Rust: a Game Which Reveals the True Nature of Complex Social Interactions

“Life is not fair, and neither is Rust” (Reddit, 2016)

The natural world is brutal and unforgiving of weakness and naivety 

I was looking out my back window one day and thinking to myself how beautiful nature was. The sun was shining, the trees were green and the birds were singing. Then it dawned on me that I never saw any old, sick or decrepit birds. Where could they be? No doubt birds grew old and sick, as all animals do. I knew of plenty of elderly and infirm human beings.

The answer was their in front of my face, but I couldn’t see it because the world I lived in had, to a great extent, transcended the natural world. Nature has no tolerance for the weak and infirm. All the birds were killed and eaten by predators before they could become weak and infirm. It was the brutality of nature that maintained its beauty. Young and naïve birds are also often taken out by predators unless they survive a couple of close calls and learn from the experience.

Human beings and human nature have emerged from the natural world – the strong rule over the weak

For thousands of years human beings existed in nature, and had no choice but to follow her laws. This is the world we had to survive in for much of history and human society was just as brutal. Despite the Golden Rule taught by the world’s great religions to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, history is replete with examples of one group of people overthrowing, subjugating, and taking the resources of another. We can see this attitude recorded by the fifth century BCE classical Greek historian Thucydides: ‘the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.’  (Orwin, 1986). Similar themes are reflected in classics such as Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’ (Wallacker & Griffith, 1963), which, tellingly, has become a very popular text in the modern business world. More recently we have Robert Green’s highly successful ‘The 48 Laws of Power’ (Greene & Elffers, 2000) which draws on lessons from history providing examples of how to survive and thrive in a world of complex and dangerous social interactions. 

Western democracies must appear just and fair

In modern Western democracies there is a taboo against any overt display of a desire for power. Anyone breaking this taboo risks social rejection and isolation. At least on the surface our behaviour “must appear civilized, decent, democratic, and fair” (Greene & Elffers, 2000). Western democratic societies see them selves as the epitome of fairness and justice, while at the same time the battle for power rages on as furiously as ever, just on a more subtle, and sometimes unconscious level. It could be argued that concepts such as justice, fairness and equity are more the exception than the rule in human society, and that ‘the strong ruling over the weak’ is far more common than we would like to admit to ourselves. 

Some people grow up believing the fallacy that society is Just and Fair

As an individual you can choose to live your life according to the high moral standards espoused by the world’s great religions, such as ‘turning the other cheek’, but doing so while assuming others share those standards may be a grievous and deadly mistake. Growing up in this society, it is easy to remain naïve and ignorant, believing that the world is as you were told it is: just and fair. Then you end up working in a large organisation, such as a university, surrounded by many highly ambitious colleagues. You go about your business until one day you inadvertently stumble into a contest for something one of these colleagues wants, or you innocently and mistakenly threaten someone with authority and power. It is at these points you get to experience the world as it truly is. Some time later, when the dust settles, you pick yourself up, beaten and bloodied, wondering what just happened. It starts to dawn on you that society may not be as just and fair as you were led to believe. If you are fortunate enough to survive enough of these encounters relatively unscathed you might realise that naively misunderstanding the workings of the complex human social world can be fatal – if not to your life, then to your career, reputation, social status and level of wealth.

The 48 Laws of Power

When I first played Rust I had been reading The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Green. It had been recommended to me by a friend after I confided in him about some of the challenges I was having at work. Reading the book was eye opening, as it accurately described experiences I was having as well as the general political environment as a whole. It also outlined behaviour patterns that I realised I was participating in unconsciously. It tore the scales from my eyes and revealed an entire world that I had always been living in, but had no idea existed. The problem was I was a naïve rube. I had no knowledge or experience in this new world of socially complex power that I was becoming aware of. The stories, laws and principles Green talked about in his book were fascinating and novel to me, but I had no way of testing their validity and trying them out. I needed a place where I could experiment with the Laws of Power without risking my career and relationships. It was in this context that I discovered Rust – a game that provided a virtual open world and complex social interactions in a highly contested environment of limited real estate and resources.

Rust, the game where the mask of social acceptability comes off

Rust is an open-world, sandbox game: player’s are free go wherever they want and do whatever they choose. There are few limitations or hard and fast rules to restrict or motivate players. The anonymous nature of Rust allows players to discard their social mask and behave in ways that are not normally socially acceptable. The façade so often worn in the real world is discarded and you can often see a player’s true character in the way they behave in the game. This does not mean everyone is ruthless and self-centred, although many are and will shoot you on sight if they don’t know you. It is possible to have very rich and rewarding social interactions if you are willing to risk approaching other players through gestures and voice chat. It is the social milieu in the game that makes it so compelling.

Rust: the game of power and social interaction 

Looking at Rust through the lens of power there are various facets a player needs to develop in the world:

1. The power to survive
2. The power to accumulate resources
3. The power to build a base
4. The power to defend yourself and your base
5. The power to kill other players and take their resources
6. The power to raid another base and take the resources stored inside

The player can gain these elements of power by learning how the game works and developing their level of skill in areas such as base building and combat. These are definitely important, but in reality they simply provide the backdrop for social experiences. Rust has been carefully built and refined over time to promote specific social interactions.

Rust provides a reflection of the real world with masks off – instead of the smooth, charming, socially acceptable face you get to experience people’s true nature. This can be an important educational environment for understanding what people are really like, and training yourself in complex social interactions in a safe, virtual world.

References

Blascovich, J. J., Loomis, J. M., Beall, A. C., Swinth, K. R., Hoyt, C. L., & Bailenson, J. N. (2002). Immersive Virtual Environment Technology as a Methodological Tool for Social Psychology. Psychological Inquiry: An International Journal for the Advancement of Psychological Theory, 13(2), 103–124. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1302_01

Greene, R., & Elffers, J. (2000). The 48 Laws Of Power. London: Profile Books Ltd.

Orwin, C. (1986). Justifying Empire: The Speech of the Athenians at Sparta and the Problem of Justice in Thucydides. The Journal of Politics, 48(1). https://doi.org/10.2307/2130925

Reddit. (2016). New Rust update includes female randomly based on SteamID. Retrieved July 26, 2016, from https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/4e2urq/new_rust_update_includes_female_models_genders/Wallacker, B. E., & Griffith, S. B. (1963). Sun Tzu-The Art of War. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 83(2). https://doi.org/10.2307/598385