This is one of the most common questions asked by new and mid level players. Gold can be used to start clans and pay clan dues, buy equipment, spell components, potions, and many other things. In short, gold is a critical currency in the game, and you should always be on the lookout for it. Fortunately, there are many ways of getting gold on the game.

Some of the easiest ways are to loot the corpses of NPC's or mobs, find it in hoards and treasure chests, and selling items. You can also steal gold if you are thief, or even be rewarded for completing quests.

We'll try to go over some of the more common ways to get gold next.

Looting gold from defeated enemies

The easiest and most common way to get gold is by looting the corpses of slain enemies. Many creatures carry gold, and by defeating them you can plunder their funds.

One very important hint is to find areas where there are few players, or where players seldom go. If a particular area is regularly beset by plunderers, you'll find much less gold.

Toggle on the 'autogold' function to make gold collection from enemies easier.

Sacrificing corpses

This is a major source of gold for low level players. At low levels, you can get quite a bit of gold in exchange for sacrificing corpses and keeping the game clean. Be careful not to sacrifice someone else's kill though!

Finding that hidden treasure hoard

Throughout the game there are treasure chests and hoards of all sorts. Hoards may contain equipment, magical items, traps, and of course, gold! The amount of gold will vary based on the level of the area and how often other players raid the hoard. If you find hoards that are uncommon or no one knows about, you'll be able to get a lot more gold from them.

Completing quests or tasks

Some NPCs offer bounties or rewards for the killing of other mobs or finding of items. You may also get bounties for completing certain tasks or performing deeds. Most of these tasks can only be completed once though!

Exploration

Once you start becoming acquainted with the world of Alter Aeon, you will able to gain explorer points for finding new rooms. Acquisition of these points will give you a significant amount of gold and experience. You can see how many points you have and how many are left in an area with the 'points' command.

Stealing gold—a thief's way to riches

Various thief skills can be used to steal either items or gold from a mob. This can take the form of shoplifting, pickpocketing, or even outright robbery. It may also help to use the 'case' skill, to determine if a target is worth stealing from.

The primary things that determine your success when stealing are your skill level, your dexterity, and your thief level. In the event that you fail, a thief with a high charisma can often talk their way out of trouble. Having a high charisma doesn't help you steal more, but it does help you get away scot free.

At higher levels, you will come to find that this is a very profitable means of obtaining money.

Selling items to NPCs

If you find a shopkeeper that sells a particular type of item, such as an armorer or weaponsmaster, you may be able to sell equipment to them. Shopkeepers don't often have a lot of gold though, and they generally buy at quite a discount to make up the difference.

Selling items to other players

One man's junk is another man's treasure.

Selling items to other players is a very effective way to get gold. Instead of having to go out and collect gold a few thousand at a time, you can trade a single piece of equipment for a large lump sum. If you're careful and patient, it's possible to make gold simply by trading with other players.

There are several different ways you can trade or sell items to other players:

• Use the 'trade' command
  
  
• Put the item up for auction, using the 'auction' command
  
  
• Sell the item in a player shop
  
  

You should always use one of the built-in trading commands to keep other players from cheating you! Using the 'auction' or 'trade' commands makes sure you get your money and the player gets the equipment.

Notes on player shops: anyone can open a shop, but this is costly and normally something done at higher levels, where stocking and maintaining the shop is much easier. Shop owners are almost always on the lookout for items and equipment to sell though, so you may be able to sell items to shop owners.

Notes on using auction: you can try to sell just about anything over auction, but there's no guarantee that anyone will buy it. The more common an item, the less likely it will sell. Look for the more powerful and useful items; random items that you can't use but look powerful are the best. You can also listen to auction to see what others are looking for.

Overall there are many ways of getting gold on the game, and best thing is to find the way that works best for you. Another hint is to change your tactics from time to time, so that you don't drain all the gold out of an area.

For more info you may want to look at the help pages for 'auction', 'steal', 'pickpocket', 'loot', 'quest', 'shops' and 'sell'.

To see a measure of the gold economy on the game, type 'graphshow 4' or see the gold offset graph on the Alter Aeon web site.

Lastly, if you're technically minded, you might want to read Dentin's article, Balancing Gold in MMOs.