Okay,

As a n00b, I'm going to state my opinion on this issue:

Set duels in s7 are cool, it's a controlled fight, and you know what's going on. You win or you loose, and usually, it ends there.

Here is what I'm sick of:

Some gold invades a red sector and then gets ticked when I help my red teammate. Now c'mon, s12 or s2 are red's sectors, and if I see a blue or gold in s2 or s12, they are dead, but because I suck, I'm gonna at least try to kill them. I am not going to read the last 100 lines of chat to see if somewhere an official duel was established. Most of the big Golds I have ignored now, so I'm not going to know any special arrangements unless I get sent a private message (cause the green text stands out while in flight...read my next post). So please, you superGolds, what am I allowed to do this week? Do I have to actually ask before I engage anybody?

Now, with my ranting out of the way, here was what I suggest:

Like in JKII, you can actually "DUEL" each other, where only the two duelers can inflict any damage on each other. This makes sense, so if I do start shooting a dueler, it wont matter, my shots wont hurt him, and their shots wont hurt me. However, I do realize that I guess you could have a dueling convoy where nobody could touch the two traders, so I guess the dueling idea has some flaws, but does anybody have a better idea?

The incident you mention involved a Marauder ship versus a Prometheus. The attacked Red in 12 didn't need the help, since the Prometheus ship is currently WAAAAAY too powerful than all the other ships. And so as this Marauder pilot ran from the scene, after being double teamed, the Prometheus pilot begins bragging about how l33t he is and whatnot. It was then and only then when the Marauder pilot stood up and explained to the n00b in the Prometheus ship what had happened and that someone had interfered. A duel was offered to prove true l33tn3ss, but was declined by the bragging party. Thus all bragging rights of this Red Prometheus jockey was revoked automatically. Case dismissed.

Actually, the prom would have the right of boasting - the guy ran, for whatever reason. Life isn't fair. Duels are nice entertainment, but a good and crafty pilot will engage in such fights that the odds are already in his favor. Yeah, it's great that UncleDave can take 5v1, but that's not for everyone.

I think the aces need to be more understanding of n00bs and bragging. It's great to see an attacker turn tail and run. Most times the ace-reply is something along these lines: "STFU n00b before I come and hunt you down so you beg for mercy." This isn't a n00b's ego problem, it's the ace's.

A duel is purely meant to test raw piloting skills. However, if the n00b sucks (like me), I/we'll attempt to level the playing field in other ways, so to speak.

BTW The Prom goes down easily. It's a big target, and any Centurion/Vulture/Valkyrie with half-good aim and a gauss cannon (or 2, or 3) can shred the Prom.

So what was the Maurader doing in 12? It's not "interference" like you call it, but teamwork. If I see a n00b in a special ship getting jumped by another special, I'm gonna go help him, especially if it's in our home sector. It's teamwork, if you wanna call it 'intereference' go ahead, but be ready for my interference!

I will not hesitate to shoot any gold or blue in s2 and s12 without warning.

SirCamps, you misread it. The guy in the MARAUDER ran due to double teaming interference. Had the Prometheus jockey never had bragged throughout the entire incident, the whole "protect and serve" argument would've held. Unfortunately that was most certainly not the case.

technocrat: Sadly, nobody heard your suggestion because you preceeded it with flamebait. Instead of discussing it, everyone wants to pick apart "the incident" after the fact and with 2nd-hand information.

Arolte, now I'm really confused!!!! Was it 2 Neutral vs 1 Serco or 2 Serco vs 1 Neutral?

i think we need to establish an out of the way sector as official dueling ground. somewhere were there's a very low chance of passing traffic. sector 7 is like grand central station for traders and it gets mighty confusing.

i'm thinking 16 might be a good location, as the bots stay close to the middle of the roid field and anybody who isn't dueling will obviously be engaging the frigate. its usually neutral territory, so it will be easily understood that anyone fighting is in an agreed upon duel. this also keeps people the hell away from any nation's home sectors by a good margin.

Maybe if there's enough clamor the devs can link a secret sector from 9 to 19. 19 can be a dueling sector, with rules similar to technocrat's suggestions.

1 neutral vs 2 serco

OK, I was right then. ^.^

Simple idea, set up a big glass box in a sector not linked, have the wormhole dump people intot he box, then set up a bot to /jump 2 people that ask to, they will be sent out side fo the box to dual.

Good idea, kinda like the green box we had in the "home" sector that linked to CTF and FFA, yet only have invulnerability on. :)