Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony
The problem is that it isn't even a playable framework. It's actually not that bad at TL 8 (CoL being too low doesn't seriously break a game), but at TL 3 being able to quadruple your disposable income by living at 1 step below your status is a bit ridiculous.
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Why?
I'm a TL3, Status 0, Average Wealth freeman. I work as a skilled laborer in a small craft guild. Assuming my job pays average, I earn $700 a month. Those are GURPS Bucks, not dollars. If I live at Status 0, I probably rent a small apartment in town and might employ a servant or two or family members. It costs me $600 a month. I net $100 a month.
If I leave my apartments, clothes, and servants and find a squalid room in town where I pay for little more than food, the cheaper rent, and the disdain of my fellow citizens of Status 0, I can live at Status -1 for $300 and net $400 a month. I've quadrupled my income, as you say. But it's perfectly reasonable: look at all the stuff I'm not paying for or getting. Even maintaining my Average job will be difficult when I start coming to work dirty and followed by rumors of squalid living. But it makes perfect sense that, so long as I can maintain that Average job, I make more money by not maintaining a better lifestyle.
The system is an easily playable framework. You're just not supposed to suppose that this represents a realistic economy. It's a facade solely for the players' benefit, as there's no real economy behind it. So long as the players have reasonable explanations as to why they get or spend money according to their means and circumstances, GURPS doesn't need to care about the details.