Posted by: The Luke
You could also argue that you're bad if you're constantly challenging people when you know you're going to lose.
I don't think so. If you know you're going to lose, it's because you know your enemy has a big advantage over you. If they have a rocket launcher and you have a DMR, and knowing this, you jump out and start shooting at him, it doesn't make you bad; it makes you reckless ("ballsy").
Posted by: The Luke
Knowing when to dip out of a battle is an old strategy and people do it all the time. You aren't helping your team if you're dead. It's not a cowards way out. It's called using your brain.
Whether or not the retreat is cowardly depends on what the person who's retreating is thinking. If they're honestly trying to dip out because they know that dying will hurt their team, I guess it doesn't qualify as cowardly. But if a guy is trying to get away just because he knows he's being beaten by someone with no advantage except skill, then he's a coward. By definition.
You're right about people doing it all the time, though. But think about it: if you're constantly challenging random people in Reach who have no advantages over you (except maybe skill), and you're constantly having to run away, wouldn't that mean you're just bad? I have to run away sometimes, just not most of the time. That's the difference. If you're constantly having to run away from fair fights - you're just bad.