Fair play or Foul play?

An excellent write-up over at Eveoganda covered the topic of fairness in EVE.  His inspiration is from a post by Tobold in his blog.  I haven't followed the Tobold blog as he ventures into EvE after a lifetime of WoW but the whole debate he has created about how PvP in EvE is not fair is very interesting.  This may turn in to some sort of meme'ish deal so I figure I am going to jump on that horse and ride.

I feel that when looking at this discussion, I need to keep this simple phrase in mind:  Fair is not always Equal.

In PvP, each side is striving to tip the scales in their favor.  Some groups will rely and larger numbers.  Others will rely on tactics well beyond my caveman comprehension.  Everything these groups are doing is trying to set themselves up so they have the highest chance to win.  Is it fair?  You're damn right it is.  Is it equal?  Never.

If everything was equal, then nothing would get accomplished.  A 1v1 that has equal skilled pilots, equal equipped ships, equal computations of if their damage was landing, at what level it was landing, .... see where I'm going?  If everything was equal, the game would not work.

Is it fair that someone gets to choose how they play which some how negatively affects your play?  Yes, this is completely fair as they are playing how they like using the games ruleset.  This might not be equal as he/she may have all the tools they need to get it done while you only have half the tools to defend.  Complaining that their playstyle is not fair is basically you not coming to terms with your inadequacies to stop them.  Thus, it is not equal but it is fair.

I hope this rambling makes sense but don't lose sight of the main topic:  Fair is not always equal.