Guides:Spawning Hotspots
Spawning
Using the information in the Spawning article it is now possible to create spawning hotspots.
Some groups now intentionally leave spawning locations Very Strongly Barricaded and Powered in order to encourage the appearance of new players. In a recent experiment a 404 member in a ghost town repaired a Necrotech building, raised its cades to VSB and powered the structure. Within 24 hours, 4 level one Necro-technicians had sprung into life inside. When 404 left, a fledgling survivor group of revivers was left to carry on the survivor cause.
Firefighters; a case study
So say you wanted a group of low level survivors who could be effective straight away. Almost every Guide out there suggests the Firefighter class is the best starting class out there. So lets start getting some firefighters to join us. But how to do that?
To take this to its logical conclusion, Rillie Bank could be the single most important building in Malton.
Rillie Bank
Have a look at Rillie Bank's location. It's within 3 AP of every possible TRP, the only zombie group in the area is the RRF and even then it's really at the edge of their zone of influence in Greater Ridley.
Most importantly it's bordered by 4 Fire Stations. In a city of 230 such structures, that's a huge clump. Now imagine you can get them all powered and Very Strongly barricaded. Instead of holding 2% Of Malton's Fire Stations, you've got a Fire fighter spawning machine. At any time less than half of Malton's Fire Stations will be suitable powered and caded to allow new fire fighters inside. Imagine what you could do within such a small area. A few well placed pieces of graffiti, a few group members speaking to all the new characters every day. Pretty soon you'll have a sizeable force of fresh faced survivors wanting guidance.
Of course this means evaluating existing Barricade Plans. In the above case it's not too demanding, resulting in the changing of levels on only two buildings. The larger area would be relatively unaffected. The only real resources you need to set up the spawning point are all readily available. Within 3ap you have 4 generator sources (including a mall) and a ready supply of fire axes to help you decade. Such clusters of buildings are often recognised by survivors, but rarely used efficiently. Of course some people do a very good job already, including survivors in Eastonwood.
Eastonwood
To extend the principal further the MCM previously inhabited Eastonwood. One of the reasons for this it that the suburb is chock full of Tactical Resource Points and because of this, newly spawned players. Their education of new players helps them maintain the suburb as a stable area and newb friendly. Of course few groups can maintain an area the size of a suburb, which is why closely clustered TRPs, like the Fire Departments around Rillie Bank are your best start point.
Problems
Of course its a fantastic theory. In practice you'll have to deal with lots of issues including...
Overcading kills spawning points dead. Keeping those barricade levels low across several buildings is dull, dull dull.
- A Static Defensive Position.
You keep on wanting new recruits? Then you have to stay still. You stay still, then you are easy targets for the large hordes. Ignoring River Tactics means that when you get hit, you get hit hard.
- Competing Survivors.
As survivors catch on that an area of the city has a much higher concentration of survivors than the norm, they'll start focussing on it for their recruitment missions. Expect survivor group friction.
- Sitting Zombies
Some clusters will never be viable. Woodgate Avenue in Dunell Hills is the centre of a fantastic cluster of hospitals, but its also the home turf of The Dead 2.0. Hardly newb friendly.
Solutions
...and the solutions to these problems?
- Valuable Lessons
Barricading sensibly is the most valuable lesson new survivors can learn. Very few players understand the Spawning Criteria. You can help educate people by explaining that its better to have another 3 cops standing by your side than to have another sofa in front of the door.
- Fallback Positions
In fairness, you can modify River Tactics to work with spawning hotspots. Simply move between hotspots. After all, do you want a group of new survivors who all have Diagnosis? It might be worth moving every now and then, get some Basic Firearm Training as well. Just remember to tell all those new players where you're going!
- Stay Calm
First impressions count. If you're the group spending AP to talk to people, fixing the generators and healing the injured, then you're the group new players identify with the survivor cause.
- Run Away
Some places will always be untenable. Kempsterbank has six hospitals in close proximity, but the chances of them all being powered and barricaded to a suitable level is well, unlikely... In these cases setting up a spawning hotspot is going to be doubly hard. Malton's a big place. There are a lot of possible sites. Find an easier one.
Why not?
As far as I understand no group has actually attempted such a large scale recruitment initiative, but its actually very simple. An area with several NTs, PDs or Hospitals could be equally effective.
Examples Include;
- The three Hospitals including St. Pius's Hospital in Darvall Heights.
- The three NTs surrounding Gable Walk Fire Station.
- The three Police Departments surrounding Factory 40,21.
Why not give it a go?
--RosslessnessWant a Location Image? 22:24, 12 February 2011 (UTC)
