Gold is very limited in AoE1 especially in 1v1 games where trade is not an option. I think a great way to make gold more available, while still not too easy to come by, would be to add some new map types that have neutral docks that don’t belong to any player and that unlike gaia units can’t be obtained by getting close to them. That would allow players to get gold by trading even in 1v1 games.