes it seems like they are glorifying or celebrating certain behaviors. Or even other channels, like Not Just Bikes or More Perfect Union. Sometimes you just subconsciously notice an agenda like a fucking Spider Sense. Of course I'm definitely not giving you or anyone else recommendations, but it's like you do go researching these things you go into a sort of uncanny valley where things aren't quite right and it's like going into the wrong neighborhood. Apologies for the ranting.
Thanks, I really like videos like that. Just watched the entire thing. Since I'm something of an aspiring game developer myself, it's very enlightening to see the veil pulled back and better understand why the mobile market is full of the kinds of shit it's filled with. I've always preferred more simple games that don't nickel and dime people--you buy once and you get your whole game. But watching that video helps me better understand the modern game market on mobile as well as on Steam.
And you're right, when dipping your toes into the topic things really do veer into feminism and dating strategies when you study psychology and using it for own benefit, but all of it is fascinating. I think it's probably all related and all human nation. And from getting people to keep clicking to on a mobile game, or preordering ultimate editions of games, to buying costumes and cosmetics, to buying things that are "on sale for a limited time" it's all the same. But the good thing is once you really learn to notice it, it's hard NOT to notice it. You just have to know what you're looking for. I feel like a learned a lot from a 20 minute video, so I can only imagine how much power professional marketers develop after years of training and practice.
This might be slightly veering off-topic, but I read The Murderer Next Door by David Buss many years ago and found it really fascinating. It goes the evolutionary psychology reasons why people kill. It's interesting how people do have hard-wired behaviors, and while in that book's case it dealt with killing, I can see where knowing how people operate at a lower level can lead to more ambitious people using whatever tactics they can to get whatever it is they want. I started to read the 48 Laws of Power many years ago but it's hard to read stuff like that because it kind of does feel like a manual for being an asshole, but again I think it's probably also full of advice on how to recognize those behaviors. Same thing with YouTube channels like Jake Tran or Moon. They talk about all kinds of social manipulation going on. I'll watch them occasionally but sometimes it seems like they are glorifying or celebrating certain behaviors. Or even other channels, like Not Just Bikes or More Perfect Union. Sometimes you just subconsciously notice an agenda like a fucking Spider Sense. Of course I'm definitely not giving you or anyone else recommendations, but it's like you do go researching these things you go into a sort of uncanny valley where things aren't quite right and it's like going into the wrong neighborhood. Apologies for the ranting.