Trading
Trading is the act of transferring goods (or currency) from one party to another.
The parties may include two players, a player and an NPC, a player and a town, a player and a bank, a player and the mainland (or any other combination).
Types of Trade
Trade does not always happen in the same way. From the player's perspective, there are three very different types of trade:
- Export Trade - e.g. selling goods offshore.
- Shop Trade - e.g. buying an item from a shopkeeper.
- Bank Transactions - e.g. sending money between player accounts.
- Direct Trade - e.g. player to player item transfer.
There are several other, special cases where the player transfers their goods to another party. These inclue taxation, fees, bank account transactions and loans.
Export Trade
Main article: Goods Export Exporting goods offshore is incredibly important to the overall economy. It is the only instance in the game where currency is generated. The currency is sent from the mainland, so it is essentially made out of nothing. Every other trade in the game is simply moving the currency generated by exports.
Shop Trade
Main article: NPC Shops Characters all over the world buy and sell items. Like players, they do this in order to make a profit for themselves. You may take advantage of this and buy a variety of items without the need to directly obtain them yourself. At the same time, you may easily sell unwanted items in exchange for currency.
Bank Transactions
Main article: Banks The bank of Elpida allows you to sell money directly to other players. This is a great, secure way of getting currency to another player. The money does not go through your character's inventory, meaning you do not run the risk of losing it for whatever reason.
Direct Trade
In some cases, you may simply want to trade with another player without the use of a shop or a bank. This may be useful if the goods are of suspicious nature. Keep in mind that this is the least secure method of trading - it should only be used if the other methods are not available to you.
