I was from Great Lakes in that period, too! I second this. My money maker is GM Mage, Med, Music, Provocation, Hiding, Stealth, Lockpicking. I spend a lot of time gating myself around and swiping the level 4 chests, or if I feel like killing things, or farming fame, I go provoke big nasty things on each other while I hide in the corner. It's really alot of fun.
I really, really like it! The only thing to stop me from recommending would be to prevent my chests from being stolen.
I see this advice a lot and sorry Twister, not calling you out but... I simply don't buy it at all. A tamer can be raised up, battle ready, and earning gold without any investment at all. Especially if you utilize pack instinct. Combine that with the sanctuary that [young brings and you'll pull in more moolah than any tamer-less provo mage could hope to bring in.
@wylwrk AFAIK, there is no easy way to train taming while in young program. There is an easy, fully AFK, zero-investment way to train music and provo while in young program. And it starts bringing money immediately. Yes, a tamer brings more cash in the end. But training taming without necessary utility (e.g. alt chars with magery, res ability, etc.) is very painful.
@wylwrk is right that taming isn't too hard if you put the effort into it. @Twister ; however, is also correct that a provo mage can be fully macroed AFK to a point where you can start farming. All way before the tamer would be ready. But of course, why not do both Provo tamers are the best farmers...