Before the DLC they were quite rare for me on Loper but since then, they do seem to occur more regularly. Every night while I was dealing with the Trader. A lucky role? Unknown but afterwards, they seem more regular as in every second night. Sounds like a plus but the aurora nightlife can be quite bothersome.

I recall one run, think it was my second one to visit after the region was added, that I spent about 2 weeks waiting, I had to go get more food twice and finally got an aurora as I was making my way back with the second batch of food, so had to drop some weight to sprint to make it back. I think they have tweaked the chance of an aurora when in certain regions since then.

In my actual run it took 2 days :D. What took more was the aurora needed for searching the Tales bunker which happens to be just in a really bad place (i wont spoil)

Honestly this is why I prefer Blackrock. The journey for the password is absolutely Brutal but the Prison is relatively safe once you clear out the 4-5 wolves inside with the area around the workshop being 100% safe as long as you close the gates.
As for the question 4-7 days.

Originally posted by DaneBarclay:

Before the DLC they were quite rare for me on Loper but since then, they do seem to occur more regularly. Every night while I was dealing with the Trader. A lucky role? Unknown but afterwards, they seem more regular as in every second night. Sounds like a plus but the aurora nightlife can be quite bothersome.

An Aurora is scripted the night you ready the trade at the box same as when you repair a transmitter. If you then pick up your trade and make it back to the radio before dawn you can do multiple trades in one night as long as you get them ready in time.
Also Auroras are a dice roll event around 4 hours after dusk. If you pass six hours at dusk and cancel before it finishes and saves you can reroll for auroras by exiting entering and waiting again. It's cheesy and against the spirit of Ironman runs but if you get sick of waiting it can save you some time.

23 days...

Originally posted by Darkwater-2034:

Also Auroras are a dice roll event around 4 hours after dusk. If you pass six hours at dusk and cancel before it finishes and saves you can reroll for auroras by exiting entering and waiting again. It's cheesy and against the spirit of Ironman runs but if you get sick of waiting it can save you some time.

After 12 days, I'm not above this... lol

And as I hate to complain without offering a solution, here goes: auto-aurora after a week in a region without exiting said region.

As a side note, it seems since the last update no bunkers or caches spawn unkess you enter FA or Sundered during an aurora. I reported it to Hinterland, but who knows how many months before they fix it. FA Omega bunker has been broken since DLC dropped.

This mechanic is totally killing my buzz. I've been camped in Coastal highway for I don't know how many days, just waiting for another Aurora. So boring.

Are you saying basically that the trader items can also be dropped off in bleak inlet? I wanted to make my way to Desolation Point but waiting for this is totally stalling that. Does he go to all coastal areas?

No, you can only make trades in Coastal Highway. You can talk to him in other regions, but the only trade box is in CH.

Originally posted by yukonhoo:

This mechanic is totally killing my buzz. I've been camped in Coastal highway for I don't know how many days, just waiting for another Aurora. So boring.

Are you saying basically that the trader items can also be dropped off in bleak inlet? I wanted to make my way to Desolation Point but waiting for this is totally stalling that. Does he go to all coastal areas?

Nope, he's only in coastal highway. The trader update is very recent though and the #1 most requested thing right now is more trader boxes, so there's a decent chance they'll change it in the future. :)

I'd also love an option to forecast auroras or summon them or something. If you don't have your aurora frequency set to high in custom settings right now it seems like your save is headed for a lot of pain because of it.

Customize to frequent auroras if it is ruining the game for you.

Originally posted by wilemon:

Customize to frequent auroras if it is ruining the game for you.

but then I don't qualify for feats right?

Lol I get annoyed when the void signal radio bugs out and forces me to wait a couple days to continue the SP/CZ quests on new games. I can't imagine waiting weeks . At least not early game.

Somehow, I liked my extreme (23 days) wait for the aurora at the pier. This game is just phenomenal - and frustrating.