The few times I've been saluted have been from guys that have killed me and I imagine that is usually the case for most we see on "all country" channel.
On one occasion I private text messaged him and we discussed the fight. I didn't mind it that he was the victor initiating with the . I took it as a compliment, and after private discussion, that's exactly what it was. Every once in a while I do something right in an engagement and it was nice to have the other guy acknowledge that. It was also reassuring that to find that I was, and hopefully still am, improving in this game's required skills...even if I did end up getting shot down in the end.
I would have liked to salute back on the main channel, but I still can't seem to figure out how, which is why I iended up texting him directly. Every time I attempt to send a to someone on the ALL channel nothing shows up in the text buffer. So forgive my ignorance, but as a sidenote, could someone explain to me how to do it so that the next time I get saluted by a killer, I may return the salute politely over the main channel so as not to appear rude?
But I consider it a compliment coming from someone who shot me down to be saluted by that person. By doing so I don't consider it to be that he's bragging, since I'm no hot stick AH superstar. He's telling me, and letting everybody else know that whatever the outcome might have been, it was a good fight.
As the vanquished, I'm not sure I would ever salute someone first, unless they really did something amazing to kill me, since they already know they got the best of me since I'm down and they're not. Sometimes I die stupid and am an easy kill, and other times I put up a fair fight, and other times I actually get the kill. But I let the guy that shoots me down . If he feels it was a pretty good fight and feels so inclined to salute me, then so-be-it. If not, I don't have any hard feelings over it.
I generally don't guys I kill because I usually get my kills when they never saw me coming against fighters, and only with determination and a good attack plan against bombers. So since to me it would be more likely to be considered rubbing their nose in the fact that I caught them napping, I leave it alone.
I've only been saluted once by someone I shot down, and it was a guy I nailed from a 5" aa gun on a cruiser from 3.5k out as he climbed out from his attack. I appreciated that salute too, because I've been practicing that 5" gun accuracy at longer ranges and it was nice to see that the practice was paying off. But I'm glad I didn't send the first from that 5" gun since it seems to be the general concensus that doing so is equivalent to bragging when the kill was gotten from the ground or ship or a GV.
-Hack
