This would only work for the dead player, but...

How about an animation that shows the players ship being struck with the final blow, losing flight control and slowly disintegrating until all thats left is the hapless pilot flailing helplessly as the air is sucked from their lungs.

Yes. I know I'm sick. But putting a variety of these in to mask the regeneration lag would be hilarious.

Or even have the screen flash that reads: "You have been pwned by <Orun Collector>"

Or maybe
A young cowboy named Billy Joe grew restless on the farm
A boy filled with wonderlust who really meant no harm
He changed his clothes and shined his boots
And combed his dark hair down
And his mother cried as he walked out

[Chorus]
Don't take your guns to town son
Leave your guns at home Bill
Don't take your guns to town

Or Or Or! The sound and image of Pacman dying.

I wonder if a plugin could be made to display stuff like this?

/facepalm

Well, I know of at least one person whose agonizing death animation I'd like to watch.

You seem to have a lot of time on your hands...

Nah Tosh, its just a lifetime of practice. This sort of thing comes easy.

I'm not criticizing them, mind you. I'm just astonished at them.

I was suggesting something along the lines of Unreal Tournament or Mortal Kombat.

If you win a fight without taking any damage, you get a "FLAWLESS VICTORY" message. If you kill 10 in a row without dying, you get a "<playername> is Unstoppable!" or if you kill two ships with one flare, you get a "Double Kill!" or "Ultra-Kill! for 3 or more"

The animations would be interesting, but perhaps just some message text would be appropriate:

** You Have Died. **
You score is a 42 out of a possible 350.
This gives you the rank of "Junior Adventurer."
Would you like to respawn [R], load a new game [L], or quit [Q]?

I like the idea of the flailing pilot floating in space. After which, a bot could enter the sector with a dustpan and a pushbroom and sweep the pilot into the pan, and then scurry out of sector.
When the bot warps out, the pilot magically appears in station. If the bot is boomed, the pilot will magically appear in station. It could even sweep up the stuff you dropped. Unless of course you enemies pick it up or bang the bot. Bot banging will be frowned upon.

Bot banging will be frowned upon.

I won't say anything, please just supply your own one-liner.

my one liner's are distracting enough. If I don't pad them with pseudo-serious discussion, people might actually read them.