Lately I have noticed a bit of a polarizing of the player base among the traditional, honorable people who will give you a good twenty-seconds warning before attacking, and those who come out of nowhere and attack out of the blue.
While the former usually have messages such as "This is a combat hail, prepare to defend yourself!" the latter only ever say something once they've got the jump on you and knocked you down to half-life. Usually something simple like "die" in lower-caps.

What do you term to be acceptable behavior when PVPing? Is it frowned-upon to "gank" a player?

I always hail/chat before attacking (with a few rare exceptions where they had it coming). I PVP to have an enjoyable, challenging battle with an equal opponent. Attacking someone while they're not looking is nothing like that (although they are some people who get enjoyment out of this AKA griefers, who are the exception mentioned above).

Ganking a player also seems to sap some of the excitement out of a battle, although I make an exception with SCPs.

Also, I reserve the right to reject any unwanted fight. If they try to push the fight after a clear indication of my declining, I WILL play dirty.

Um...and is there a suggestion in there?

I'm a fan of the warning shot... the hail seems so contrived...

i have to say, the only one who caught me completely off guard was BUNNY.

and the award for best "I'm about to attack your ass" hail....

BUNNY's hail... "You." ... that's it. well done BUNNY, well done.

I always hail about 1k out, and wait for the guy to turn around before actually hitting him. That is, unless I don't like you, then even if you see me coming it won't save you...

I don't attack other players without compelling reasons (events, fights and such), and I usually shout 'Kurae!' over sector chat. If I did pick up pirating, I'd probably try to keep the element of surprise for as long as possible, i.e. not hailing, not firing a warning shot.

I yell "Die <yournamehere>!" over sector chat as soon as someone I will attack without consent enters the sector. The list of people I will attack without consent are pretty small and are constrained to:
1) ITAN members
2) SVwhat-ever-your-guild-name-is members
3) Itani that act like Itani
4) Lebermac, no matter WHAT guild he's in :D
5) Some disloyal Serco, depending on the situation
6) mr_spuck
7) Anyone in a behemoth
8) Dr. Lecter
9) Smittens, no matter what guild he's in
10) Anyone else I feel like

Ok, so maybe it isn't that short... :D Remember, those are the people I attack without consent, even they get fair warning, (except for spuck, who has me /ignored). I say it in sector chat and when I am within 3k of my target I hail and rush into combat.

-Calder

Most (but not all) folks that PvP in places like Sedina B-8, will ask you if you want to fight. They're there to PvP, hone their skills, etc. Other's may fly near, firing a "shot-across-the-bow" to let you know their intentions. Either are OK with me.

Some, however, will just start shooting unannounced. Seeing this is the same "etiquette" used by Unbots, I treat them as such.

Under certain circumstances (i.e. Border Skirmish, CtC, etc), all the above niceties go out the window.

What's wrong with ganking? It's an art not practiced well by most.

On the rare occasion that I will actually shoot people, I use the space-balls warning shot technique.
Works wonders.

/crosses his eyes

"I'm sorry sir, I'm doing my best!"

A**hole! :)

"Who let this a**hole in here?"
Hahaha Gav.

Oh, and I assume that I'm on pretty much everyone's "Shoot Leebs first and ask questions later" list.

Haha, that made me go rent it :)

Oh and Leebs, I actually just removed you from my "Shoot Leebs first and ask questions later" list. I needed room for Smittens. So now I guess its the "Shoot Smittens first and ask Leebs questions later" list.

If I'm playing as Martin, I normally hail first. If I'm playing as someone else...........well then it depends.

Pffft. One-upped my my commander?!? no... WAY! Hell, no one from [SYN] ever shoots me anymore. And I didn't even have the heart to kill tumblemonster when I found him in a moth last night. Am I getting..... soft?

/me goes to plot evil things to get back on Gav's KOS list.

it dont matter what you do cause if you can beat the person, you will beat them no matter what, and if you cant, hailing or not aint gonna make a difference.

I disagree. Having the advantage of surprise, however little it may be, can earn you victory, if perhaps you would not have been able to take down the enemy otherwise.

leebs : Am I getting..... soft?

join the club.

Why is "who? me?" commenting on pvp? Has he ever pvp'd?

You either want a fair and honest fight, or you don't. Few people want a fair and honest fight in the middle of ctc, bp, etc. Some only want a fair fight if they know they will win (cough...tumbl...), and will otherwise just kill you by any means (and then claim to have hailed, etc..), or run. You have to know who is who. There are some players that will be ganked by every other player in the sector on sight. Keep a list, make your list fit your own observations (not hearsay), and give others a chance to change.

I like the way "Will Roberts" put it:
"Some, however, will just start shooting unannounced. Seeing this is the same "etiquette" used by Unbots, I treat them as such."