Uh, this game is far from dead. Simply going to the community on Steam or the Reddit will be proof of that. There are no "players" in the game but if you're referring to NPC's, then my favorite would probably be the Arms Dealer since he provides you with some amazing stuff early on in the game that helps a lot as you progress further. My favorite part in the game would probably be the thrill of finding chests in the world. Especially shadow chests once you have the shadow key, as those, pre-hardmode, having some amazing gear in them.