What does TL mean?

[MasterGwydion]

Not really. Buying power is much less on lower TL areas. Basic econ

I live in Honduras. No one makes cellphones in Honduras, yet everyone has the latest technology smartphones even though they are the same price as in the US. No one makes copper wire in Honduras. It is imported, but most of the country has electricity.

Honduras would be considered a lower TL than the US and yet can access to all of the same things. Medicine here costs 10% of what the exact same drugs cost in the US.

Although, they did have a chart for what you are talking about in GURPS, either Far Trader or Starports. I do not remember which.

 

[Terry Mixon]

I live in Honduras. No one makes cellphones in Honduras, yet everyone has the latest technology smartphones even though they are the same price as in the US. No one makes copper wire in Honduras. It is imported, but most of the country has electricity.

Honduras would be considered a lower TL than the US and yet can access to all of the same things. Medicine here costs 10% of what the exact same drugs cost in the US.

Although, they did have a chart for what you are talking about in GURPS, either Far Trader or Starports. I do not remember which.

Another angle on that was how long it took you to get your computer back up recently.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Another angle on that was how long it took you to get your computer back up recently.

Definitely! We have access to all of the same things as when I lived in the US. What is different is how long it takes me to get it.

In the US I could get a computer repaired in a day or two. Here it took a few weeks as I had to wait for parts to be shipped in.

Edit - I also have to pay shipping costs on the items as well.

 

[actionman]

Reading the responses, perhaps TL could be interpreted as the level of development of industrial-financial-economic network on the world that enables the production of goods.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Reading the responses, perhaps TL could be interpreted as the level of development of industrial-financial-economic network on the world that enables the production of goods.

Just to clarify... Isn't that the same as saying that TL is defined as "what goods can be produced locally"?

 

[Sigtrygg]

The problem isn't what a world's TL means.

The problem is what a world's TL means when it is part of a polity with much higher TLs within trading distance.

 

[MasterGwydion]

The problem isn't what a world's TL means.

The problem is what a world's TL means when it is part of a polity with much higher TLs within trading distance.

Same thing it means living in Honduras. You can buy stuff from the higher TL world, so they will be common there. You just have to wait for anything you buy to be shipped to you. In Honduras, that is everything manufactured; cars, electronics, phones, commercial boats, airplanes, most construction materials, etc. We do have plenty of dairy products and food stuffs grown locally though.

 

[MasterGwydion]

The problem isn't what a world's TL means.

The problem is what a world's TL means when it is part of a polity with much higher TLs within trading distance.

Basically what this means is that a Referee is going to need to look at the surrounding planets that have higher TLs and starports. You could come up with a system for it if you wanted to. Something like...

Percentage cost increase for higher TL items will depend on availability as represented by the Starport Code. The bigger the starport, the more offworld goods are available, the lower the price. Something like a +10% on a Class A, +30% on a Class C, +90% on a Class D, +270% on a Class D. Class E doesn't get enough offworld trade to really set a price, so this is best left at Referee's discretion. (Technically all of this would be Referee's Discretion - Rule Zero)
You could then do the same thing for TL.
+1TL = +10% to the purchase price
+2TL = +30%
+3TL = +90%
+4TL = +270%
Keep multiplying the percentage by 3 for each TL increase. This will give you a general idea of what everything costs, which should give you some idea of who can afford it. This will enable you to calculate roughly which socio-economic groups on the planet may have such items commonly.

Please excuse me. That was all just off of the top of my head and may be garbage.

 

[Condottiere]

Can a neighbour shop repair your hi tech gadget, even if it's imported?

 

[MasterGwydion]

Can a neighbour shop repair your hi tech gadget, even if it's imported?

Kind of. They can replace parts, but not repair the parts.

 

[Condottiere]

Making it functional again would be a nuance for the technological level, even if the parts aren't manufactured locally.

If you have to send it out system for it to be repaired, then it certainly wouldn't qualify for having that technological level.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Making it functional again would be a nuance for the technological level, even if the parts aren't manufactured locally.

If you have to send it out system for it to be repaired, then it certainly wouldn't qualify for having that technological level.

If the definition is manufactured locally, then switching out parts doesn't count. Nothing is being manufactured locally.

 

[Condottiere]

Globalization is finding the most cheapest way to manufacture a product, by dividing the manufacturing process to areas that are cheapest in creating that part, and then packaging it.

The opposite of economies of scale is diminishing returns.

Manufacturing is likely to remain on a planet with a reasonably sized industrial base,

Otherwise, the manufacturer(s) would have to figure out an interstellar logistics chain, with unreliable delivery dates.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Globalization is finding the most cheapest way to manufacture a product, by dividing the manufacturing process to areas that are cheapest in creating that part, and then packaging it.

Cheapest way in Traveller is higher TL worlds producing lower TL items. Basically TL-10 world being the most economical to produce TL-7 goods. Like that. Not that specific example as I did not look at the rules when I wrote that, but it is something close to that.

The opposite of economies of scale is diminishing returns.

Manufacturing is likely to remain on a planet with a reasonably sized industrial base,

In Traveller, these would likely be the ones classified as Industrial Worlds. Putting out items of their TL and lower. At a TL-8 Industrial planet it is only costing half as much to build a TL-7 computer, by the rules.

Otherwise, the manufacturer(s) would have to figure out an interstellar logistics chain, with unreliable delivery dates.

Don't big corps have to figure out interstellar logistics chains with unreliable delivery dates anyhow?

 

[Condottiere]

It would depend on the size of the project.

Not every consumer product would need to have bleeding edge technological level fifteen components.

Communications devices may be an exception, if it has a demonstrated greater utility, and/or is a status symbol.

 

[MarcusIII]

It would depend on the size of the project.

Not every consumer product would need to have bleeding edge technological level fifteen components.

Communications devices may be an exception, if it has a demonstrated greater utility, and/or is a status symbol.

True, I bought a couple of walkie-talkies from Midland the other day. Cheap ones. Could have been made a TL ago

 

[MasterGwydion]

It would depend on the size of the project.

Not every consumer product would need to have bleeding edge technological level fifteen components.

If you had two products that were the same and one was half of the price, which would you buy? If you are privileged, you can choose. If you are poor, you buy what you can afford. In this case, the one you can afford is the same one that you cannot get repaired on your homeworld.

What was Terry Pratchett's quote about boots?

Communications devices may be an exception, if it has a demonstrated greater utility, and/or is a status symbol.

True. In general, fads and status symbols aside.

 

[Condottiere]

I think we all agree that economics doesn't make sense in Traveller.

Having said that, I sort of suspect that the technological level is the industrial base that the planet can rely on, if interstellar lines of communication collapse.

It's quite possible that there are factories that manufacture higher teched goods, in niche industries.

Cloth might be imported, considering that it's comparatively dense.

Clothing might be imported, considering the potential markup.

However, local laser tailoring could make custom clothing for a customer.

Short version: it's going to be circumstantial, and specific to the market conditions.

 

[MarcusIII]

IMTU it is what the highest level that the world can manufacture itself. KISS

 

[MasterGwydion]

I think we all agree that economics doesn't make sense in Traveller.

They don't, but We can only work with the rules we have as far as Charted Space goes.