Well, we as a world are caught up in two extreme opposite ends of getting together - there's the whole old-school notion of romance, complete with gentlemanly conduct and women being swept off their feet, but you've also got the party scene where people are so much quicker to hook up and form relationships based off of one night of fun.
It's important to try to gauge what the person you're interested in is all about in that regard. I try to do this and then think about how I'd want to be courted if I were her. If she's at the bar every weekend then she's going to warrant a completely different approach than a homebody-type girl, who likely would enjoy a long, gradual courtship. So as a guy you're always looking at how she is and interpreting that to put yourself in the best possible position for being with her.
So her social behavior is one thing, but the other biggie is past history. A girl who's been in abusive relationships for example is with all likelihood going to be somewhat insecure. Because of this, I know from experience that she will probably not respond well to traditional, romantic courtship. She will doubt it, mistrust it, and mistake it for neediness/desperation, not believing that she deserves to be treated well just because I like her. And the problem with the proliferation of the party scene is that it makes this sort of reaction very common, whether or not she's had bad experiences. So guys then erroneously think they have to be assholes to make it happen, when you just need to be right for her, and be able to strike the right balance with everything in your interactions with her.
Along with the adaptation of myself to her to a certain degree, I try to take a middle of the road stance when it comes to actual seduction. I'll be a little vain and make her wonder if I mean it. I'll give her a hard time because her hair's not great that day. Once in a while I'll throw in a significant flirt, to let her know that I've got balls and that I'm not afraid to go for what I want. But above all I'll try to keep her laughing with things that I feel she might be interested in, and it could be as banal as our high-pitched waiter or some really shitty show on TV. That human connection and level of familiarity has to be there. And like I said above, as a guy it's important to get the right balance of evasion versus interest. She has to feel like she's being given space, but also that I've tested her to my own satisfaction - that I genuinely like her for who she is and that I'm not just doing this because she's female and available. Getting this right without making her feel under any pressure is what it's about for me.
Standards are important to both parties but I do try to always put myself in the position of chooser. Call me chauvenistic, but I've never quite been able to get the caveman image out of my head - you know the one, where he drubs his woman over the head and drags her back to his cave.
So I'm no No_Strings, but definitely no wham-bam-thank-you-maam either. It's like with politics - it's just safer to be somewhere in the middle.