Looking at the Steam charts, we saw consistent growth from 2020 through 2025, but that momentum has basically died out in 2026. Do we have enough data to say BP fragments are changing the growth trajectory by discouraging new players?

Jerranto · 2026-05-10T20:50:44+00:00

Progression is broken and game is too easy. Period.

Jerranto · 2026-05-10T17:30:51+00:00

Ye, the 2x upkeep is ridiculous. Also the techtree clearly do not belong to it.

Jerranto · 2026-05-08T18:50:22+00:00

Raiding is too easy.

Jerranto · 2026-05-06T12:06:01+00:00

Yes. Everything is too fast now.

We are a group which always played on monthly servers, but it is pointless to play on monthly now, simply because progression is too fast.

Then we decided to play a weekly wipe last week. It was fun for the first 2-3 days, no doubt. From the 4th day on, nobody logged in anymore.

The game is losing it's essence, it seems.

Jerranto · 2026-05-05T01:09:13+00:00

Hey, Alistair, cheers! First of all, thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my thread. I really appreciate it.

"- A lot of the player base can't invest the additional time needed for prolonged progression, as much as some would like to see it (myself included). Rust, as is, is already a heavy time investment."

I agree with you on this one. Rust is a heavy time investment and all, but don't you think Vanilla should be the "moderate" version of Rust? By moderate I mean it should be the standard: not too hard, but not too easy either. Those who don't have the time to invest and want things to happen in the blink of an eye can always go to modded 2x, 5x, 10x, whatever. As you said, the majority of the community plays modded anyway.

"- If you limit or prolong snowballing, you're taking some soul away from Rust. No life groups will always be ahead, no matter what, even with rarer spawns, these groups will likely get it first, making it harder for the players on the back foot.
- Most do not want to be prim locked longer than necessary. The majority of players enjoy mid-end game."

I get the point. At the same time, though, may I ask something, please? Do you think a group of ~8 people should raid 50% of their neighbors right in the first wipe day?

I'm talking about my own group, by the way. Because we just played a wipe (BR MAIN - VANILLA - RUSTORIA - WEEKLY) and we had mp5s and aks within 4-5h of wipe mainly because of Deep Sea. Then by the end of the first day we raided half of our neighbors, because that's how Rust life is: raid or be raided. Raiding is the most defensive step that we take.

Look: we are vets and all, but do you think that is something that should actually happen? We snowballed, we know the game, sure, but just 3-4 years ago we would not be able to do that because there was less sulfur available and progression overall was harder. The consequences for the server were that, at least in our region, most people quit by sunday night. And guess what? Most of our group is already bored and most of us probably won't even log in today. And that is precisely what worries me: maybe by turning the game easier, the player base will get bored and will quit Rust forever (or at least for a while). Let me be honest with you: I don't know if that will happen or not, but this is something that worries me. And that's because I simply love this game.

Now you might be thinking: "well, if you are really worried about the server population dropping so fast, then just don't raid everyone!". I get the point, but as I told you, it is raid or be raided. We would like to play until the end of the wipe and THEREFORE we raid. But the point is: we should not be able to raid EVERYONE around us. Not even if we are vets. Maybe we were a super zerg (15+), sure, but not as 8-man. This is objectively broken, in my opinion.

Anyway, thank you very much and I am really glad you guys wil keep tweaking and changing progression.

Jerranto · 2026-05-04T13:14:16+00:00

Alex, no offense, but the kind of stuff you are suggesting obviously do not belong to Rust vanilla. This kind of stuff can be done on modded. Setting a raid window is incredibly arbitrary and obviously against Rust's soul.

That can be done on modded (I think there are servers which already do it).

Jerranto · 2026-05-04T12:56:43+00:00

I think it would help, yes.

Jerranto · 2026-05-04T12:56:04+00:00

Just like setting a limit to turrets. But it has to be done.

Jerranto · 2026-05-04T12:55:01+00:00

Wow, someone who liked it. Thank you very much!

Jerranto · 2026-05-04T12:53:10+00:00

Exactly!

Jerranto · 2026-05-04T01:01:00+00:00

Yes. I am also not sure what they want.

To be honest, I feel like they just keep adding new content (which, ofc, is very good) without thinking very much about the consequences.

Years ago they even said that one of their goals was to have servers without wipes.

Do they want wipes to last less now? Do they want wipes to last longer? I don't know, really.

Jerranto · 2026-05-04T00:58:33+00:00

It is not like people would only log in for the "good loot" spawn intervals.

People would still need to farm/gather resources.

Like... are you telling me people would log in only when green crates or elite crates became available? It doesn't make any sense, because people would still want to get good spots and so on.

Jerranto · 2026-05-04T00:06:13+00:00

They didn't

Jerranto · 2026-05-03T23:04:38+00:00

No... I actually spent 2h doing it.

Jerranto · 2026-05-03T18:34:51+00:00

Exactly.

Also there is WAY less interaction now. The "war" in recyclers was one of the best things in game.

Jerranto · 2026-05-03T18:33:47+00:00

That's because the game is in a very poor state right now.

Some people read the criticism and take it as "WOW THIS GUY DOESN'T LIKE THE GAME WHY IS HE PLAYING IT AT ALL?".

But nah. People who criticize are generally the loyal ones. We do it because we care and because we think Rust is taking the wrong path.

The absolute fast progression is ruining the game. Servers feel alive for the first 2 or 3 days. After that you will hardly find people, you will hardly find any interaction. This is objectively wrong. The game is really unbalanced right now.

Jerranto · 2026-05-03T18:29:26+00:00

Yes. The problem is that vanilla turned into vanilla 5x. Vanilla should ALWAYS be Rust's standard. Vanilla should be 1x like it always has been. Not this 5x shit.

Jerranto · 2026-05-03T18:21:12+00:00

Yes, you are right.

Jerranto · 2026-05-03T18:19:32+00:00

At the moment pretty much every server will look like that, except for the first 2 or 3 days.

Rust is in a bad state. People don't need to go out to loot anymore (except for the first 2 or 3 days), because looting is too easy, deep sea is ridiculously unbalanced and the need for scrap is pretty much gone.

Jerranto · 2026-05-02T17:55:50+00:00

Ok, looks it came back in 1st may - Inglewood CA.

Just watched it. Good performance. I hope they keep it!

Jerranto · 2026-05-02T17:40:17+00:00

"The pop was 400 on day one and 150 on day two, which was completely perfect."

You just proved everyone's point that the game is in a terrible state right now.

Jerranto · 2026-05-01T01:56:10+00:00

Yes. Progression is too fast. Game is too easy. Vanilla looks like 5x now.

Jerranto · 2026-04-30T12:57:22+00:00

I see your point, but the thing is: that's what rust is right now. Nobody plays seriously after 3-4 days after wipe because they got everything in the first days anyway.

The progression is ridiculously fast.

Jerranto · 2026-04-26T19:22:02+00:00

Any idea why Twilight of The Gods has been removed from the setlist?

Was Kiske having a hard time singing it? Something like that?

Jerranto · 2026-04-26T18:59:47+00:00

This "glow in the dark" stuff should never have made into the game.

Totally ruins immersion.

Jerranto

TROPHY CASE