Mob Spawns vs. AE Social Hubs

First, this isn't another AE woe thread. Let's get this clear and out of the way.

However, having said that, I have a theory regarding a possible side-effect of the social aspect of AE that I'd like to present for your consideration.

A number of years ago, I remember a dev (I think it was Posi) mentioning that mobs in zones spawned behind heroes as they passed through. The characters that passed through determined the level of the mobs, up to the level cap for the zone. The comment stuck with me, because he noted that it was like you were "dragging mob spawns behind you" as you traveled through a zone.

The net effect of this was that badge hunters could get the mobs to spawn bosses by defeating lower-level mob groups and moving on. If they came back, a group of their own level should have been there. (Eventually.) I've seen this in practice myself many times.

And then came AE. (You knew it was coming, right? ) AE serves as a massive social hub for players, and the streets are largely deserted. You can pass from one end of a zone to another and rarely (if ever) see another hero. (Note that I'm talkng about during normal game time, not during double-XP weekends.) Because of this, mob spawns are suppressed.

This is not a whine. It's just badge-hunting. I will eventually get the badges. That's just a case of simple perseverance. But this intrigues me because, I believe that mob spawns are tied directly to the absense or presence of player characters in a zone, and with player characters so heavily concentrated in the AE buildings, mobs are not spawning as they should.

For example, finding Magmite Lords is virtually impossible. There's only one place I know of where you can find them (the Hollows). You'd be hard-pressed to get them to spawn at all in that zone. Arachnos Toxic Tarantulas are just as difficult to find.

Perhaps my recollection of the way that mob spawns work is fuzzy or altogether incorrect. It may, after all, have been changed. (If so, please correct me.) On the other hand, if it's right, the game is potentially less rewarding for solo players because mob spawns are far less challenging.

I don't know if there is a solution to this problem. I guess I just wanted to posit an idea, and toss it around for discussion (hopefully without inciting another AE flame war). I don't want to see AE go away (it has far too much value). But if my theory is correct this is an undesirable side-effect that may need some sort of attention.

Thoughts?

That's quite interesting... If someone could make a program to perhaps log spawns and characters in a zone at a time?

I noticed - recently working for the electrician badge, at the power sources along the pipes in Cap, there are 1-6 gremlins. Is this random or based on players passing through?

I wish I knew more about the game mechanics..

I'm not sure I understand the argument you're making. I think you may be misunderstanding the way spawn points work.

Every zone (and every mission map, for that matter) has a number of spawn points. Nothing exists at a spawn point until at least one character approaches it. Once that character comes within some distance (not sure what), the spawn point is populated based on the level of the character and the attributes of the spawn point itself. For example, a level 50 passing through an entirely new instance of Atlas Plaza will spawn level 2 Hellions in the parking lot, because the spawn points there spawn up to level 2, and the game will detect the character's level and try to get as close to it as possible if it is above the point's own maximum. If the character were passing through, say, the Storm Palace, points might spawn enemies of level 49 to 52 for the same character.

I believe, although I'm not certain, that team size also affects spawn points, at least in non-hazard zones. For example, although Bone Daddies are almost never seen outside on Mercy Island, I've heard that badge-hunting teams sweeping the area will get them to spawn due to their team size. I don't think hazard zones follow these rules; they're automatically set with different spawning rules that produce larger or otherwise more threatening groups.

Now, all this said, what does this have to do with AE? If your point is that fewer teamed characters are passing through zones, meaning fewer team-sized groups with bosses are spawning, you may be right. However, this is nothing new; I've had this problem when hunting various things for badges for years on a variety of servers. However, that isn't really an AE issue; that's an outdoor population issue. The simple fact that lots of players are in AE buildings doesn't mean things aren't appear. Approach a spawn point, and SOMETHING should spawn there, even if you are solo.