PvP is a very satisfying part of ED for me.
[role play mode ON]
My temperament leans me towards bounty hunting. If you're wanted you're fair game. Not too many human players in the part of space I hang in so PvP doesn't happen often.
Unless - I seek it out. In which case I travel to the systems that usually have human players there like Lave or Sol or Laeesti and since Powerplay came on line the faction capitals are turning out to be reasonable places to find CMDRs. I cruise around the system in my Cobra just toolin' along like a tourist until someone or another decides to jump me. I'll fight interdiction half heartedly (which makes me look like a rank amateur) and then submit. If the interdictor is an NPC I'll just beat feet the heck out of Dodge. I'm huntin' bear not rabbit and I see no sense in wasting ammo on an NPC.
How I react next depends on the the player's actions. If he's a pirate and a civil one I'll stop, gab a little, balk and then talk frightened and then run like a scared little girl. In a Cobra that can do 425 it's not hard to get away. But I'm not planning to get away. Once out of his firing range I deploy hard points, turn off all modules I don't need, load 3 pips each into eng and weps, turn of flight assist, flip over, apply forward thrust for a (I'm still moving away from the pirate chasing me) velocity of around 150 and then throttle all the way down (FA is still off). When the pirate gets within firing range I throttle up in reverse, turn flight assist back on and let loose. It doesn't take long to take down shields with two E1 Beam lasers on anything less than an Anaconda. 1st shield hit on my Cobra and a shield cell bank is fired off to keep those babies up as long as they can stay up. Oh and I've targeted the enemy ship's power distributor. Still flying backwards. Once his shields go down I rip 'im a new one with multicannons. At some point I'll hit the reverser button, throttle up and flip over trying to get on the guy's rear if I do great, if not and he turns on me I hit the reverse button still facing him, throttle up and fly backwards while he comes at me. I don't get to do this often. It works about 2/3 of the time. I'm no hero so when it doesn't work because I'm being out piloted or outgunned - well - then I do run like a scared little girl. You know what they say - sometimes retreat is the better part of valor and those that run away today live to fight another day.
If the pirate's being a (and he's role playing) I'll turn on 'im like a rabid dog - which in my experience with human's who interdict and their prey meekly submits is a complete surprise to them. Not always, though and I don't always win but so far I've only been killed by a human 3 times since I started playing ED. I've had to run away often enough that I've gotten pretty good at it (gotta love the Cobra's speed).
In general though I avoid human players - too unpredictable and some of them aren't role playing - they're using the anonymity of the internet to behave in ways they'd never act like face to face. They're being because it's safe. Those I just kill if I can and run like hell if I can't.
PvP is a part of Elite DANGEROUS. Space is dangerous. If you can't handle it then tend bar in a tavern or brothel, or be a corporate weenie selling tomatoes to a trader on a nice safe Coriolis station. Leave space to the rest of us.
[role play mode OFF]
UPDATE: I've now been killed by a human player 4 times. A guy flyin' a Fer de Lance did it: I was on my way out of HIP 493 I believe when I was intedicted. Saw Fer de Lance and hauled my rear end out of there. Tough ships and even tougher when flown by a human pilot. I got away. He followed me. Escaped at least 3 times, maybe 4 but he was dog determined to collect the 80K bounty I was carrying on my head - I hope that was it anyway. Finally got me to the point where I was hanging in space. Not a peep out of him. At 27% left and dead in space it was quiet as a mouse.
I couldn't tell whether he left or was watching to see what I'd do. I chose to self destruct.
To whoever it was that got me: Hell of a job - I never even got a shot at ya.
