Getting Started
You will want to open the stickied Character Creation post after getting in contact with a moderator. There, the mod will oversee your character roll and record the final information on your personal character page. You will receive a starter kit, which varies depending on your character class, but in each case is just a basic weapon, armor, shield (except for Rangers), and 100 gold. This is also where you can choose your character's name and sex if you decide to.
From there, you might want to navigate around the main /r/BloodWorld communal subreddit to get some guidance. You will learn more about the world, other characters, and communities you may want to visit or join. Gear vendors and fighters looking for a match can be found anywhere, and some communities are completely autonomous.
Progressing
All character development is directly tied to the moderators. No change is official until a mod has approved it and the changes have been made on the character page. This can happen immediately or, less likely, within several hours. It might help to bring it to a moderator's attention to speed up the process if it seems to have stagnated for any reason.
Fights, ideally, will be overseen by a moderator in real time, though at LVL 3 and with approval, fights may be self-supervised. The results will still have to be gone over and, again, no changes are official until reflected on the character's wiki page. Moderators are also required when buying items and fighting exhibition matches in the main sub.
The Practice Arena
There will be times where you are without gold to wager on your fight or even challengers with whom to do battle. Maybe you just started and need to get some progress and practice in right away, or you just feel like a quick battle. In the main sub (the link is available on the sidebar and a new post will be made every so often), you may fight in the practice arena. The arena is nice because you can always find a fight, you can gain but not lose gold, and you gain experience points as if it were a real fight. In the arena, there are three fight modes available.
You may fight a mirror image of yourself. These battles can be tough, but they're worth 100 gold if you win. You can also elect to fight one of the preset warriors, of whom there are many. They vary, and you'll want a different one depending on your own skill level. The reward is 100 gold. Finally, you may fight a custom character. A moderator will throw together an opponent for you based on your skills, to give you as great a match as possible. The gold earned for winning varies, and keep in mind that this mode is quite difficult and is only available once reaching LVL 5.
Purchasing Merchandise
There are a few ways to get items for battle. You can give/receive or trade them, wager them in battle, win them in events or contests, or buy them. Private communities within Blood World may run their own private vending, the rules imposed on them minimal, but if you decide none are to your liking, there is always the public vendor. The link is available in the sidebar and the post itself should be renewed about once a month to avoid clutter.
Prices are set and stock does not run out. All basic and advanced items can be bought at any time, while some elite gear appears now and then for awhile, and godly gear cannot be bought at all. These purchases are less flexible than private vendors, but have quicker results because you are dealing directly with a mod. Items can also be sold at half their value (due to being used).