The Eorzean Gil Scale

[Mysterysword]

I'm not entirely sure what else to call it, but I'm curious about how much wealth in-story it takes to be considered "wealthy".

So Lolorito, for example, is the "wealthiest man in Ul'dah", but how much money is that, exactly? 100 million gil or 2 billion? I have yet to come across many references to an exact figure for wealth in-story.

[Belhi]

I'm not entirely sure what else to call it, but I'm curious about how much wealth in-story it takes to be considered "wealthy".

So Lolorito, for example, is the "wealthiest man in Ul'dah", but how much money is that, exactly? 100 million gil or 2 billion? I have yet to come across many references to an exact figure for wealth in-story.

I'd guess a lot more than 100 millions. Also a lot of his wealth would be tied up in capitol such as land, goods and vehicles.

[Enkidoh]

As far as I'm aware, Lolorito's actual net worth is unknown (that is, the amount of gil in his bank account). It would be technically impossible to tell in any event. Instead, I think Lolorito's true financial worth is in how much power that wealth allows him to wield - specifically, he owns the East Adelnard Trading Company, the largest transport company in Eorzea, effectively placing all non-ocean trade under his grasp. Practically everything that goes in and out of Eorzea is made through his company, thus the obvious power and control this gives him. Hence his importance on the Syndicate as well.

Either way, someone else more knowledgeable on this might be able to give more info or clarify things I've gotten wrong.

[Anonymoose]

The number has to be extraordinary compared to numbers you usually hear in real-life Earth munniez. A wealthy-ish but otherwise not-so-noteworthy Lalafell in 1.0 paid around ten billion gil for the Ossuary's elaborate statue of Nald, and the Lalafell from the combined beast tribe scenario had a mythril cauldron worth about half that. I'll see if I can find anything more specific.

UPDATES
100,000,000 gil has roughly the power to buy either enough firesand to destroy a settlement or pay off Gerolt's Bar tab.

1,500,000 gil has roughly the power to purchase short-term medical care and internment upon death.

An Ala Mhigan refugee notes that 30,000,000 should be enough to live amongst Ul'dah's upper crust, with Eshtaime jewels and Sunsilk clothes. This doesn't really fit with the other numbers, though, so it might just be the equivalent of the people who win a million dollars and in a week it's gone and they're in debt.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Considering the fact that the richest players across several servers can boast of having anywhere from a few hundred million gil to well over 500 million gil, I would imagine that the wealthiest people in Ul'dah are possibly on a different magnitude of wealth altogether. Possibly in the billions of gil in wealth.

It really depends, I guess, on how you'd want to rationalise it, because in my mind, even the highest-level crafters in this game are considered mere journeymen to the true "grandmasters" in the game world itself. That is, you can be certain there'll always be an NPC around who knows more than you, and deigns to be your trainer for the next higher tier of skills. (And if nothing else, no matter how good you are at omni-crafting, Gerolt will still be better than you.) By the same token, there'll always be someone richer than the richest players. And I imagine that someone would be very much wealthier.

[nexas506]

This wasn't what i was expecting but its all pretty interesting. Honestly i thought this be a comparison between gill and real world money.

Back on topic, i think lolorito would have a net worth similar to... Oprah maybe? (3 billion$) now the problem is converting us$ into gill

[nexas506]

This wasn't what i was expecting but its all pretty interesting. Honestly i thought this be a comparison between gill and real world money.

Back on topic, i think lolorito would have a net worth similar to... Oprah maybe? (3 billion$) now the problem is converting us$ into gill

I just found this thread. http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...ar-Equivalency
Using this, if we assume a 10:1 ratio, and using oprahs net worth, lolorito would be worth 30 billion gil.

[Mysterysword]

I just found this thread. http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...ar-Equivalency
Using this, if we assume a 10:1 ratio, and using oprahs net worth, lolorito would be worth 30 billion gil.

Something I've also often wondered about is whether or not the items you can buy from NPCs are also scaled properly to reflect the amount of money in story-Eorzea. I would assume not, since all vendors selling the same item list it at the same price, which of course is not how a real capitalist economy would work.

Probably the biggest example I think about when it comes to this question is the price of housing. The story lore basically says that the various leaders are selling off the land to attract rich foreigners to live in their cities, and presumably to raise money on the side. Keeping this in mind, has anyone ever calculated just how much gil each city-state would be getting if they sold all their plots in just 1 ward, from 1 to 60? Including the building fees and such.

[Wadoka]

I don't think we can equate the player economy versus the "real" economy.

But anyhoo, you have to decide what constitutes "wealthy"

Start with Middle Class. Being in the MC means, you can afford to live apart - be it a flat, a condo, a house. It means having basic clothing needs met; transportation needs met; communications and basic entertainment needs met; and enough discretionary income to be able to afford small "luxuries" like the occasional fancy meal; dining out; a vacation; a hobby.

Upper class begins when you have all that, but your belongings are high quality; brand name; luxury class - your home is bigger; your automobile is fancier; you use words like "portfolio" a lot.

Wealthy begins above that. Multiple residences; voting stock; boards of trust; could actually afford to do nothing, living off your assets, if you really wanted to.

Above that? Well, let's start counting people. How many people do you own? How many people, either directly or indirectly, depend on your activities, your investments, your companies, as THEIR source of income?

What about Godbert Manderville? How much wealth does it take to be a Gods-Damned Independent in Ul'dah? How much wealth did it take to build the Gold Saucer?

[Khalithar]

What about Godbert Manderville? How much wealth does it take to be a Gods-Damned Independent in Ul'dah? How much wealth did it take to build the Gold Saucer?

That sounds like a good lore question to pose to the devs!