most people reviewing this game are probably not able to consistently get guns or kill other players. that's not a dig, it's just a fact about how much effort is required to actually "get into" Rust. i'm far from even decent at it but i am still able do the dance most other players do -- that dance being one where you grind a lot and generally shoot other players on sight before they do the same to you. that being said, i still don't much enjoy this game.

Rust is not a survival game. Don't Starve is a survival game. Project Zomboid is a survival game. instead, Rust is a battle royale FPS with respawning, paltry survival craft mechanics, no "de jure" objectives, and matches that last at minimum a week and at maximum a month or longer. pvp is basically the only thing worth doing, so everyone does it. join a pve server if you want to see Rust absent pvp. it's empty, and it's not particularly challenging. the game is designed for pvp.

i really think the core of why this game sucks despite the fact that it's rather unique and certainly the best of it's genre (survival game which is actually just a pvp game -- cf DayZ) is that 1. the pvp is not good enough to justify the investment of sweat equity required compared to a more traditional multiplayer FPS, both in learning the game's ins and outs and grinding, and 2. the rewards you get from both your sweat equity investments and pvp are such that there are no other goals to orient oneself beyond just continuing to mindlessly kill people or preparing to do so, and it grows boring and empty rather fast. people complain about roofcampers but I don't blame them; what else is there to do? pvp is not a means to an end in Rust, it is the end. you aren't fighting over stuff, you're fighting for the sake of it. why not play any other multiplayer FPS instead at that point?