Well if you are content with mediocrity(at best) I guess this is fine.. for you. No one who HO's as a matter of course on the merge will ever meet with regular success in the MA.
Allow me be more precise.
If a con continues to HO, extend(run), turn around and HO, rinse /repeat, that is OK. I will take my 50/50 chance. It is still better than the odds at the roulette table.
Yes, I am perfectly fine with mediocrity(at best) in the MA, in a cartoon airplane game. If I am not teh uberest at an online game, I can assure you with utmost certainty, that I will still sleep at night.
If I honestly felt like I had to calculate how good my "score" or "rank" was, land kills every sortie, land every plane, etc. I would seriously consider a visit to the therapist.
There are too many defective people that will HO, attempt to HO, or use HO as their only tactic. I can tell you that I am truly amazed when I am involved in, or see a face to face pass where someone does not go directly to guns.
This is usually in the MA.
You are absolutely correct, it may be lame, and I may be lazy. My ACM may suck. All of the above, then again, maybe not.
One could spend 85% of their online time trying to avoid HO's. That is the level of gameplay, in the MA for the majority.
This is why my MA score means nothing. The odds of getting vulched, HO'd, or being the victim of other gamey lameness are much greater. Mostly for the reasons that Waystin has defined I could buy it, but not sheer stupidity.
Believe me, I have tried to believe in and subscribe to some sort of cartoon code of honor. Never did I personally witness much in return.