It decayed that fast?

[L33LEE]

A smelter will decay in anything from 1-72 hours on unclaimed land.

It seems the server has "ticks" and each tick of the server, there is a % chance to reduce the health of items off claim. I have watched some wooden box;s off my claim, 1 decayed in about a week, there is another which is dark red and about 1 month old now and another next to it with only 20% damage and is 1 month old.

Decay is RANDOM in how quickly / slowly items can decay, but it is an inevitable fact if off a claim.

[Ferhago]

I doubt that's true L33LEE, unless of course they changed the Smelter decay rate some time in December. I was using a smelter nearby an abandoned camp that had NEVER been on a claim and it lasted for about a month before it finally died.

[Stormie]

I agree with decay being quite random,and very unpredictable in nature.. I built a wall that was outside my claim by accident, went to bed, next day it was gone. Someone else done the same thing and had no decay or very little. Pretty much to sum up the nature of decay is pretty simple.

Don't have items off claim that you wish to keep for more than 10min to a few hours or even a day. Seems small items will decay very rapidly within minutes, while buildings can take from an hour or less to several days,weeks, or months.

This is from my experience here in the last month, call it the school of hard knocks, or just test and see method of learning.. This does not mean next week, they could change how it works, or something else (who knows).

[Derek]

Maybe the vandal(s) tired to be very sneaky as to break in, destroyed your smelter, then rebuilt the destroyed fence/wall(s)?

[L33LEE1]

I doubt that's true L33LEE, unless of course they changed the Smelter decay rate some time in December. I was using a smelter nearby an abandoned camp that had NEVER been on a claim and it lasted for about a month before it finally died.

The numbers given were from my personal experience from several months ago, i built smelters offclaim, my first vanished hours after i built it, longest lasted 3 days. (Relocated after this)

As someone mentioned, it can be very random. Some things can last only hours off claim, were a duplicate of the same item could take months to decay. Randomness + luck determins how long it lasts.

Ive had coal piles last only 3-4 hours off claim after i start burning It, were mostly 90% of piles do not decay at all in the 60 hours. Its rare but it happens.

[Chiprel]

Are you sure it wasnt some 'friendly' neighbour? (none of like ~150-200 coal clamps i made outside of claim decayed and i saw unclaimed smelter not decaying for at least 1 week+)

PS. But yeah random can be a *****

[Wournos]

I think I read somewhere that someone experienced decay on their claim even before their claimstone money had been used up. Is this true?

Do you guys think it's possible to destroy a claimstone when the money is about to run out to rebuild it in a better position without losing items to decay (if it's all done in one swoop)?

[LackofCertainty]

Most times that people claim decay destroyed something in a tiny timeframe, they have no evidence that the building wasn't destroyed by another player. If you build something off your claim, there is no way to be certain that someone didn't just come along and break it. (Unless you have a client running and record what's happening for the entire life of the item, or you actively see something decay.) There are exceptions, of course, but I think the vast majority of off claim "decay" can probably be blamed on other players. (just like how people cry about h4x in fps's, but most times a death is just someone outplaying them)

While I don't have the criminal skills on my characters yet, I make a habit of punching holes in any split rail fence that people build outside of their claim, just as a reminder that off claim = free game. (unintentional rhyme)

[Wournos]

Most times that people claim decay destroyed something in a tiny timeframe, they have no evidence that the building wasn't destroyed by another player. If you build something off your claim, there is no way to be certain that someone didn't just come along and break it. (Unless you have a client running and record what's happening for the entire life of the item, or you actively see something decay.) There are exceptions, of course, but I think the vast majority of off claim "decay" can probably be blamed on other players. (just like how people cry about h4x in fps's, but most times a death is just someone outplaying them)

While I don't have the criminal skills on my characters yet, I make a habit of punching holes in any split rail fence that people build outside of their claim, just as a reminder that off claim = free game. (unintentional rhyme)

I'm sorry, but that didn't answer my questions (one post above yours). Nothing I own is off claim.
I'm saving up money though to be able to relocate my claimstone on my current property before the current money runs out. Hopefully nothing decays while I do so.

[ameba]

I look at it like this:
Tick = server refresh interval
Decay = % chance per tile per tick to do % damage to any structure on it
Claim with paid upkeep = % shield from decay damage (though I'm still unclear whether decay hits on claimed property or not)

So, if at a certain tick, a larger structure off of claim takes decay hits on all/almost all tiles it lies on, that can be quite a blow on its HP.
On my previous claim, I've had 2 kilns built just a bit out of reach of my claim. One turned dark red after a few days, while other stood almost unaffected for a week (and then started to decay, so I covered it with my claim). I honestly doubt someone was coming there every day for a week after I logged off just to mess with my mind.
On the other hand, I have yet to see walls to decay. In many abandoned properties I've seen past few weeks, I've seen decay hits everything but walls and braziers (and mine entrances, which are confirmed to avoid the decay). But then again, those have larger HP than most structures, so it may take a lot more time for decay to be even noticeable?

And to answer Wournos's question, yes, you should be able to do it without any problems. Decay does not destroy stuff in a matter of minutes.