It's also a good place to get your pocket picked. The Economy is real. One of the best ways for a starter to make money is by making items, like sextants, clocks, bows, and so on, and selling them to NPC proprietors in town. If someone arrived a minute earlier and sold tons of the same item you were hoping to sell, then they won't buy from you. Things found, like furs, are practically a dime a dozen, and very difficult to unload.
Meats are a little easier to hock, but still no great moneymaker.
If you want the cash, then it's time to get to work. The jury is still out when it comes to the real value of this kind of system, however. In many cases, it still comes down to the numbers, it's just that there are more of them. Something pleasantly unexpected about this game was the ability to form a party for a quest and have all the members be valuable, regardless of their stats. You can still get a few hacks in and back away, letting someone else take over for a minute while your recuperate.