Respawning of Enemies Outside

[Cinnder]

One thing that always made CoX different from other MMOs (until i21) was the fact that mobs didn't respawn on top of you without a lore-explainable reason (like summons, teleport, etc.).  Until Hellions in Atlas Park decided to take an unpleasant page from other MMOs, I never once in 7 years had that extremely gamey experience of having mobs appear right on top of me.

So my question is this: how DID zones re-stock their mobs?  Did they come running out of doors as they did in a troll rave?  Did anyone ever observe this personally?

And in a related question: I always had the feeling that outdoor spawns were somehow related to the strength of characters nearby at the time of spawn.  I never gathered data on this, but I could have sworn that if I was badge sweeping in Talos with a 50 at a quiet time when I was mostly alone, the enemies were still of zone-appropriate level, but their groups were much more numerous than when there were just lvl 20 chars in the area.  Did anyone else get this feeling?  Or, better yet, actually document it?  Or was I just imagining things?

[eabrace]

So my question is this: how DID zones re-stock their mobs?  Did they come running out of doors as they did in a unicorn rave?  Did anyone ever observe this personally?

Most of the time I saw spawns appear, they just faded in.  The only interaction I ever saw with doors was when someone was running away from me.

And in a related question: I always had the feeling that outdoor spawns were somehow related to the strength of characters nearby at the time of spawn.

That would be correct.  That was confirmed once long, long ago on the CoH boards.  I want to say it was War Witch that confirmed it, but on that detail I'm pretty fuzzy.  The game also took into account your team size when it spawned new groups for you.

[GuyPerfect]

Outdoor spawns could also include Nictus and Void Hunter enemies, and occasionally Shadow Cyst Crystals, but only for groups with the stench of a Kheldian about them.

[eabrace]

the stench of a Kheldian

Man, that stuff was not easy to get out of my clothes.

[Cinnder]

Most of the time I saw spawns appear, they just faded in. 

You actually saw that?  How close were they to you at the time?  I always had the feeling they wouldn't spawn when someone was looking.

When I first started badge hunting I stood in one place for ages after wiping out a bunch of lowbies and they never re-appeared.  But once I took a quick run around the block, there was a big spawn again, right where I had been loitering.

[Blondeshell]

You actually saw that?  How close were they to you at the time?  I always had the feeling they wouldn't spawn when someone was looking.

When I first started badge hunting I stood in one place for ages after wiping out a bunch of lowbies and they never re-appeared.  But once I took a quick run around the block, there was a big spawn again, right where I had been loitering.

This tended to be my experience, too. The only fading I ever saw (pre-I21) was some mobs fading away if they had been previously aggroed and were left alone for a while (especially the Winter Horde).

[Ashen Fury]

Yeah, I definitely remember the rednames explaining it at some point, where outdoor spawns were programmed not to spawn in a players sight range, and also took account of your team size and level when spawning. I remembered testing this once by switching my view to 1st person and staring at the ground, forcing a group to spawn near me once my view had shifted away from that spot.

Just another one of those nice little things that made CoH different.

[Triplash]

I used to do a lot of street sweeping, it was my favorite way to level. I definitely saw groups fade in from time to time. They wouldn't spawn nearby; I only saw that happen once, and I'm pretty sure it was a glitch because there was a mapserve a little while later. But I would occasionally see the further away spawn points fill in, say a street or two over. It might've had something to do with increased Perception, not sure. But I know I've seen it multiple times.

[Lucretia MacEvil]

I recall seeing enemies respawn as other enemies: one group would fade out and the other would fade in.

[eabrace]

You actually saw that?  How close were they to you at the time?  I always had the feeling they wouldn't spawn when someone was looking.

Very, very rarely, but I did see it a few times.  I'm pretty sure that they weren't spawning for me at the time, though.

[Cinnder]

I remembered testing this once by switching my view to 1st person and staring at the ground, forcing a group to spawn near me once my view had shifted away from that spot.

Whoa, so they meant "in your sight" literally, and not just "in your vicinity"?!  All that time spent running around to get badges when I could have just navel-gazed to get the next spawn!

[Kistulot]

Whoa, so they meant "in your sight" literally, and not just "in your vicinity"?!  All that time spent running around to get badges when I could have just navel-gazed to get the next spawn!

I didnt realize it was sight, but whenever i ran around places with a lot of blindspots I got a lot more enemy spawns... so i guess when it comes back, look for places with alcoves!

[Mister Bison]

I did a bit of Fab-cleaning (The Fab, behind Grandville), and never did the mob spawn in my sight. The fade-in was always due to me superspeeding in. I even had a case of them spawning in my back and attacking me just as I looked away (well, this one more exactly was on the barge the helicopter to Atlas Park's mission of Recluse's SF was.) Even better, was that indeed the ennemy more often respawned when making a large tour.

When I look at it with programmer's eyes and general gaming experience, it may very well have had an "on-sight" condition.

[SerialBeggar]

You guys don't remember the Hollows for the first few years?  Where as you are running through a completely unpopulated landscape, whole groups of COT would suddenly spawn right on top of and around you?

[Nyx Nought Nothing]

You guys don't remember the Hollows for the first few years?  Where as you are running through a completely unpopulated landscape, whole groups of COT would suddenly spawn right on top of and around you?

That happened up until the Hollows revamp. i remember pausing on a rooftop to use Rest while playing my WS and having a dozen or so +3 unicorns (akaCoHNPCgroupTrolls) appear around me. There was about a one second pause between them fading in and pounding my WS into the rooftop.

i would not infrequently see NPC groups fade out and new spawns fade in as i approached. Similarly i would see spawns fade in and watch as they went active as i approached. For a second or two newly popped spawns would be completely stationary and closely grouped after fading into view, and then start moving around and doing their various animations. Generally i had my draw distance maxed and DoF effects disabled.

[Menrva Channel]

You guys don't remember the Hollows for the first few years?  Where as you are running through a completely unpopulated landscape, whole groups of COT would suddenly spawn right on top of and around you?

That is so like them. SURPRISE! Cultist attack! ;)

You know, as cool as that new design was, I kinda miss the old CoT designs, hehe.

Also, I was really confused about the "unicorn" rave until seeing the post above mine--I didn't remember any of /those/ in game. ;) Now I can't stop giggling.