This is a -very- annoying message. I'm rather fond of rockets of most kinds, and when you're up against a close circuit fight, its more or less unaviodable that you get some splash (ok, so I can take out CrippledPigeon's warthog ME in his new shiney queen-gun with jackhammers... but its HARD)

So really, can this be made so it doesn't abort when I hit myself?

I probably would have beaten Spider, but I didn't spot the hammers in time :). But yea, he was getting splashed by geminis, getting splashed by sunflares, I mean, he couldn't stop damaging himself, so the duels kept aborting.

I complained long ago about this, and it was never answered.
We usually don't try to rocket ram. I usually hit myself when I have planned a shot, and i am aiming to place it, but they accel towards me unnoticed because of the concentration on aiming to place a flare.

This is happening as a side effect of dying if you ram into an asteroid. People were complaining that doing so shouldn't count against them. I personally think that if they ram into an asteroid (or kill themselves other ways) they should lose the duel.
I am going to change it so that the duel will not be aborted if you damage yourself through any means.

I figure that if you damage yourself (or even kill yourself) in a duel, then you get everything that you deserve. Asteroids are obstacles for a reason. You not only have to pay attention to your target, but also to what's around you. If you smash into a roid because you weren't paying attention, then again, that's your problem. I've done it many times. This has taught me to see what's around me before I start the battle so I can figure out where exactly in that area I am, and where all the obstacles are. It's a part of the game.

just because there was the word "rocket" does not make Spider talking about roids.
btw. I recently lost a duel because I used concussion mines....
mines I say. not mining beams just to avoid someone to post about beams...

I think the point was that duels will not be aborted as a result of harming yourself, and that if you die before your opponent in a duel - regardless of how you came to be damaged - you lose.