View Single Post
Old 10-11-2018, 07:12 AM   #75
vicky_molokh
GURPS FAQ Keeper
 
vicky_molokh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
Default Re: Conversation Rate of G$ To Real World Dollars

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
No one is stopping a GM from adjusting COL and prices for local conditions, but GURPS uses the US $ for a benchmark, so it is valid to translate GURPS $ into 2018 $. In a developing nation though, the money saved in prices are usually made up in the cost of keeping servants to maintain security and the cost of private schools. For example, in India, a Status 0 individual will spend as much as in the USA, but they will have a few servants and will spend a small fortune on private schools.
If nobody is stopping the GM from doing that, then of course you can crank up USA's CoL the way e.g. THS:Changing Times does.

I can't comment on India, but where I live, the point about spending a lot on security to maintain Status 0 seems inaccurate. Maybe for Status 3, but not 0 and almost surely not 1. Likewise, private schools are a Status +1 or +2 thing; people living at Status -1 to 0 use state schools instead.

$300-$600 for Status -1 to 0 seems roughly in the right order of magnitude IME, and I suspect so it does in many other places of the world. (Also note that I'm living in the capital city; that suffers from the 'prestigious area' crank-up of many CoL-related costs; a less remarkable city would likely be cheaper.)

Much of the world estimates prices in the USA-$, but that should never be taken to assume that what you can buy for that dollar is the same as in USA; if you travel throughout the world assuming the prices are the same everywhere, you'll be swindled hard.
__________________
Vicky 'Molokh', GURPS FAQ and uFAQ Keeper
vicky_molokh is offline   Reply With Quote