Understand there is a huge difference in the guys who take shots at each other in fun and those who just act like idiots because they can.
Aha! You see, there's a third group of people - those who take shots at others and then claim the "I was just kidding" defense when they get owned by someone else, namely the fourth type of player: those who have a "don't mess with me and I won't mess with you" mentality, but will not hesitate to fight fire with fire when messed with.
And Doc I know you enough to know it does matter to you in how folks see you.
I doubt it. Even with my limited interactions with him, I know DrBone well enough to know what drives him. He's his own competitor, and he's always competing with himself to get better. Most people will never understand the endless self-driven endeavor of people like this, it's a persistence that simply won't die or go away.
Mess with someone like that, and they simply take that passion and aim it in your direction, partially because they think it's nice to have a change of pace, and partially because they enjoy seeing someone eat their words. And they won't let up until they're bored, because they don't care about things much to begin with.
People I admire ingame:
Kruel
TonyJoey
DrBone
GhostCDB