History Main / GoodPaysBetter

* ''Film/AustinPowers'': In every movie, Number Two will tell Doctor Evil that they're making a lot more money with legitimate business operations than evil plans. In response, Doctor Evil says "SILENCE NUMBER TWO!" and then does the EvilPlan anyway.

** City-states don't mind if you attack rival cities (if anything, they admire you for it), and only care that you attacked them personally. You lose favor with them by making demands of other cities or failing to respond to their requests, so you can always bribe yourself back into their good graces (and your rating increases when you give gifts). However, conquering other cities is the only way to make them trade with you if they aren't already (in Emperor, it's the more efficient way if you already have a strong military, as otherwise you need to send a gift, wait for the gift to arrive, and then send a request for trade).
** Citizens will only tolerate a tax rate higher than Normal for a few months. However, matching the salaries with the taxes not only prevents this discontent, it puts more people in the workforce.

* ZigZagged in ''ComicBook/TheBoys''. Many of the "[[NominalHero superheroes]]" were former supervillains that only turned to heroics because [[EvilInc Vought]] contracts and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity comic royalties]] paid better than robbing banks ever could. Although very few went through a genuine HeelFaceTurn, instead just becoming better at hiding their lack of morals. One notable example was the ComicBook/{{Thor}} {{expy}} Stormfront, who was an [[ThoseWackyNazis actual Nazi]] who "quit" being a villain to join the AlternateCompanyEquivalent Avengers.

** City-states don't mind if you attack rival cities (if anything, they admire you for it), and only care that you attacked them personally. You lose favor with them by making demands of other cities or failing to respond to their requests, so you can always bribe yourself back into their good graces (and your rating increases when you give gifts). However, conquering other cities is the only way to make them trade with you if they aren't already (in Emperor, it's the more efficient way if you already have a strong military, a other wise you need to send a gift, wait for the gift to arrive, and then send a request for trade).

** In Quarry Junction a man will straight up pay you after the fact if you fix the town's pet mole rat’s leg and/ or fix their generator. The evil option (killing the mole rat and wrecking the generator) will only net you mole rat meat and scrap.
** In ''Honest Hearts'', killing or hostilizing any friendly NPC's triggers "Chaos in Zion" and forces you into a shorter alternate quest, denying you any of the rewards or achievments earned from the normal path.

** Increasing your rep with the Followers of the Apocalypse will first get you some free healing items every day, and later get you an honorary membership which gains you access to their safe house. You do this by helping them provide aid to the people of Freeside, cleaning up drug addicts, fetching medicine, helping refugees, and other act of humanitarianism.

** In the ''Old World Blues'' expansion several optional side quests to aid members of the Think Tank will result in an easy way to end the expansion without bloodshed. If you do you can continue to take advantage of the extra caps, magazines, and energy cell they give you every day whenever you go back to The Sink.

** In the ''Old World Blues'' expansion several optional side quest to aid members of the Think Tank will result in an easy way to end the expansion without bloodshed. If you do you can continue to take advantage of the extra caps, magazines, and energy cell they give you every day whenever you go back to The Sink.

* In ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'', there is a point where you can make enough trade agreements to cause valuable good prices for merchants to skyrocket. Building structure that add protection (like walls), provide entertainment (like race tracks and inns), provide security and law (like the Mayor's house and garrison quarters), and other such structures that raise the people's happiness. Providing them places to work (like farms), places to trade (like ports and markets), and structures to increase said trade (like shipwrights and roads) will increase profits by a substantial amount. If you use loyal, non-corrupted, and smart family members run cities, you can increase public happiness further. All that this means is that population growth will accelerate and you can get away with charging higher taxes. Everyone wins!