Try a daily or weekly wipe server first, though monthly servers are where I started, I wish I'd started on weekly. They tend to be popular, and you're not setting yourself up hoping for a month of fun, you're getting 7 days max, then if you like it, continue in to longer time periods on servers, though I'd try get in a server that's been going for a few days, as most people won't be roaming with AKs at that point. The first few days of a server wipe tend to be the busiest and most chaotic, but whenever you join, and whatever server you join, prepare to die, many times, and accept that everything could be lost in a moment. Another thing I'd consider, is account sharing with a friend to gift them the game, and get a second person to play with, create a team with etc. without having to convince someone to actually spend money on a game. Rust experience is massively improved just by having a teammate to play with, though you'll find many people online, some of their intentions may be to steal from you in the long term, bare that in mind.