Wednesday 24 February 2010

[OOC] The Lost Art

"If we find a cat I'm going to kick it!"
-- (Terry Pratchett, Only You Can Save Mankind)

I offered a 1v1 to a Dramiel pilot, my Jaguar against his Dramiel, which he declined stating "I don't trust you"
Something about having friends in system and a command ship pilot in the next system.

Well, I was rather insulted.

1v1 to me is sacred, I have never and will never dishonour them. This is something taken very seriously by Mean Coalition too.
I take great pains to put my opponents at ease, letting them form gang, choosing the safe spot etc.

The fact that dishonoured 1v1s have become such common place that even those that follow the unwritten rules of 1v1 are left being ridiculed as untrustworthy, is in my opinion a sad state of the universe and the game in general.

When I say unwritten rules of 1v1, it means those often agreed to before the fight, such as: To the ship, to the pod, no ECM etc.

I quite often offer 1v1s, as I find them a good test of my abilities and skill. I have in the past had some epic fights in such situations.

Now, the other nights insult got me a bit riled up and I had a small outburst in local chat, something about the Dramiel pilot lacking balls. On reflection this was not how I should act, even as a pirate I hold myself to a higher standard.

1v1s, much like ransoms have been spoiled by others, to the detriment of those that feel honour, even amongst thieves is something to keep.

(Highsec ransoms then gank are a different kettle of fish, I understand the reasons of these kinds of actions)

1v1s may be a lost art, but there are those out there who will honour them and I salute you and I for one will always hold them sacred.

Disclaimer: Well, the art isn't really lost, we know exactly where it is, now just to convince others to enjoy it.

9 comments:

Alan said...

I also enjoy the 1v1 preferable frig on frig; as I am feed up with the 10v1 that seems to prevail in high sec war dec's, low and null sec. Where is the fun in that? it is nothing more than a way to pad kills boards.

Unfortunately I have been the victim of 1v1 that rapidly turn into gankfests when the buddys jump in.

I agree with you completely a 1 on 1 is a sacred thing and I have actually popped and podded corp mates for joining in on my side when not asked or needed.

I am glad I am not alone.

fly safe o/

Asssassin X said...

Had a nice cruiser 1v1 yestarday and can be found on the killboard.
Pilot did not trust but in the end with the rules of i join his gang and he chooses the safe spot it was fine. (I won btw \o/)

Anonymous said...

But at this point we get down into EVE sacred rule number 3 or so, "Trust No One". [Right after "Fly what you can afford to lose" and "Do stuff with people" {paraphrase by Kirith of "Join a Corp"}].

While I too lament the loss of 'honor', I am forced to contemplate the possibility that it also never existed.

Kename Fin said...

But at this point we get down into EVE sacred rule number 3 or so, "Trust No One". [Right after "Fly what you can afford to lose" and "Do stuff with people" {paraphrase by Kirith of "Join a Corp"}].

While I too lament the loss of 'honor', I am forced to contemplate the possibility that it also never existed.

Paul said...

"No honor among thieves", as the old saying goes. I had someone try to pull a money scam on me last night. My current character may be four days old, but I have been around the game off and on for around two years.

I would enjoy some 1v1 to help me work on my skills. I don't think I would last long en-route to meeting you in low sec space for a match though...

_ said...

I remember fighting you in an arranged 1vs1 a while back, Rupture vs Rupture was pretty fun, you won though. Darn lucky with ecm drones! Also I didn't have heat. :<

o/

Myrkala

(You still hang around, Eifer-Ingunn right? Maybe I'll pop by sometime.)

Neropatti said...

Totally agree that 1v1 is a sacred fight, no one should go and ruin those fights. Sure we got big 1000+ pilot big fleet fights but in the end, the best fights are those 1v1 doc fights we encounter all around new eden.

I adore 1v1 fights cause it brings the skills to play more then anything else.

I dont say that fleet fights dont take skill, or that flying in gang of any size wouldnt take skills.

But going alone, solo, against one pilot, one ship...

That is where the real skills and resolve come to play. Two ships hunting each other, fighting for ones survival. That is where the thrills come from and that is what i will try to look in the future.

Anonymous said...

It has to be said, the idea, of 1 on 1 combat is now such a deterrent to me I no longer trust anyone. Just the other day, minding my own business (I was busily care-bearing...) a drameal pops into my mish and starts stealing everything that isn't nailed down, my initial reaction was that, yes I'd enjoy opening fire on him and having a tussel (more for lack of combat recently than any other reason) but at the back of my mind the irksome thought of cloaked buddies packed with ECM or even just in-system buddies waiting for the jump prevented me from firing. A great opportunity for a pilot vs pilot fight prevented due to my suspicions. There is little honour left.

Anon carebear with teeth

elorran said...

One of the problems with eve becoming more popular/successful is that the game attracts some less than preferable people. In addition to the macroers and scammers (both in game and real) we have seen a dramatic increase in the mentioned dishonourable folks that have upset the earlier expectation of duels and ransoms.

For the longest time I hated pirates, though ironically found myself becoming one a few years ago. From the point of view of a new or young player I can appreciate there are levels of distrust that come naturally, but the a few years back you could at least expect agreements or offers from many older players (though not all) would be honoured.

These days it is mostly one way, suspicion and distrust being the path of choice. I occasionally long for my younger days as a newbie again, not only because times were simpler, but there were less ass hats on the server.