what is a killbox?

[ulgrath]

so explain to me what a killbox is because as far as I can tell with all the complaining going on a killbox is anything that a player does not like?

a large open room where the floor is all lava and flying mobs?
a small hallway where there are 3+ traps?

I know this sounds like a troll but really am interested because every day hour I see another post about it.

I enjoy the game both raiding (well more raiding) and building. but man the forums are a total wine session with this is bad that is bad this is bad.

the biggest being killboxes and number of raids / outpost lifetimes

but the raids/ outpost lifetimes there is nothing we can do about that the killbox issue though if we could figure out what the hell a kill box is according to people the community could actually resolve it (not saying they will but they could)

[Zothen]

Hah, this thread will be great. Mark my words!

Originally posted by ulgrath:

I enjoy the game both raiding (well more raiding) and building. but man the forums are a total wine session with this is bad that is bad this is bad.

Yes, its wild. As if every forum user is super special and has completly different opinions, expectations and feeling about... everything. Almost hilarious.

[ulgrath]

yea but honestly I would love the answer I re read it and was like can I word this better to get a better answer? but at the end of the day everything I said is true

[Zothen]

Well, usually a killbox is a room of variable sizes clustered with traps and mobs where you constantly die. Often the moment you put your head through the super-narrow entrance.
Often a killbox is placed at the very end of a stressful outpost, so you have to run it all again when you die.

But then everybody has their own killbox in their mind....
And sometimes perceived killboxes arent killboxes, because you can learn to speedrun them. Or their are (tough) battle arenas instead.

[Certified Daddy]

I call killboxes the ones where there are no traps on the way in, maybe one single trap and the gen mat is in a large open space, once you take it the entire room turns into electro sphere disco, lava cubes. bombs, incinerators and home-in bolt shots, theres 0 chance you're getting out

[thebadman]

For some people killbox is when you do not place obvious trap after obvious trap, for some its when room is so ridiculously heavy on pressure from every pixel of it that only reasonable option is to blitz thru it because dismantling it would take ages.

I lean towards latter but line where room turns into killbox is blurry and some people are so allergic to using something more/else than stock gun+sword and maaaaaybe single grenade every 10 deaths that they really make former sound like killbox.

[StoriesBonesTell]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wz65ejR9Ak

A room designed to kill the player. It maximally attempts to utilize space and mechanics in such as way as to make a challenge as close to impossible as possible. No development time is spent on fun, this is purely a well oiled machine to kill players. Some folks like the challenge of Killboxes. Mario Maker was kept alive for a long time on this sort of thing. Me? Im not one for puzzel games. I prefer making combat arenas

[Zothen]

Originally posted by StoriesBonesTell:

Me? Im not one for puzzel games. I prefer making combat arenas

[Coffee Cat]

In retail and restaurant industries it's said 96% of unhappy customers won't complain and of those unhappy customers 90% of them will just leave.

Understand the 'whiny' people on the forums make up a tiny fraction of people who feel the same way but won't express it. They will just stop playing the game and this IP depends on an active player base for it's survival.

What you see as 'whining' is actually critical feedback.

[L3goury]

For me, what I call a killbox (and after playing 70h now, I think I know what Im talking about), is an opened unique room, full of lava cubes (except the way for HRV) and traps/ennemies (your choice).
Thats why the only major change between beta and launch, is the cost of lava cube (10 during beta, and 15 now). It was in order to dont abuse the number of lava floor.

Whats the most common in killbox is traps that could activate multiple times (iron claw, incinerator and plasma turrets, and some death pistons to avoid rushers). Cause you need a constant pressure. Ofc, you have to put your traps at the top of lava, and as far as possible from the way. Ennemies are welcome ofc for the same idea (and cause they will fall on lava while dead so you are gonna lost your ammos). But ennemies are less effective cause you have a weapon with 15 ammos to shot them (but you cant destroy traps with this weapon). Except with the bomb ennemies.

But you could use something else if you want. It just will be less effective imo.

Killboxes dont try to hide anything most of time. Thats why some people like (and I personnaly dont like cause I prefer the surprise effect). Cause its like a puzzle in front of you and you have to think the best way to destroy the most important traps or ennemy with your few ammos.


I think right now, the only nerf needed is about plasma turret and the mod doing area damage. Its too long (like 4sec). And maybe the range of detection of plasma turret but Im not sure for this one.


All other thing is perfectly fine imo. Cause a trap or an ennemy = a block where you can grab and stay, so even because of lava, you can do something. Then you have multiple shields and revive to go through this killbox.

[Ohm is Futile]

Originally posted by Undead Dan:

In retail and restaurant industries it's said 96% of unhappy customers won't complain and of those unhappy customers 90% of them will just leave.

Understand the 'whiny' people on the forums make up a tiny fraction of people who feel the same way but won't express it. They will just stop playing the game and this IP depends on an active player base for it's survival.

What you see as 'whining' is actually critical feedback.

This. I'm already feeling it. Yesterday was a holiday but none of my bases have seen anywhere near the amount of action they had seen before. Could be a coincidence, but I'm also quickly tiring from the game. I raided a lot yesterday and most of the bases, dangerous or brutal, were built with the same spirit. Killboxes.

I'd be hard-pressed to give a clear definition as to what they are. It's a line in the sand. The better I get, the deeper into killboxes I'm willing to go while still giving at least one accolade, but there's a certain feel to it.

Generally I'd say killboxes are often trap-spam with varying levels of effort. The tryhard ones are genuinely painful to get through unless you're like the top 1% of raiders. The low-effort ones can be cleared in like 0-3 deaths, but they're still not very fun. It's uninspired and just leaves me a "let's get it done" feeling.

Some common traits tend to be:
- restricted movement; either physically, or through acid cubes
- wonky geometry
- maxed out guards; usually a lot on the narrow path itself to body block
- deadman switch enemies
- mix of AoE sentinels, claws, incinerators, bomb traps, and pistons
- confusing layout; sometimes they set up the map to bug or kill HRV

Then there's what I'd call arenas. I'm sure some people would call those killboxes too, but those tend to allow you a lot of freedom of movement and there's a lot of stuff being thrown around but it can be dodged. Those I actually find kinda fun, especially if there's some effort/art put into it. You get to fly around, pick targets of opportunity, and feel badass, and die if you get cocky.

[Ratsplat]

Not all of them, but many kill box's are this game's style of puzzles. Very intimidating at first, but if you can figure out a specific route, you can plow through them with no trouble.

[$$Billionaire Trash$$]

Originally posted by StoriesBonesTell:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wz65ejR9Ak

A room designed to kill the player. It maximally attempts to utilize space and mechanics in such as way as to make a challenge as close to impossible as possible. No development time is spent on fun, this is purely a well oiled machine to kill players. Some folks like the challenge of Killboxes. Mario Maker was kept alive for a long time on this sort of thing. Me? Im not one for puzzel games. I prefer making combat arenas

I can see how kill boxes take on a different role when you're further upgraded and have the ammo/defenses to be able to balance observation with reaction... I'm not there as a raider yet, but early on as a raider, I dont think the tools you have are adequate for a fun time with completed killboxes.

[ulgrath]

Originally posted by Zothen:

Well, usually a killbox is a room of variable sizes clustered with traps and mobs where you constantly die. Often the moment you put your head through the super-narrow entrance.
Often a killbox is placed at the very end of a stressful outpost, so you have to run it all again when you die.

But then everybody has their own killbox in their mind....
And sometimes perceived killboxes arent killboxes, because you can learn to speedrun them. Or their are (tough) battle arenas instead.

So I ran through a room earlier it had 3 guys and 5 traps I died there 5 times its a kill box

(never mind I walked into a dang piston (it was already extended and my dumb butt walked into it in plain sight)

Originally posted by Sex: Undying:

I call killboxes the ones where there are no traps on the way in, maybe one single trap and the gen mat is in a large open space, once you take it the entire room turns into electro sphere disco, lava cubes. bombs, incinerators and home-in bolt shots, theres 0 chance you're getting out

ok but if there are no traps on the way in and there are no traps in the room that you grab the gen mat but the following room has lots of traps its ok?

[ulgrath]

Originally posted by L3goury:

For me, what I call a killbox (and after playing 70h now, I think I know what Im talking about), is an opened unique room, full of lava cubes (except the way for HRV) and traps/ennemies (your choice).
Thats why the only major change between beta and launch, is the cost of lava cube (10 during beta, and 15 now). It was in order to dont abuse the number of lava floor.

Whats the most common in killbox is traps that could activate multiple times (iron claw, incinerator and plasma turrets, and some death pistons to avoid rushers). Cause you need a constant pressure. Ofc, you have to put your traps at the top of lava, and as far as possible from the way. Ennemies are welcome ofc for the same idea (and cause they will fall on lava while dead so you are gonna lost your ammos). But ennemies are less effective cause you have a weapon with 15 ammos to shot them (but you cant destroy traps with this weapon). Except with the bomb ennemies.

But you could use something else if you want. It just will be less effective imo.

Killboxes dont try to hide anything most of time. Thats why some people like (and I personnaly dont like cause I prefer the surprise effect). Cause its like a puzzle in front of you and you have to think the best way to destroy the most important traps or ennemy with your few ammos.


I think right now, the only nerf needed is about plasma turret and the mod doing area damage. Its too long (like 4sec). And maybe the range of detection of plasma turret but Im not sure for this one.


All other thing is perfectly fine imo. Cause a trap or an ennemy = a block where you can grab and stay, so even because of lava, you can do something. Then you have multiple shields and revive to go through this killbox.

so if the traps are hidden then most likely not a killbox
but if it is designed to make you lose ammo it is a killbox
what if you get the ammo back after you clear the room?

[ulgrath]

Originally posted by Undead Dan:

In retail and restaurant industries it's said 96% of unhappy customers won't complain and of those unhappy customers 90% of them will just leave.

Understand the 'whiny' people on the forums make up a tiny fraction of people who feel the same way but won't express it. They will just stop playing the game and this IP depends on an active player base for it's survival.

What you see as 'whining' is actually critical feedback.

absolutely true and I really believe this but how is a company suppose to fix issues if the issue is sooooo muddy that the community cant even decide what a killbox is

fix killboxes

what are kill boxes?

anything that annoys me!