Dynamic Encounters: Spawn Timer

Gabriel_H

From my own observations Dynamic Encounters spawn roughly every 28 - 29 minutes rather than an exact 30 minutes.

I believe the reason for that is related to the in-game clock not being an exact hour amount for a full day. A day in Tamriel is about 5 hours and 49 minutes in the real world. If we take that as a percentage of 6 hours, it is 96.94% which applied to 30 minutes is 29.08 minutes.

That is conjecture on my part, but I feel my logic is sound, but either way, I know for certain that the respawn timer is less than 30 minutes - that is a huge problem, for one simple reason: Time creep.

On day 1 the encounters started on the hour and half hour marks. Players knew that was when they started. Now that time has shifted to be slightly earlier and it is creeping more and more. I just did and encounter at 52 minutes passed the hour.

This needs addressing, it's wasting players time on what is already a long spawn timer.

Side Note: Why on earth make the game clock 5h 49m rather than just 6h?!

DenverRalphy

:shrug: I was under the impression the timer started at the conclusion of an encounter, and not set to a specific scheduled interval.

[edit] because initial reply was on mobile while picking up a to-go order, so wasn't very articulare. LOL

Thrudra_Magia

I think the encounters could be better managed. I haven't done one yet, but this isn't the only game I play that has timed events.

I would think setting the timed event to sync with the real world server (not hard to do) for every hour or every two hours would allow players to gather a group together, empty their bags, get to where the event will occur, and go thru the multi-staged event.

Having to constantly check the map not only interferes with doing other in-game activities, but interrupts immersion.

Just a suggestion.

tomofhyrule

Also remember the encounters are based on the instance, so just because it’s “time” for the Werewolf one to pop doesn’t mean you’re in the right instance of Stonefalls that’s timed right.

Vonnegut2506

From my observation of camping the Stonefalls dynamic event the first day for several hours like an idiot, the events definitely spawn longer than 29 minutes. I stayed in the same instance logged in for 5 hours doing the werewolf event over and over. The event would start anywhere from 30-41 minutes after the last one concluded. I counted concluding as the chest spawning. I then hit a stopwatch to keep track of how long it had been since the last event while I did housework. The first day it was never shorter than 30 minutes (which only happened one time), and it was usually longer than 35 minutes.

I learned that the drop rate for bones after the first time must be pretty low as I didn't get a second one. I also didn't get a second style page after the first one. I did get a whole bunch of Maelstrom Arena armor pieces. Now I only do the three events twice a day -- once NA and once EU -- and I find that makes it much less tedious.

Necrotech_Master

i wish there was a better way to see how much longer until the next dynamic encounter, at least for the current zone instance your in

if you just port in and there is no event active, you have no idea if its going to be in 2 min or 25 min

Lokiator

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

if you just port in and there is no event active, you have no idea if its going to be in 2 min or 25 min

As a very general indicator, the number of players at the starting point can be useful. If there are only 1 or 2 players, it's probably 20+ minutes away. If there's 10-20 players, it's probably starting soon.

But I agree, there ought to be a countdown timer like there was for skirmishes in the Night Market. Failing that, have fixed starting times so that we know precisely when the encounters will spawn.

virtus753

Can confirm I waited over 35 minutes for Bilsa’s to restart.

I wish these were more like the regular 5 minutes 7-8 seconds timer of a boss and less like “30 minutes, unless we need our espresso first and there’s a line.”

Ei8htba11

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Also remember the encounters are based on the instance, so just because it’s “time” for the Werewolf one to pop doesn’t mean you’re in the right instance of Stonefalls that’s timed right.

Can confirm that. Checkeck The Vampire encounter.. nothing.. Ported to Stonefalls to check.. nada. Ported back to check the Vampire event again and it was close to completion.. a matter of seconds, certainly not enough time for the Knight and her Dog to have moved that far in the time it took to bounce between 2 Wayshrines

Necrotech_Master

Lokiator wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

if you just port in and there is no event active, you have no idea if its going to be in 2 min or 25 min

As a very general indicator, the number of players at the starting point can be useful. If there are only 1 or 2 players, it's probably 20+ minutes away. If there's 10-20 players, it's probably starting soon.

But I agree, there ought to be a countdown timer like there was for skirmishes in the Night Market. Failing that, have fixed starting times so that we know precisely when the encounters will spawn.

that still doesnt help if you dont even know where the starting point is lol (there is no icon until it starts, even a greyed out one for the start)

i dont think ive ever been at an encounter from start to finish, since i only go to it when i see the icon on the map lol

majulook

The newest version of the MapPins addon shows an active Icon when the Zone you are in has one of these events and for the moving ones a live track of the movement.

While not helpful for tracking the time when one will appear it is very helpful.

orian34

Lokiator wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

if you just port in and there is no event active, you have no idea if its going to be in 2 min or 25 min

As a very general indicator, the number of players at the starting point can be useful. If there are only 1 or 2 players, it's probably 20+ minutes away. If there's 10-20 players, it's probably starting soon.

But I agree, there ought to be a countdown timer like there was for skirmishes in the Night Market. Failing that, have fixed starting times so that we know precisely when the encounters will spawn.

Sadly this doesn't even hold true, I stayed afk on the glenumbra location until the event started and there was only 1-2 other players until it started, and it took the first segment completed to have more than 10 players, at the end we had a swarm though.

Ironically, entertaining that thought is how most places will be deserted and make it harder to know when it starts, because if everyone thinks "the higher the number of players, the sooner it will be" then everyone will leave until there is enough players staying. Hopefully I shouldn't need to explain the paradox more.

Like you though, I agree on that second paragraph.

katanagirl1

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Lokiator wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

if you just port in and there is no event active, you have no idea if its going to be in 2 min or 25 min

As a very general indicator, the number of players at the starting point can be useful. If there are only 1 or 2 players, it's probably 20+ minutes away. If there's 10-20 players, it's probably starting soon.

But I agree, there ought to be a countdown timer like there was for skirmishes in the Night Market. Failing that, have fixed starting times so that we know precisely when the encounters will spawn.

that still doesnt help if you dont even know where the starting point is lol (there is no icon until it starts, even a greyed out one for the start)

i dont think ive ever been at an encounter from start to finish, since i only go to it when i see the icon on the map lol

I wonder of the icon doesn’t show up right away due to the number of players in the area. The lag during the event is horrendous, for the farm one it will say lead the horses and 80% left and the horses are already corralled.

Necrotech_Master

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Lokiator wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

if you just port in and there is no event active, you have no idea if its going to be in 2 min or 25 min

As a very general indicator, the number of players at the starting point can be useful. If there are only 1 or 2 players, it's probably 20+ minutes away. If there's 10-20 players, it's probably starting soon.

But I agree, there ought to be a countdown timer like there was for skirmishes in the Night Market. Failing that, have fixed starting times so that we know precisely when the encounters will spawn.

that still doesnt help if you dont even know where the starting point is lol (there is no icon until it starts, even a greyed out one for the start)

i dont think ive ever been at an encounter from start to finish, since i only go to it when i see the icon on the map lol

I wonder of the icon doesn’t show up right away due to the number of players in the area. The lag during the event is horrendous, for the farm one it will say lead the horses and 80% left and the horses are already corralled.

i did finally catch one of them as it was starting, and the icon was available immediately (i happened to port in right next to where it was starting lol)

most of the ones i have been part of they have been just swarmed with people lol

Gunner19K

Interesting note on instanced-based timers on ESOUI, where a new PC addon mentions times:
"...option to track dynamic events..., with respawns of 33m for Stonefalls, 31m for Auridon, and 30m for Glenumbra. Note that this timer is per-instance, so if you port away and back, you might not be in the same instance anymore, so the timer is no longer accurate. Kyzderp's Derps > Dynamic Events > Track time since DE ended." Perhaps one group mate camps the spot and notifies others when it's up so they can "travel to player" and be in the correct instance. That way folks can craft or do other stuff while waiting. Perhaps these are Tamriel minutes. (?) Also, if you're on PS4, the encounter could end before you get there due to long PS4 loading times.

James-Wayne

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

i wish there was a better way to see how much longer until the next dynamic encounter, at least for the current zone instance your in

if you just port in and there is no event active, you have no idea if its going to be in 2 min or 25 min

I just my other accounts on separate PCs and set a toon down in each zone. I watch, when one pops I teleport there using my main but as I have a spare account in the instance I left I can always return when that pops.