Yes to all your questions.

The main drawbacks are risk of banditry and that if you leave a town the survival mechanics kick in and you have to keep warm, have water and have enough food.

Your kind will be the backbone of the economy. :)

It'd be worthwhile looking for some like-minded people so you can travel as a caravan for safety. That's what I'd do at least.

Just to add on there will be products and information that is local to different biomes..Having someone transporting those goods will be important for smaller groups that can't get around. I know of one guild Helgrim Enterprises that is going to be a trade guild, they also support freelancers that is willing to be a part of their guild in some way...

I assume that before I go offline I'd have to get my character and stuff to a safe place like an inn or something?

Posted By HaiseSasaki at 3:33 PM - Thu Apr 27 2017

I assume that before I go offline I'd have to get my character and stuff to a safe place like an inn or something?

Yes and yes, kind of.

You can log out in a forest or something, and with your scirpts on hand, your offline character will do its best to protect itself, and hopefully make it.

Posted By HaiseSasaki at 10:33 PM - Thu Apr 27 2017

I assume that before I go offline I'd have to get my character and stuff to a safe place like an inn or something?

Your character remains in the world when you go offline - so unless there are some OPC scripts that allow you to progress on your journey (and feed yourself) then I would suggest that yes.

Could also hire a guard if you're particularly concerned. But get to safe places you should be right.

Posted By Arlie at 12:46 AM - Fri Apr 28 2017

Could also hire a guard if you're particularly concerned. But get to safe places you should be right.

I think hiring guards is the safest move. Also getting the most info possible on a travel route would help to determine how dangerous, if at all, and the number of guards to invest in. The merchant still has to make a living :)

Even if You travel a lot, You will probably need a place in a village or town as a base, place to rest and eat and as a safe storage for stuff.

This definitely a great idea. I myself wouldnt mind being a mercenary for people like you who wants to peddle from town to town with goods.

Hopefully when the time comes, and while im gambling at the local pub, someone like you comes in and asks for some random sellsword, and I stand up because I just lost all my money and you got yourself the best cheapest mercenary to be hired :D

as previous people said, get few fellow minded merchants form a caravan hire some sell swords , maybe a guide that has good skills in survival so he can build you shelter if you are caught in wilderness for longer time. I would start local first, then as you learn what you can do in world you can incrementally extend your range, figure out where it is the most lucrative place to go, what you need to get there and what are the dangers ahead, and this is where the magic of COE is, to gather all this you will need other players, so set up close by the inn or tavern, buy adventurers a few kegs of mead and ask questions of where they come from and what they encountered on the way

Posted By Arlie at 09:46 AM - Fri Apr 28 2017

Could also hire a guard if you're particularly concerned. But get to safe places you should be right.

Hire out the Knights of the Road...or else.

But seriosuly, as a merchant, you should always have a couple guards when traveling between towns and as Chipla said, find some like minded merchants and pitch in to hire guards. It only makes sense to protect your goods, livelihood and quite simply, your life from the likes of people like me.