RULE #1: THIS IS A GAME
As such I play to have fun. Otherwise I could be doing something else that I enjoy, like spending time with my family, riding my motorcycle, or a million other things. Anytime that I've started to take Eve as something other than a game, is time that I've regretted.
Now, this doesn't mean that I don't take Eve seriously. I think this is the part that some people have a problem with. Eve can be both a game and something taken seriously at the same time. I want to do well and excel at Eve, but I don't let that desire get in the way of having fun. Which means I sometimes get bored and do stupid, but fun!, things. Which sometimes end up getting me kilt, but also allow me to do, see and experience so many things I wouldn't otherwise have gotten to do, see and experience.
RULE #2: IF YOU SHOOT ME I WILL SHOOT BACK
I don't go around shooting everyone that I encounter, I'm not a Pirate (not full-time anyway) and I usually only shoot people for a reason. Having said that, if you shoot me I will shoot you back. 3 out of 4 times I will kill you. Those are odds I can live with.
As much as I despise people that run from a fight, there are nuances involved. I despise dying for no good reason even more than being a coward, so often "running away" can be a relative thing. Only an idiot stands and fights when the odds are hopeless, this isn't an action hero movie you won't be rewarded for being brave. (See Rule #1) Sometimes it is better to live to fight on the other side of the gate, or at a Planet when someone follows you, or when the odds are slightly better, or whatever. As General Patton said once when asked why he was retreating, "We're not retreating, we're advancing in a different direction."
RULE #3: HONOR
When I am actively playing the game I am focused on playing the game. I prefer to play the game with honor. At least my character's idea of honor. For example, if I destroy someone's ship in low-sec I don't believe in podding the pilot. Unless we are at war with his Corporation, or we are in zero space, then podding is mandatory. Otherwise not so much, not a big fan of podding honestly, if you check my killboard you'll see that. I don't even like to whore on pod kill mails.
Believe me, I could easily have hundreds of additional "kills" on my KB if I believed in kmwhoring.
I NEVER talk to anyone in local, convo, chat, or anything else when we are fighting. Nothing positive ever comes out of talking to the enemy, in fact, it can be very negative. This also goes for ransom demands, I will never answer that convo. BANE tried that on me just last week and I rejected it and I reject the attempt. Ransom is an insult. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't ransom someone else, that is a different story.
My word is my bond. If I give someone my word, then you can be sure I will follow through. Without honor a man has nothing and the same is true in-game. I've never lied to anyone in Eve on purpose. That won't change.
That's it. Just three basic rules, everything else is covered really. Eve is very situational, things are different in high-sec, or low-sec, or in zero space, that is the way the game is set-up. So the rules are different as well, are we at war? Are we missioning? What I am doing affects how I view the game. I hate Pirates when I am mining, but I love bush-wacking Hulks in zero space.
And really, isn't that the fun of it all?