Primer for the Real World? The Money by oddhatter |  |
A STINKY DESK - In my previous two articles, I discussed the similarities
between Neopian
communities and the Neopian
life to that of the actual world. While I know only the basics of economic
principles, it should also be fairly obvious that the dynamics behind the Neopian
economy are not very different from those in real life.
The Neopian Bank functions
in much the same way that real life banks do. The concept of interest is one
that comes up quite often, and for good reason. The amount of interest one gets
is determined by the amount of money in the account. Like reality, the Neopian
bank system favours the rich. On the other hand, there is no shortage of charity
in Neopia. Besides the Money
Tree, which favours... poor people with broadband connections, there
is a goodly amount of free stuff to be found around the site, whether from generous
guilds, people or random events. The Soup
Faerie is also more than glad to provide to the truly poor. Conversely,
there is also an abundance of beggars, who apparently don't quite catch on that
their methods of begging are rather ineffective. In Neopia, "Will work for food"
works significantly better than "Need beer money". Money or rather, Neopoints,
is certainly a crucial part of Neopets.
Anyone who owns a shop, stakes out the auctions or barters on the trading
post is well aware of the constant fluctuation of the Neopian economy. The Neopian
economy is driven partially by fads. Remember the Faerie Dolls? True, their
price has become predominantly stable - but not many people care that much anymore.
The Baby Paint Brush has reduced in price at the Hidden Tower by 100,000 NP.
Those people who were taken with the new baby looks and went in for the impulse
buy were probably a little sore. The Rare Item Code items were extremely valuable
in the first few days of release, and then most slowly plummeted in price. I
have a Snowager Plushie and a Tyrannian Jacket from the original Neopets merchandising
events (pre-Limited Too), both of which were unbuyable once (and stayed unbuyable
for longer than the Limited Too and Claire's items did). Now, the Tyrannian
Jacket sells for 700 NP or so, and the Snowager Plushie for around 20,000 NP.
A far cry from "unbuyable", eh?
And then, there are certain "events" that raise the prices of certain items.
As a number of articles have discussed, prices of Battledome weapons and codestones
often rise in the middle of war. In all probability, this will also happen during
the Meridell war. Similarly, during real-life wars, food is often scarce and
prices rise for many things that are usually taken for granted. For example,
during the rationing period during the World Wars (fortunately, there's only
been two), stockings were considered a luxury item and sold for a significant
amount on the black market.
Which then brings me to the point of the "black market". Sure, it's all illegal
by Neopian law. Does it still happen? Of course. Pets are probably the largest
commodity on this market. I'd say that many owners of a painted pet with decent
stats have received at least one offer to buy their pet. There are countless
stories of "adoption" or "transfer" stories gone wrong, as stated in a recent
article, with the "wrong" recipient demanding Neopoints before she/she will
return the pet. True, the pet is rightfully theirs as it was adopted from the
pound, but to ask for Neopoints in exchange is sheer greed (not to mention downright
wrong). Others train pets to be sold. Something like breeders without ethics.
Do people learn? Yeah, some do, others persist. Some people have even attempted
to sell Neopoints on eBay - another instance of Neopets overlapping into the
"real world" in a rather unpleasant way. They aren't generally successful, but
it's an example of how something like Neopets can be exploited for one's selfish
purposes.
There's also the Neopian
Stock Market, obviously one of those brainless parallels to the real
world. I haven't paid much attention to it recently, but it's a chance for quick
money - or not. It's a much simpler version of a real life stock market, but
the dynamics are similar. Right now, its downward plunge is comparable to that
of Wall Street.
The concepts behind purchasing and selling items on Neopets are also quite
analogous to that of ...yes, you guessed it - real life. A lot of Neopian shopowners
try to price their items below those of their competitors, a method often employed
by supermarkets and large chains, for obvious reasons. Others do "special offers",
which are against rules, but very similar to the "buy one get one free" or other
such deals often seen in regular stores.
Neopian shoppers are savvy consumers too. Few people will accept the first
batch of results given by the Shop
Wizard. Most will always, without fail, shop around for the "best price".
Even more will haggle endlessly with shopkeepers, because goodness forbid that
one should ever pay the price asked. It's the same kind of thing that parents
embarrass their kids for. I've always found it amusing how one can attempt to
disown a mother who insists that the cucumbers at the farmers market are ten
cents too much, and yet will not hesitate to tell the friendly yellow Chia at
the Food Store that that Jalapeno Popper should be 100 NP less than it is.
Probably the best example of Neopian consumerism merging into the real world
actually takes place on our own, beloved Earth (well, the United States, and
coming soon to other places! Heh). The samplings of Neopets merchandise now
found in Limited Too and Claire's cannot help but tempt most people, trained
and developed in the art of consumerism by Neopets itself. Disco Aishas and
Purple Chia plushies are the equivalent of that rare, elusive item that you'd
stake out the Neopian Shops for. Of course, the principles of aesthetics count
too. Most people would tend to agree that the Babaa and Doglefox are "cuter"
than the Angelpuss, and going by the lack of Babaa and Doglefox plushies at
Claire's and an abundance of Angelpuss ones, the personal tastes displayed in
Neopian life cross over easily. It might be easier to spend 10,000 NP on a Babaa
than $10 on a little Babaa plushie, though. Still, I did (both, actually.).
What can I say, I'm a hopeless consumer.
At any rate, I would say that Neopets reflects life in more ways than are
generally thought of. It can be seen as an extension of such, or as the title
of my articles suggest, a primer for it. Neopets is a scaled down, simplified
version of the real world. It's educational, and entertaining, and perhaps even
harmful, as all absorbing sites can be. Neopia is not a perfect world, has never
been one, was not intended to be so, and will probably never be. Just like Earth.
Personally, I like that way. |
