Build 42 unstable right now, is more single player until they iron out everything for a stable release.

I would say if you don’t mind playing build 41 until they release build 42 stable - then short story long:

I can be fun with friends, but if you want to play without having to worry about too much grind then it is best to play with sandbox settings and tweak gameplay towards what you and your friends find fun.

The world can made persistent, but your individual character is unique and when they die you would have to respawn with a new character

There are mods that do help with the starting out from scratch bit:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2503622437&searchtext=journal - make a journal that stores a characters stats so you don’t have a grind a new character again)

The sandbox settings are very flexible (and mods can make it even more so) and you can even play in a world without zombies if you wish

That is like the opposite of something out of Final Destination