june true debates (1 Viewer)

[FallingPianos]

is there any interest in continuing the true debates? there wasnt enough interest for these to really work this month, so I was thinking of some possible changes:

1. not having the debates last a full month. this would allow new people to join every week or every two week to help keep the debates active.

2. by allowing people to choose whether they'd prefere to monitor or debate from the beginning. monitoring is a very important role, and some of them backed out or didnt participate this month, im guessing because their interest was in debating, not monitoring.

do you have any further suggestions?

***this is not an official post to enter into the debates. tec or a member of the mod team will do that if there is sufficient interest.

 

[jfuh]

Absolutely, but I think we need to restructure it into a specific set of guidlines and questions.

 

[Thorgasm]

I am not sure what we can do to improve the situation. Perhaps Mods can be assigned monitor positions since it doesn't seem like there is much interest in monitoring. I am willing to monitor though. Perhaps a prize could spark interest and a more competitive environment. I am not sure what is going on with Galen and Ivan but that one should have been killed, not extended. I don't think Ivan knew what he was getting into. Galen should have moved on.

I think that people should put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. Lot's of people here like to claim that they have "won" a debate but won't dare actually put it up to a vote. Let's see if we can get them to enter True Debates by challenging them.

I think if we give it some time it may grow. I think winners could wear it as a badge. If someone wants to really put you in your place then he can gain bragging rights if he beats you in a tourney. It also seems that people only want to argue the side that they believe in.

 

[FallingPianos]

I think winners could wear it as a badge. If someone wants to really put you in your place then he can gain bragging rights if he beats you in a tourney.

i think this is a really good idea. gives bragging rights, and advertises the true debates. I was thinking something along the lines of "True Debate Competitor" and "True Debate Winner".

 

[ngdawg]

The poll does not include a spectator choice. I wouldn't participate because I'm not a good debator on true political issues, but that doesn't mean I don't read what's here. Voting 'no' would give the false impression I'm not interested in the forum when that's not really the case.

 

[RealmOfThePureForms]

There should be a list of topics which can be used before the people selected for the debates even begins. That way people are able to choose the topics that they are passionate about. For instance the following list of subjects could be available for participants to choose from. Upon picking the subject(s) they would like to debate and listing them by preference first to last, they can be matched up with someone who wants to debate that topic from the other side thereby creating a debate between 2 people who are passionate about the subject they are debating.



A.Immigration/Amnesty -One person for it, one person against it debate.

B.Religion Taught In The School System- One person for it, one person against it debate

C.Evolution Taught In The School Sytem as Absolute Fact - One person for it, one person against it debate

D.The War In Iraq One person for it, one person against it debate

E.Islam A Violent Religion ? - One person for it, one person against it debate

F.Is There Alien Life In Our Universe - One person for it, one person against it debate

These are just some examples. Now each topic would be assigned a letter. For instance the above. Now I would look at those topic choices and list by order of preference which one I would be interested in debating for. After the number I would list "For" or "Against" for the side I would choose to debate. Either I am for immigration or against it. For alien life in our universe or against it. So my list would look something like this.


1. (A) Against
2. (F) For
3. (C) Against
4. (E) For


From this, any mod would know that I want to debate on the side of opposing immigration, believing their is other life in the universe, that evolution should not be taught as fact in schools, and that Islam is a religion of violence. The mods would know what subject I want to debate the most (Immigration) and the other topics that interest me. If nothing is on the list then I am just not interested in debating it.

This way the mods can match people with the things they truly want to debate. People don't come here just to argue with others. If you blindly put people into debates on random subjects everyone will get bored fast. People want to debate the things they are passionate about.

 

[talloulou]

Also I think the voting time has to be longer. For my debate the voting was only open 1 day and it was on a weekend. I bet many people don't even go online over the weekend. Just my two cents.

 

[Thorgasm]

I also have a concern with competitors in the debates also turning the "comments" threads into secondary debates. It can give an unfair advantage to a competitor by the people who are judging/voting. For this to be a "True Debate" competitors shouldn't have to worry about the debate being in two different places.

In addition to the integrity of the debate, it seems that a competitor could hijack the comments thread and it no longer is a comments thread. It seems like people stop participating in the comments thread when this happens. It might be a good idea to block the competitors from being able to see their debate comments thread. That way they don't get any pointers from the comments. Just a thought.:mrgreen:

 

[tecoyah]

These are all excellent Ideas.....and if indeed the interest is there, we will start a new round taking much of this into consideration, and incorporating as many suggestions as we can. The key here is to understand the experimantal nature of this concept, and that it will evolve into whatever we think it should be, We being all of us.
I really like the Idea of topic listings, and member sign up based on this, as I believe it will make for more intense conversation on a subject. I admit the first round was less than Ideal, and in fact flopped pretty bad(though participants did step up to the plate for the most part)....My fault and I apologize.
It seems I took on more than I was capable of organizing, and rushed the Idea into fruition. There are now others involved which should make the debates a smoother flowing contest, as I simply did not have the time to do this as well as it deserves.
If the Moderators decide to Monitor debates, I feel this concept would be vastly improved by the participation.....But we shall see.

 

[Schweddy]

I really like the idea of topical sign up.

Badges would also be an excellent addition.

Added a new poll option about not participating, but having interest in the debates to continue.

Finally, I believe a singular monitor could do more than 1 debate.

 

[Ivan The Terrible]

Hell yeah. But I want to be a monitor.

 

[FallingPianos]

There should be a list of topics which can be used before the people selected for the debates even begins. That way people are able to choose the topics that they are passionate about.

I think this is a really good idea. it would also mean that the participants are more likely to know what their talking about, which would improve the quality of the debates.

 

[FallingPianos]

Badges would also be an excellent addition.

I would do it for may's debates as soon as they are over, unless any of the participants have any objections. it would be a great way to spark interest.

Finally, I believe a singular monitor could do more than 1 debate.

true, but I think that anyone who would prefere to be a monitor should be given that role. the more people get to do what they want, the better the participation will be.

 

[128shot]

I'd be glad to do it. I think they should be held in the chatroom too.