In addition to the rules change I proposed to animals, I want to propose that, if possible, the time it takes for dropped items to despawn to 7 or 8 minutes. With the understanding that it would cause extra server strain, it seems unreasonable to me that if you die with good stuff, rush back to where you died, and get there withing a few minutes, all your stuff is gone. I get it doesn't really go with the whole tfc = hardcore survival thing, but it's really frustrating to lose stuff time and time again, and if we are going to try for realism, the metal tool heads dropped by a dying person and their other items would stand the test of time. For example I died from an accidental fall one time, at a mine a 2 or three minute run from a teleport point. Having rushed back i jumped into my pool of items only to have them despawn immediately as I got there. The only items I picked up from my near-full inventory were a few pieces of thatch and a level or so of xp.
Here are the pros and cons as I see them, feel free to add or argue with them:
Pros:
Less frustration
Less wasted material
Cons:
Could lead to undue sloppyness with beams or jumps etc...
increased server lag
detracts from the hardcore survival theme
_DT
PS, I hope that my other thread and that of Lemon's have not been forgotten. (if this post script is in violation of rules #13 or #21 plz let me know, I wasnt sure)