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Bulbagraphic:Economics and the Pokémon Video Games: Difference between revisions
Bulbagraphic:Economics and the Pokémon Video Games (view source)
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In the video games, the player-character acquires money through battling, and the money earned is roughly proportional to the difficulty of the battle. Every trainer class has its own scaling (obviously {{bp|Lady|Ladies}} and {{bp|Rich Boy|Rich Boys}} pay more at easier battles than do, say, {{bp|Bug Catcher|Bug Catchers}}), but within that class, the pay scale increases with the difficulty of battle. This suggests some sort of merit-based system; the more successful one is at battling, the wealthier the person becomes. Nevertheless, almost every economic system is merit-based, from capitalism where the money one earns is based on the success of the product, to communism where the money earned is proportional to the contributions to society. | In the video games, the player-character acquires money through battling, and the money earned is roughly proportional to the difficulty of the battle. Every trainer class has its own scaling (obviously {{bp|Lady|Ladies}} and {{bp|Rich Boy|Rich Boys}} pay more at easier battles than do, say, {{bp|Bug Catcher|Bug Catchers}}), but within that class, the pay scale increases with the difficulty of battle. This suggests some sort of merit-based system; the more successful one is at battling, the wealthier the person becomes. Nevertheless, almost every economic system is merit-based, from capitalism where the money one earns is based on the success of the product, to communism where the money earned is proportional to the contributions to society. | ||
However, the defining characteristic of monetary acquisition is the positive feedback loop it creates – those who have money can train better Pokémon and win more money, and those without money cannot train their Pokémon and therefore are destined to poverty (which is where the “utopian” vision of the economics falls apart). The betterment of a Pokémon is highly dependent upon the amount of money spent – the more items used, the more likely that Pokémon will level up. If someone who has dozens of hyper potions battles someone who doesn't have any healing items at the same level, obviously the trainer with the money (as items cost money) will win the battle and make their Pokémon gain experience, and earn more money. This positive feedback loop feeds into the fact that | However, the defining characteristic of monetary acquisition is the positive feedback loop it creates – those who have money can train better Pokémon and win more money, and those without money cannot train their Pokémon and therefore are destined to poverty (which is where the “utopian” vision of the economics falls apart). The betterment of a Pokémon is highly dependent upon the amount of money spent – the more items used, the more likely that Pokémon will level up. If someone who has dozens of hyper potions battles someone who doesn't have any healing items at the same level, obviously the trainer with the money (as items cost money) will win the battle and make their Pokémon gain experience, and earn more money. This positive feedback loop feeds into the fact that an oligarchical structure exists – pointing to a capitalist society. | ||
[[File:VSLance.png|200px|left|thumb|A symbol of Capitalism?]] | [[File:VSLance.png|200px|left|thumb|A symbol of Capitalism?]] | ||