Decay or Vandalism?

[Zamte]

I am rather new to this game. I've been playing now around a week. I've got a pretty good grip on the game, however this random element really confuses me. Is there a set time for decay "ticks" or do they just happen whenever they feel like it? I got my first boar kill last night, and so I strung the skin up on one of my drying frames. I went to bed at 10 AM, and it was all fine, no decayed anything. I wake back up now at 5:20, and two of my drying frames, including the one with the boar hide, have been destroyed. Now I do not have a Palisade yet, mostly because the 5 rope and 10 leather requirement is a bit heavy for a new player and means I have to spend quite a while farming hemp and flax before I can even consider actually protecting said plants. (I have 20 exploration and 12 perception but I still have not come anywhere close to finding 50 spindly taproots) My neighbors have been pretty welcoming, and all have giant complexes of their own, so I can't imagine it was vandalism, but I honestly couldn't tell if it was due to lack of rangering skill. However it's made further unlikely by the fact that my herbalist table has around 20 WWW on it, and I have carts, boats, leather tubs, a kiln, and plenty of crops laying around somebody could break to mess with me, which are all still fine.

Is it really possible for decay to destroy a drying frame in a seven hour period on pavement? If so, that's a bit unfair. I spend plenty of time online, and I've never before lost any (over days) except my first one which I was dumb enough to put on forest ground. However I can't do anything about my sleeping.

[Dataslycer]

Drying racks gets destroyed in two decay hits as well as taking whatever things it has with it. The first decay hit will show it self when the rack and item becomes red. It used to decay like cupboards, one hit = destruction.

[sabinati]

actually it depends on the civilization level, in level X territory they only take 1 hit.

[Zamte]

Yeah, I know they can be destroyed quickly on the ground, however all of these were on the pavement. Furthermore, I have (had) five of them all lined up. Two were destroyed, three remain. Do decay hits come at a specific interval (as they should if they're going to need to be planned for) or just randomly? I'm trying to figure out if it's vandalism, and I should thus try to keep my stuff in the cupboards until I can get my palisade up, or if it's just random bad luck. I was only gone seven hours, it was not red when I left. My old home had four drying frames, also on the pavement, which lasted me several days without ever decaying at all. So if it's not random then I must have a vandal.

I've read up a lot on the game, so I have most of the info, but I've never been able to figure out how often decay is applied. I've only lost that one drying frame that was on the forest floor in my other home, and since then lost nothing else. I really just want to know if this is decay or not. There's really nothing I can do to speed up the palisade building, but at least if I know it's a vandal I can try to keep my drying and tanning to a minimum. I've got 10 hemp plants in the ground, so I should be able to make the palisade in a week or so.

[KoE]

When decay was first implemented, it was explicitly stated that it was random. However, a lot of time has passed since then and I quit playing for a while, so I can't say with 100% certainty that it hasn't been fiddled with, but I'm pretty sure it's random.

[Zamte]

I just discovered there may be a third possibility, depending on how the game is designed. I went outside to tan some more hides, as I will be on a while now and can protect them, and while I was collecting bark I noticed a bear wandering in the trees outside my complex. Since they can now break down objects, is it possible (as the tanning tubs and the drying racks formed a corner) that he got stuck on my pavement and knocked them down? or do they only damage property in combat while chasing you?

[Dataslycer]

They only destroy objects after they cannot be able to reach you by normal means. This also applies to them running away from you.

[Zamte]

Alright then, I guess I'll just be safe and assume I have a vandal. Any suggestions for ways to get string quicker? I've hunted around for spindly taproots, and as common as they are, I'm not going to have 50 of them anytime soon. I've also got 10 hemp plants down as of this morning, so they ought to be grown Friday morning. Replanting all the seeds will give me 20 more for Sunday morning, and then 40 for Tuesday morning, at which point I'll have the plant fibers to build the palisade. Got everything else, but the stupid 5 ropes is ridiculous.

[KoE]

Honestly, you're probably being paranoid and it was almost certainly decay. Not that I'm one to talk.

As for your rope problems, you're either gonna have to wait, bum some off your neighbors, or boost your PER and Exploration to find Stinging Nettles (you can use these as string, too) and hopefully more tap roots. If you're really desperate and have the stats, you could theoretically get four-leaf clovers from a grassland and use those to get wool to spin into yarn.

[VileThings]

It's just normal decay. I think the decay for drying frames should be severly lowered i.e. they should be able to take more decay hits. I lost a lot of Wild Windsown Weeds through drying frames just vanishing (I never noticed any reddish decay coloring).

At first I too thought it may have been vandals, but this continues to be a problem after having erected two rings of palisades around my camp. So stop being paranoid, it's most likely really just decay

Any suggestions for ways to get string quicker? I've hunted around for spindly taproots, and as common as they are, I'm not going to have 50 of them anytime soon. I've also got 10 hemp plants down as of this morning, so they ought to be grown Friday morning. Replanting all the seeds will give me 20 more for Sunday morning, and then 40 for Tuesday morning, at which point I'll have the plant fibers to build the palisade. Got everything else, but the stupid 5 ropes is ridiculous.

It is indeed quite a lot. The best thing you can do is couple the search for taproot and nettle with other useful activities, like say exploring the area. If you just run forth and back through the forest in your search for string you are more likely to get frustrated and/or bored.