Topic

Do things left on the ground time out and disappear?

I hid two fortune cookies in very hard to find places and they had a note in them saying mail me back the note for a gift..
I've just been to check on one of them and they have either been found or gone. Nobody has mailed me back... I wondered if there is a set time limit for items dropped before they disappear.

Posted 8 months ago by jiva Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Things should not disappear when you place them on the ground.

    Two exceptions:  
    Edit:  (see comments below) Notes persist.  Players pick them up.   
    [notes.  Notes have a certain number of 'readings' before they recycle themselves.  Self-collecting litter.]

    food.  Piggies eat food left on the ground.  Sometimes.  

    Since fortune cookies are toys, and not edible, my guess is that someone picked them up without reading the note, or simply ignored the note.
    Posted 8 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Notes haven't had limited numbers of readings since late alpha or early original beta, unless there was an undocumented change to it in the last month or two.  There are quite a lot of people who go around picking up notes and tossing them in shrines, though... that tends to have the same effect to a casual observer.

    Aside from the chance of a wayward pig eating your edibles, any item dropped will persist until picked up.  I don't think pigs can eat fortune cookies, as Windborn said, but I can always conduct some tests to find out next time I'm on!
    Posted 8 months ago by Magic Monkey Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, Notes don't disappear simply by repeated readings; Herp Derp confirmed this in Live Help, too. Someone must have taken the Note.
    Posted 8 months ago by TomC Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Cups of water, and snocones also disappear after a while.
    Posted 8 months ago by Zany Serendipity Subscriber! | Permalink
  • More likely someone picked it up, read it, and just didn't message you.
    Posted 8 months ago by Tibbi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My guess is that your cookies were sold or donated without being opened.

    The thing about fortune cookies... they are worth 200 currants, which means you can sell them to the tool vendor for 150.  Breaking the cookie, on the other hand, gives you only a fortune which has no currant value.  So for the type of player who goes around collecting everything they can find and selling/donating it, there is no profit to be had in breaking open the cookie to read the message.
    Posted 8 months ago by Miss Portinari Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh, thank you all, what a shame. It was called a fortunate fortune, and would have netted the collector much more. Next time I'll just leave a note instead of a fortune.
    Posted 8 months ago by jiva Subscriber! | Permalink
  • thanks for the Notes info
    Posted 8 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • jiva, i happened to come across one of your fortune cookies and I have mailed the fortune back to you :) when I first found it, i did not have time to get to a mailbox to send it back to you last night. I did however mail it to you a few hours ago. I hope it got to you alright :)
    Posted 8 months ago by Jabs Girl Subscriber! | Permalink
  • oohh, I'll go login Jabs. :D
    Posted 8 months ago by jiva Subscriber! | Permalink
  • some things do disappear, it seems
    I was in the deeps, and saw some guano, but clicked to quickly on to the next street
    I clicked back (as quickly as the game allows), but the guanos were gone. the street was empty

    but those were not player placed, so perhaps it's different
    Posted 8 months ago by mr granberry Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Jiva, keep leaving cookies, not just notes! That way your prizes go towards curious, deserving people who take the time to open the cookies instead of people who throw whatever they find on the ground into shrines. 
    Posted 8 months ago by Isabelle the Pug Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You said it Isabelle!
    Posted 8 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Saving up to do some more at some point. Keep running low on currants trying to complete my cubical collection the hard way.
    Posted 8 months ago by jiva Subscriber! | Permalink