What I'm about to type is not meant as an insult toward any type of player. But I'm sure some will take it that way. So, in advance, my apologies if it offends.
The idea of staying alive in a video game, means very little. Yes its great to get kills, and win the fight, but if this means spending most of the time avoiding fights, even one on one fights if the player feels he doesnt have a great advantage, to many is'nt fun. As someone who flies low and slow, and gets killed alot, my excuse for playing that way, is because I have little patience, and even less interest in flying around in this gamesight-seeing. Frankly, there aint much to see.
I would much rather throw myself into bad situations, and have some exciting moments, even if it leads to my demise, than to spend most of the flight climbing or extending. Thats my reason for playing how I play.
Now lets look at the reasons someone else would play only the survival above all else method.
SCORE- For some people to spend as much time playing a game, like most of us do, they want a reward for their efforts. Score can be that reward. Many percieve score/rank as the identifier of the best pilots. I would disagree there, but it means something to some.
REALISM- I save this for events where I have one life. I dont think it belongs in the MA where realism isnt a factor to begin with. P51s fighting P51s, anything goes. The only thing real in the MA is the design we were given to play with.
SKILL LEVEL- I hate to use the word skill when talking about a video game, but I'll use it for lack of a word that means to do well at something that isnt very important. (Easy now..)
There are alot of players in here who are good at fighting, from the begiining of the fight at altitude, all the way through if it gets slow, and requires better instinct at where to point your plane, when to chop throttle, and all the stuff required when it gets low and slow.
However, the majority of players are average, some below average. Many of these players realize they have limitations on what they can make a plane do in here. Some are quite open about it and say they use the best planes, or run when it starts to get slow because they know this. Many others...(steady) simply use the idea of "realism" as a mask to conceal the fact they dont do well when the advantage is'nt in their favor, or even if the advantage is a draw. These are often the ones who will also belittle the way many of us who don't care about surviving, fly.
So just to clear it up, if someone truly is disappointed in a player who gets in fights, dies,and re-ups, there are just as many who are disappointed in those that run and wait to pick someone they didnt want to fight when the odds were more even.
The world is full of disappointments, I'm just one of them.
There..that about covers it.
