For a while now, we have not had progression in Rust. Althought, I believe I have found a way around that until the devs get their heads screwed back on.
A plugin that allows you to gather, hunt, loot, etc to gain XP just like the XP system and allows players to unlock certain items with the XP they have earned. There should be no leveling involved, just unlocking with XP. This way players wont have the X AMOUNT of XP to craft that AK they just farmed for until they have enough XP.
Maybe this plugin will help with the unlocking system: CraftUI for Rust | Oxide
