I think that's an interesting fix, but I also feel like Rust has an issue currently with player density. Most people stay by the streams, in forests, where they will come across lots of players and animals. If you're too far out you're essentially playing singleplayer.
And thats not a bad thing, because some people do prefer playing singleplayer-ish, and they should be able to, but it'll be really important for the devs to make high density areas broad enough and small enough for the game mechanics to function in a fun and exciting way.
Yeah, I'm not sure my idea is a great one, just blueskying.
Biggest problem for me at the minute is finding animals. As soon as I get near a woods, there are loads of guys with shotties who just blast you away before you can find any animals.
I will say though, that the official servers seem a LOT more populated at the minute. Felt like being on Legacy. And the return of global chat is good too.