I recognize that the 8 hour inactivity window on new personal claims is a measure to prevent troll claims, I do.
But I'm also on my sixth attempt this week to get a claim to the end of that window. Even if I could realistically babysit it for 8 straight hours, it's not like I, with a new character, will be able to actually prevent someone from destroying the claim. I don't know if there's a perfect solution to this, but the problem the mechanic creates is a massive pain in the ass. Any jackass can waltz through my fence and kill my claim without repercussion or even any real effort. Not being able to achieve meaningful progress in the game because I can't protect my stuff is disheartening.
Just so I'm not complaining without suggesting a solution, I'll toss out an idea which is probably crap and a nightmare to implement: give claims a "seniority" factor, which dictates the proximity to which a new claim can extend its border with respect to the older claim's borders. For example, the current buffer zone between claims is 5 tiles, and this would be the baseline. If a claim is, say, a month old, then a new claim couldn't extend into a buffer zone of 10 tiles around the senior claim. Essentially, a variable buffer zone based on relative claim age.