I see a lot of negativity and complaining on this sub lately about the status of the game, but after playing a full trio vanilla weekend I have to disagree. I have over 5000 hours in Rust, but because of life (wife, kids, Job) I have played very little the last years. But after this weekend I think the game is in a very good place.
The prim pvp is still very fun and we had many cool fights early on. Felt like the prim pvp lasted even longer then befor, and well 4-5 hours after wipe.
The fragments was a cool challenge too and it adds a nice layer to the progression. Also the scrap cost on the workbench did so I could research everything I wanted, so it did not feel like an endless grind. We even sold fragments and traded with others which made us feel busy in a good way.
We stayed right in the middle of the map, and still met alot of players. The pop was 400 on day one and 150 on day two, which was completely perfect.
Maybe I just have fresh eyes after a break, but compared to the old days I think the game feels very polished now.