KF2 Playstyle Conflicts: Perks, Controllers, Mods and Controlled Difficulty

This essay by a Japanese player is a long reflection on why Killing Floor 2 players end up in conflict. The core idea: differences in playstyle come from different ideas of what matters and what the right way to play is, not from skill, and understanding them reduces friction. This page is a summary of the original.

1. Conflict between perks

The oldest KF2 conflict is shooting perks versus non-shooting ones. The author counts Commando, Support, Gunslinger, Sharpshooter and SWAT as shooting perks, and Berserker, Firebug and Demolitionist as non-shooting (Field Medic and Survivalist are left out).

Shooting perks depend on precise headshots. Berserker is melee, which gathers aggro; Firebug sets enemies on fire; Demolitionist causes knockdowns and clutters vision. Each is just using its perk fully, but these traits get in the way of shooters. Coexistence is possible if players choose weapons, skills and style with it in mind, though that limits the perk's full potential. Many players are happy mixing; it is a clash of desired experiences, not right versus wrong.

2. Input devices

Keyboard and mouse versus gamepad is common in FPS games. Mouse users say aim assist is not real aiming and that pad turning is slow; pad users answer that officially implemented aim assist is legitimate on vanilla public servers. The author's view: on public vanilla servers devices should not be criticised. If you dislike pad players, host a private mouse-only server. In public spaces, diversity should be respected.

3. Client mods

Client-side mods are officially allowed and shared on the Workshop. Custom weapon skins are only visible to you and cause no conflict. Others affect the game, such as custom scopes, an improved Tommy Gun iron sight, or forcing seasonal ZED skins (for instance Christmas skins), since hitboxes are decided by the client skin and a bigger Fleshpound skin can help. All of these are allowed, yet players who do not use them may resent a "tainted" Hell on Earth win. A separate controversial item is custom crosshair software, which is external rather than a mod; KF2 does not explicitly ban it.

4. Game settings

Lowering graphics can make the game easier, for example removing the snowstorm on Outpost to see far. Editing config files for visuals is also allowed on vanilla public servers, but some players call it improper; acceptance depends on the community. The author notes that minority styles are rarely approved, and sharing them in videos invites conflict, so know where your style stands.

5. Troll play

"Allowed by the game" has limits. Picking up and selling others' weapons or welding doors to kill players is technically possible but unacceptable. The author compares rules to laws and manners to ethics, and sorts troll players into three types:

• Childlike: low-level players in Hell on Earth, like a child standing on a train seat with shoes on.
• Cross-cultural: different community manners, like a newly arrived foreigner on a train.
• Malicious: deliberate sabotage, who should simply be blocked.

6. Vanilla versus CD

CD (Controlled Difficulty) is a custom mode whose defining feature is adjustable difficulty. Many wrongly think it is a harder tier above Hell on Earth because some foreign servers advertise "Harder than Hell on Earth". In Japan, CD has become a haven for shooting-focused players: maps that are hard to shoot on are not played, and EDARs and even Quarter Pounds may be disabled. Vanilla and CD cannot be compared, just like vanilla and Zedternal. Some outsiders find the community strange; the author compares it to fans of a niche hobby gathering together.

7. Conflicts inside CD

• Boss fights or not: many CD players do not want boss fights, particularly in East Asia; the Combined Edition made for the Japanese community ends at wave 10 without a boss.
• Weapon upgrades or not: many servers allow one upgrade level but ban upgrades for strong weapons like the Desert Eagle; a weapon like the M14 originally performed about like its one-level-upgraded version today.
• Overcap or not: loading more rounds than the magazine capacity by swapping skills (for example holding a 50-round FAL magazine) is popular, but some find it too strong, so an AntiOvercap setting exists.
• Running or not: some players refuse to run when a camp collapses, saying running is losing.
• Win or not care: some veterans lose the drive to win and play reckless difficulties, clashing with those who want victory.

Conclusion

Understanding playstyles helps avoid and ease conflict. Know where you stand: the author, a hardcore CD player, has not joined random vanilla games in years, and says that is necessary. Find a community that satisfies you, and criticise others' styles if you must, but never deny them.