It depends on the situation.
If it's a straightforward no-frills merge, even if we've been fighting a while I'll avoid him - I may still be distinctly mediocre but I've learned enough to know he's giving me an advantage by trying to HO when he should be thinking about where he's going to be and what he's going to do after the merge, and I'll be giving HIM one if I'm the one trying the HO. I figure I can avoid at least 80% of those and that's a lot better chance than I have playing chicken (but then, I'm not Ben Affleck).
If we're maneuvering hard and I see I will have a very fleeting shot, altering my maneuver to evade will put me in a worse position, and the maneuver I'm in will pull me off him long before we collide, I'll take it even though it's low percentage. I'm not going to put myself in a worse position just because some guy thinks a HO is dishonorable. But usually those HOs can still be avoided and I'll try that if it looks practical.
If I think I have a much better shot than he has, I'll take it. If I'm going to be around on him a full second before he's around on me, heck yeah, I'll take the shot. Technically a HO because he's facing more or less at me and our flight paths will intersect if no one turns, but I know I can hit him (even I don't miss a shot like that very often), kill him, and evade the wreckage, so why not take it?
Just tonight I roped a guy and didn't have quite as much e as I should have, started turning over the top while he was still facing up, but he was shooting and I could see he was wobbling and a split second from stalling and there was no way he had enough control to get his guns on me. So I pulled on over, pointed straight down at him, blew his wing off as he was stalling, and flew past him on the way down. Again, technically a HO, but I knew he almost certainly couldn't hit me or ram me, so why not take it?
If I'm in a Jug and in front of a Lanc, damn straight I'll HO him. I have 8 .50s to his 2 .303s (if I approach from low), he has a glass nose, I'm probably above my base in case he hits my radiator, and he won't be maneuvering so I know I can avoid ramming him. It's a decent percentage shot, take it.
If it's one giant 30-plane furball and I don't think he sees me I'll take it, but just a quick burst and pull off quick (the opposite direction of his thrust vector, if possible) to avoid the ram without waiting to see if I kill him. In a fight like that, you take any shot that comes to you. I'm not going to be reengaging that guy after the merge regardless, we'll both have other worries long before that happens. If I hit him, what the heck, I may get a kill 5 minutes later when his wounded pilot crashes or his oil runs out. If not, I've lost nothing.
The point is that the reason a HO is considered lame is because it's just a roll of the dice and the odds are high neither of you will survive it. If for whatever reason that's not the case and you have a much better shot and a relatively low risk of colliding or being shot, even if you are or will shortly be more or less facing each other, I don't see why there's anything wrong with taking it. There's no 11th Commandment pasted under my gunsight saying "Thou shalt not shoot anyone in the schnoz." And if he whines about it, whatever. Sure, sometimes you'll miscalculate. So what? There's always *some* luck involved.
That's me, anyway. YMMV
