Forward - Welcome to Rust




The events that occur in this story are based off of true events. Names and locations have been changed for the protection of players. In order to understand this story you need to understand the grand social experiment that is Rust.

Rust is a survival MMO. For those of you who do not know what that stands for it means: massive multiplayer online. These types of games are common nowadays but what is not common is the brutal survival aspect of the game. Many games attempt this but few ever deliver.

Rust delivers and it does it well.

In Rust there are no rules. There are no laws. There is no regulation. There is no police or guard and no one to turn to when you are in trouble. When you enter Rust you enter a world where pity tends to be for the weak and mercy typically gets you killed.

The people in this game can be divided into four categories: bambis, builders, raiders, and monsters.

Bambis are what survival MMO players call newbies. As the name implies, they are people who are brand new to the game and trying to get on their feet. They are the people who run around and do not know or do not care how to play the game. They usually start off with a rock and begin bashing other players’ head in for the fun of it. It is surprising how many people barely progress beyond this stage. Those who care to learn how to play properly learn that the game plays very much like real life. You need to eat, or you die. You need to drink, or you die. You need to stay warm, or you die. You need to take shelter, or you die. You need to defend yourself from the wilderness and other players alike, or you die. If there was ever a game that truly embodied “survival of the fittest,” it would be Rust. When these players progress they either become peaceful builders or aggressive raiders.

Builders are those who play the game because they want to build and survive. They typically do not kill on sight and their main focus is an endless cycle of gather resources, build, craft, defend, repeat. Most builders start off peaceful. If builders are lucky, they find other builders and construct player cities to keep as many peaceful people safe as possible. The people they bring in contribute to a player-made society. They gather resources to add to the community and take up arms in defense of the clan. The thing with this game though is that peace rarely lasts long – even among friends. Quickly they learn that although they are friendly those around them are not – sometimes from within their own collective.

Here is where raiders come in. Raiders are similar to builders in only one way. They construct bases for protection and operations. However, the similarities begin and end there. “Kill on sight” tends to be their creed. Ever hostile and ever hungry for more loot, raiders will begin to attack and pillage other players’ camps and hovels as soon as they can. By feeding off of the weak they build their castles from the many resources gathered by tens and sometimes hundreds of peaceful players. As they grow bigger they grow bolder. From attacking starter huts and cabins they begin to take on other clans with bases as big as their own. Big fish eat the little fish and around and around it goes. In a world where there is no law to govern man, this is to be expected. To watch in helplessness as over fifty or even one hundred hours of your hard work and dedication is stripped away by rocket-flinging thugs in metal masks of death is truly heart-wrenching. To be raided is an inevitable and brutal experience.

These are the types of things to expect from Rust. It is what makes the game so fun. Testing your skills of survival where the only cost is your time is more rewarding than most people would believe. Competition is natural and war is part of human nature. As terrible as it is to have your diligence paid in death and theft it is simply a learning experience. Most people get angry and pissed off – or as we call it “being salty” – when their bases are cracked open and all their gear is stolen. This is part of the game. You can always learn from your mistakes, respawn, and try again.

However, there is one thing all men fear: monsters. Despite what many people in Rust think, there are monsters in Rust. They hide behind the faces of players and use abilities beyond their programming. These monsters are known as hackers.

If there is one thing worse than watching your hard work being torn away from you, it is to watch it being stolen by people who refuse to play the game fairly. Just like all other online games, there are those who believe they are beyond the game’s built in rules and try – and usually fail – to circumvent the natural laws of the game’s world. Those who fail end up having divine justice brought to them and are banned from the game. Those who succeed become the scourge of the world they choose to inhabit. The administrators of the game do a very good job of delivering their punishment to cheaters but there are always those who find a way to slip through the cracks and avoid detection.

Monsters are real. In life and in game. Sometimes they are hackers or just brutal gamers. The problem with fighting monsters is sometimes you become one yourself. Try as you might, peace never lasts – in a game or in the real world. If one even dares to survive in this world you must be: relentless.

Welcome to Rust.




Next Chapter: Chapter 1 - Wipe Day