Originally posted by SlapShot
So, to say the prescence of good fighter rank is an indication of someone who doesn't really fight is ludicrous for the most part, with the notable exceptions mentioned above of course....
Not so sure I agree with that.
Looking at the top 50 this morning, I would say that the only ones that I consider to be "real" fighters are ...
kappa
Fester
Greebo
WingZeRo
Soulyss
aka
Steve
that is 7 out of 50 ... I see some names that are decent fighters, but I also see a lot of names in that list who couldn't find their arse with both hands when it comes to dogfighting, along with alot of names that I never even heard of.
There's some excellent pilots in the top 50, maybe a dozen. The rest are cannon fodder 1v1.
However, some of those dozen have been flying late-war fighters to a large extent (262, Tempest and so on).
I have never based my opinion of a pilot's ability upon scoring. I base my opinion of a pilot's ability on how they do 1v1 against me. That is a benchmark that means something to me.
Clobbering noobs while in a Tempest means nothing to me. Vulching in a Niki means nothing to me. The arenas are chock full of kids with no skills whatsoever. Most noobs spend less than an hour in the TA before they head off to the MAs. Stevie Wonder could run up an impressive score against these guys.
Win the KOTH, win the dueling ladder, that has some meaning. You had to fight and defeat some really capable pilots in these events.
Something else that cracks me up... Whining about having to take a ditch with several kills. "Dammit, I lost those kills 'cause I ran out of gas!"
They didn't lose the kills...They're just unhappy because their name isn't splashed across the text buffer and their egos were not assuaged.
This is why many don't like to duel in the Training Arena. No kills are recorded, no mention of their skill appears in text buffer (or anywhere else). I guess some people need that positive reinforcement... Some don't. I gravitate to those that don't, because they are more interested in having fun, rather than gnashing teeth over scores.
My regards,
Widewing