Wouldn't it be cool if the mob spawn AI was so complex it locates every single avatar inside spawn area and then drops mobs onto these spots? Or even better, if there was a guy sitting in MA office tasked with harassing players by dropping mobs on them?
Wouldn't it be fantastic if the system was so incredibly complex that it even figures out the direction you are facing and places the mob behind you?
I think that would be very cool. Interactive and complex AI makes a more challenging and interesting game.
Hate to crush your dreams. The script controlling respawn is extremely primitive. There's nobody doing it manually either (except rare cases at events).
Truth is the game doesn't know if there's a player on this specific spot or not. In other words, the game doesn't care. There is no "ninja spawns", it's a myth.
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Here's how it works:
MOB SPAWN AI. Respawn happens at regular intervals filling up the spawn area - with impartial robotic consistency. The only variable in this extremely simple mechanism is a ratio: total number of players inside spawn area vs total number of mobs (more players forces the system to increase the spawn density).
That's it.
MOB AI. The single mob AI has (and always had) a variable "delay before attack". It could be 0 or it could be something like 15-20 sec (never measured, approx number).
There's another variable "player already under attack" that could be 0, 1, or more (the number of mobs on you). If this variable is not 0 there's a higher probability that AI will roll out a larger number for "delay before attack". If this happens you will see the mob "wandering aimlessly" pretending it doesn't see you althou it is inside the larger aggro range.
As every experienced hunter already knows, each mob has 2 aggro ranges - a smaller aggro range that causes the mob to attack immediately and a much larger one that has (relatively) bigger delay.
That's just basics, the mob AI is much more sophisticated than that. Also, the variables are different for different mobs and maturities.
Mob spawn AI, however, is extremely simple.
Just sayin'. Take it or leave it.