this could take a lot of work, but I just thought I'd mention it...

...wouldn't it be nice to have the ability to agree on and set dueling parameters prior to a duel?

Think about it...

Now: Players 1 and 2 "agree" to not use missiles beforehand, but player 2 loads up on missiles before the duel anyways, forcing player 1 to fight by player 2's uneven rules, or forfeit.
OR: Players 1 and 2 "agree" to use only energy weapons, but player 1 equips rockets as well, which he/she suprises player 2 with, winning him/her an easy duel-rating boost.

With Predetermined Dueling Parameters™:
Players 1 and 2 agree to fight a PDP™ duel, and player 1 is given a menu in which he can check all weapons/equipment that will NOT be allowed in the duel. Player 2 then reviews the list and either agrees or declines. If player 2 agrees, then neither player will be able to purchase or equip any of the items on the NoVa list until either the duel is won, forfeited or called off*. (if any of the items are currently equipped, they will automatically be unequiped)

*it can be called off by either player prior to engagement, or consentually after engagement

this wouldn't coincide with the current dueling rules, and the current anything-goes duels would be unaffected by the addition of the PDP™ duel option.

...any thoughts?

EDIT: NoVa = No-goes if any of you are wondering...

it would be less trouble to just have the duel automatically award a win to the other player if one uses a weapon that was on the "do not use" list.

then the devs dont have to worry about special code to determine what can or cannot be equipped, only what is fired.

true, that would work well also, and give an added incentive to be straightforward about it.

You could do that, you could also do something similar to WoW's trading interface.

When you accept a duel, a window pops up showing you your opponent's layout of weapons, you can still decide to go with the duel, or you can decide to cancel.

if people are worried about the element of surprise, this could be a specialized duel command like:

/duel challenge "BLAH" check

As a corrolary I think it would be neat to actually create a new piece of equipment like the mineral scanner that had the ability to scan cargo and weapons on the target ship. A third party could scan both ships before the duel commenced to make sure it would be a fair fight.

The cargo scanner could also be used for a variety of other purposes.

i think a pie-rat has said something like this before or something similar /edit http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/10983 but it is a good idea and has many uses