What you are mentioning is the evillest example that is made to kill the player by suprise. And it is possible to avoid by boosing if the player expects every lockbox to have a trap like this and is ready to boost.Alan Phipps wrote: ↑Sun, 25. Sep 22, 14:57There will always be a divide where some players like chaotic, random or Act-of-God events, while other players like predictability and continuity while managing their empire growth.
A minor and only vaguely related current gameplay example would be the lockboxes rigged for releasing tracker mines stored inside. Some like these for spicing up the game, while others hate them as being an unforeseen game-over event outside of their control.
Just because some players sometimes rage on the forums, doesnt mean that they hate the game or will quit. Teaching them how to survive such traps will help the situation.