I am been wondering about the exact mechanics of smob/mob repop. Anyone have any explanation for exactly how it works? Couple questions I've been wondering about:
1) how long is it between repop?
2) is the exact timeframe between repop the same? do they vary by zone, mob, or smob? is there some randomness or variability to the length of time?
3) does the "repop counter" (my made up term) on a fixed schedule or does it start with mob/smob rip? For example, do zones automatically repop every 90 minutes after boot, or does counter for repop start 90 minutes after I kill Ragnar.
Understand Repop
Re: Understand Repop
My understanding is that repop time can vary by zone. For example, Dweller's zone east of Tear seems to repop like every 45 minutes. But the miners zone in the Waste where the Shaido's are, is like 2 hours.
I don't think zones automatically repop until someone enters the zone for the first time. That's why you'll occasionally enter a zone and pick up an herb, let's say, then all of a sudden there's another herb on the ground. It triggered a repop by entering because no one had been there in quite some time (or since last boot? not sure).
If you kill a smob, then the next pop might be fairly soon after depending on how long it took and when someone last entered the zone. If you killed it right after a repop, then it will be the full cycle before the next repop. Most zones seem to be between the 60-90 minute repop range.
This is all just from casual observation. I could be wrong on some of the nuance, but that tends to be generally close to what I've seen.
I don't think zones automatically repop until someone enters the zone for the first time. That's why you'll occasionally enter a zone and pick up an herb, let's say, then all of a sudden there's another herb on the ground. It triggered a repop by entering because no one had been there in quite some time (or since last boot? not sure).
If you kill a smob, then the next pop might be fairly soon after depending on how long it took and when someone last entered the zone. If you killed it right after a repop, then it will be the full cycle before the next repop. Most zones seem to be between the 60-90 minute repop range.
This is all just from casual observation. I could be wrong on some of the nuance, but that tends to be generally close to what I've seen.
Re: Understand Repop
Adding to this:
Many zones will only repop if a player was in them recently. For zones with no player activity for a while, they get put on hold and will repop immediately (5-20 seconds) after a player enters the zone and then go back to their queue in the counter.
Most zones are set up in a staggered repop timeframe. It is a static timeframe for each zone, but that time frame start/end and duration varies.
if you've ever entered a zone, saw it repop, and then it repop again 5 mins later, now you know why things happen that way.
Many zones will only repop if a player was in them recently. For zones with no player activity for a while, they get put on hold and will repop immediately (5-20 seconds) after a player enters the zone and then go back to their queue in the counter.
Most zones are set up in a staggered repop timeframe. It is a static timeframe for each zone, but that time frame start/end and duration varies.
if you've ever entered a zone, saw it repop, and then it repop again 5 mins later, now you know why things happen that way.
Re: Understand Repop
Thank you Frey and Kiltwich. This was super helpful!
-Mykael
-Mykael