Decay reset!

[formerly known as hf]

Yeah, I just noted the decay too - It's a happy day for Cantr - thanks

[The Sociologist]

i don't think the point of introducing decay was to minimize impact. quite the contrary actually.

Precisely.

if programming feels that decay rates aren't acceptable as they stand, then decay should be suspended until things can be adjusted. surprise decay resets are just a silly, round-about way of dealing with things.

I agree. The problem is principally with bows, and perhaps some iron tools, which are decaying too fast, and therefore presuppose repairs. I would have thought that repairing would have been added to the game by now, especially since programming clearly had the time to work on this new dynamic naming business.

If there is to be no repairing system, then decay rates for the abovementioned items should be adjusted so that item degradation can go ahead.

Degradation really is needed to get us past this numbing "medieval" economy. Combine that with a new generation of furnaces requiring a team effort to set up, but producing iron at double+ the rate, and you'd really see things getting lively again.

[Nick]

Correct me if I'm wrong...

But it appears that bone knives are more durable than steel knives, as steel knives have wooden handles.

For what reason?!

[The Industriallist]

Bone items last an extraordinarily long time...which is directly opposite to what ought to be.

I think I've seena bone shield stay brand new for at least as long as an iron shield.

[NetherSpawn]

Bone should quite obviously decay quicker than metal. It should also decary more rapidly than wood. Wood seems to be getting shafted for some reason, and bows even more so.
Still, do not reset the durability. In doing so, you've made item deterioration purely negative ever since it was implemented. Currently all it is is misinformation and no ill effects. Destruction of the old items is NOT a bad thing. It shouldn't happen quite as quickly as it is, perhaps, at least for the iron-and-wood tools, but very key to the whole premise is that the old equipment from the days when iron (or even steel) was taken directly from the ground is destroyed (or made to be fixed). Why on earth can't the damn things be allowed to break? If you're going to keep thwarting progress then at least make it clear that it's going to be thwarted.
As a side question, why is everything now at 'new'? Doesn't that mean that how much deterioration has occured varies directly with the durability of an item? Very perverse.