Persistent World is exactly what it sounds like... persistent. Despite common opinion, the purpose of persistent world is to roleplay and have fun, but some people see it as battle and will kill you without saying a word. You start off joining the multiplayer server and you get around 800 gold to start. From there you either become a serf for the Commoners or join a faction and work for them. Joining a faction is usually the best route because they provide protection and Outlaws are less likely to rob you. You mine ore or chop trees and sell them at depots where the faction's engineer can buy the materials and create weapons out of them. Once you have enough money you can become another class, buy armor and weapons, ect. You keep going until you die from either a fair fight or someone walking up to you and Xbowing you in the back of the face. When you exit the server it counts as a death. You lose around 15% of your current value in gold. For example, a serf with cloth armor, 100 gold and no weapon will lose around 15-20 gold when he dies. A knight in full plate with 100,000 gold will lose anywhere from 30,000 to 40,000 gold because of how expensive their armor is. However, a serf with 100,000 gold and nothing on will still lose around 10,000 gold. When you come back in the server you will still have the deducted gold, but no equipment besides starting.