Hi Ayes Thanks for the info, I have already found the areas you mentioned and are using them so that I can get my basics done before I head out (fishing rod, cotton, basic fighting skill etc). I didn't know about the cart option though, so thank you very much for that. :-) I have checked the forum's out regarding village recruitment but there a bit out of date or low on info so I think i'll use chat in the Freedom chat tab option as I would ideally like to find people that would be on at the same time. Thanks again for the advice. Torakian