As anyone who has signatures enabled can see, I've had my trading pass disabled now for 6 weeks and counting. No, I don't know why and I don't know when it's going to be re-enabled. I mention it mainly because it's the event that put me in my current situation: that is, cut off from most of my Gaian assets.

(Note: I don't want to discuss the disabling in this thread. If you have suggestions other than "contact a mod" or "file a ticket" (both of which have been done, along with quite a few other things), please contact me privately.)

This put me in a unique position: yes, I'm an experienced investor/vendor, but I am now experiencing the current Gaian economy from the asset point of view of a relatively new player. It's unlike starting a new mule or the "rags to riches" contest because there are irreversible consequences to my economic decisions - I can't just go back to my main and replenish my gold supply should I screw up.

So I'll be posting a series of threads sharing my experience and thoughts; there will probably be some "how to" advice in them, but a lot of it is more about what kinds of things you should think about when it comes to your goals - especially if you're not rolling in it.

Since this is not the first time I've run into account/trading pass disabling (it's happened twice before, neither was anything I did, I still have the emailed apologies from Gaia for their screwups), I already understood the importance of mules and of distributing at least some of my Gaia assets. Because being cut off from your main account can and may happen at any time to any one for no reason at all (see screwups/apologies above). Being cut off is unnerving at best, and you do not want to have to start a new account and deal with Gaia's gawdawful introductory sequence when you're already shaken and just want to file your ticket and get on with it.

You also want to make sure you have at least some assets on that mule you can start working with. Yes, funding a mule is going to take some gold and items that you could be using to invest. But if you are suddenly cut off from those investments, they are completely useless. You don't have to fund a mule all at once - a little here and there when you find yourself with a little extra gold, trading over a couple of your hoard when you think about it, and it adds up.

Again, you don't have to do this all at once, or put off investing to create this insurance policy. But having a couple of reasonably funded mules allowed me to salvage my Gaian Christmas and not miss out on some decent investment opportunities. Insurance is one of those things that seems like useless overhead until you really need it, and then you're kicking yourself because you didn't buy it when you had the opportunity.

Other things to do with your mule: subscribe to your favorite threads. It's a pain in the a** to go searching for them. Same with guilds, if there are some you're active in (besides this one, of course). If you have any favorite items that you really never want to be without, buy an extra when it's possible and stash it on your mule.

Basically, set up your mule with whatever you really need to keep your Gaian life going while your main account is disabled.