Noob

I was flying with some friends in EvE on Friday night through low security space when we got ganked by some more experienced players. They were flying large, powerful ships while we were in very basic gear. We didn't have any chance at all really, other than to escape (which I did, although my mates weren't so lucky).

In local chat afterwards the gankers were gloating about having killed the "noobs".

It's been a long time since I have been called a "noob" with any justification - the only time it ever happened to me in Warcraft was when I got my ass handed to me on my first foray into arena pvp. Perhaps this kind of aggressive smack talk is more prevalent in pvp games, I don't know.

It was a strange feeling, anyway. It took me straight back to the schoolyard to be honest. I wanted to shout at them "I'm not a noob! Honestly! I'm really good at video games! I completed Street Fighter 2 on difficulty 8 with no continues! I made my godson cry by beating him repeatedly at Mariocart! Whenever men gather together to play Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64 my name is spoken in hushed whispers!"

Ah, never mind. They'll keep. I've added them to my "friends" list (populated by actual friends, and evil gankers) so when I can fly something which is not held together with prayers and sellotape I'll repay the favour.