Editing Persistent world (section)

{{Refimprove|date=June 2023}}
{{Short description|Virtual world which continues to exist even when there are no people interacting with it}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
A '''persistent world''' or '''persistent state world''' ('''PSW''') is a [[virtual world]] which, by the definition given by [[Richard Bartle]], "continues to exist and develop internally even when there are no people interacting with it".<ref name="Bartle2003-Designing" /> The first virtual worlds were text-based and often called [[Multi-user dungeon|MUD]]s, but the term is frequently used in relation to [[massively multiplayer online role-playing game]]s (MMORPGs)<ref name="Bartle2003-Designing"/> and [[pervasive game]]s.<ref name="deSouzaeSilva2009-Cityscapes" /> Examples of persistent worlds that exist in video games include ''Battle Dawn'', ''[[EVE Online]]'', and ''Realms of Trinity''.{{fact|date=June 2023}}

A persistent world can be achieved by developing and maintaining a single or dynamic instance state of the game world that is shared and viewed by all players around the clock.{{Citation needed|date=June 2015}} The persistence of a world can be subdivided into "game persistence", "world persistence" and "data persistence". [[Persistence (computer science)|Data persistence]] ensures that any world data is not lost in the event of computer system failure. World persistence means the world continues to exist and is available to players when they want to access it. Game persistence refers to the persistence of game events within the world (a ''[[Groundhog Day (film)|Groundhog Day]]'' [[Multi-user dungeon|MUD]] is a virtual world where the entire (game) world is reset periodically).<ref name="nevelsteen2016-persistence" /> When referring to a "persistent world", world and game persistence are sometimes used interchangeably. The persistence criterion is the trait that separates virtual worlds from other types of video games.<ref name="bell2008-virtualworld"/>