I can't place my finger exactly when it seemed to change, but it seems that rod blank damage and reel friction brake damage have been accumulating much more quickly than before. I don't have exact statistics to show what I'm experiencing, only an example, but after spending a good amount of time playing this game I feel I've gotten a good sense of how quickly equipment degrades.
I have no complaints about the friction brake because that is repairable and I feel that there has been many more opportunities to earn silver in the game recently. I have had a lot of fun in the game and feel the fishing has been really good, and I'll gladly pay for the repairs due to catching those fish. However, the rod blanks can't be repaired and it seems they have been wearing down significantly more quickly. Perhaps there is a misunderstanding of what factors cause increased blank damage. The only example I can give with any loose objective measure is a rod I received from a friend 6 weeks ago. It was a TI Carp rod with 9% blank damage. That rod now has 18.2% damage after 6 weeks. I have only done some wild carp and sturgeon fishing with it during that time.