Welcome to EVE online in 2012 where we give out ship recommendations based on "engageability" and claim proper use of strong ships that enable you to take on more challenging targets get you spoonfed. Since a real challenge is myth!
The fact that some people are reluctant to fight you usually have very little to do with the ship you fly and the fitting you use, or the concept you fly in a gang and how that gang is composed. The reason people are reluctant to fight you is a percieved level of competence. Most reservations and smack you see drifting around (wether it's ships, ship-roles or ship-use) are usually just poorly masked scape-bleats.
I know i've said it before: try making a new character and see how eager people are to shoot you when your dob says 2012, your corp history is blank and no one knows your name. Even in a "strong" ship. It's why our behaviour involve creating disposable alts as well, or why many nomadic groups are nomadic (they aim to tap into the first few days of unfamiliarity when a region still underestimate you, and take fights). It works, but is such a modus operandi healthy?
It's really an absurd reverse culture (born and bred in the age of dwindling up-engagement, where players and corps seek to make themselves look worse than they are to appeal to an inferior target pool - because they can't or won't up-engage and take on proper challenges, challenges suitable for their actual level of gameplay) and while "engageability" is amusing in itself (amusing yet not invalid), it becomes absurd when that is the approach taught to newer players.
If we don't teach our new players to take risks and challenges, what behaviour do we breed long term?
Gone are the days when we suggest pilots make themselves as good as possible; since if they are new, they will get fights anyway and will extend their target pool to take on tougher challenges. No, we preach "aim small, miss small" and try to goad weaker opponents into fights and keeping a moral high. Then us older players pat ourselves on the back, they didn't fight our Ferox or Brutix despite their awesome Myrms and Drakes, nevermind the 80m SP difference and 8 years of experience. We won despite the fact that they had EW while we honourably refused it. Call them homosexuals and blobs when you lose. You don't dabble in risk-adversity like those ... others.
If people don't want to get spoon-fed they should go for a real challenge and try to up-engage more - not settle for the small fry that are too pansy to fight a Myrm.
Spoonfed, backwards...