I've noticed that most tokens appear in specific locations, as if each token type has some predefined slots on each map where it may appear (besides hero and pod drops, of course). I've also noticed that there appears to be some algorithm governing when a particular token will appear. For example there doesn't appear to be a way to have a more than one hero or 3 air fighters per side on most maps (with the exception of fighter squadron).
What other factors effect the frequency, when, and where a hero token will appear?
Is it totally random, with only the rules I already mentioned?
Best Answer
Short answer for hero pickups: We don't know the algorithm. It appears to be random, but it is dictated by a few rules.
Long answer on vehicles: I recently tested this in Walker Assault and confirmed a few things. The vehicle and power-up drops do, definitely, reoccur in the same locations. An AT-ST would respawn about 20 seconds after the last user dies in it (or abandons it). In Walker Assault they will spawn in certain locations depending on where the game's progress is.
There are limits to how many vehicles are available, but it depends on the map. Your team can, as an example, grab both x-wings in phase 1 of Walker Assault and make them live the entire game. If both a-wings from phase 2 survive, in phase 3 your rebel team could have 6 starships in the air at once (2 airspeeders are available in phase 3). Other game modes have a hard limit on number of vehicles and starfighters because the pickup will not regenerate until the last user dies or ditches the vehicle.
EA recently released patch notes that give us a small glimpse into how it works, but we'll never really know their algorithm. They recently added a little buffer to the respawn times: