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| Thread: The OSM Debaters' Guild |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 · NEXT» |
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mvassilev
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posted February 03, 2009 03:09 AM |
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The OSM Debaters' Guild
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - misattributed to Voltaire.
So, it has finally arrived - the OSM's Debaters' Guild. The way it will work is as follows: a poster will suggest a (serious) debate topic. Then, the debate will start (in a different thread), and people will sign up for one of the sides of the debate. The judge(s) will moderate the debate to make sure it stays on-topic and to prevent quote wars and personal attacks. Then, after a certain number of arguments from both sides, the judge(s) will end the debate, and perhaps discuss it. Then, each judge will give a point to whoever he/she thinks is the winning team, a point to the best debater on the winning team, and a point to the best debater on the losing team.
Judges
Father
Contestants - Points
mvassilev - 2
vahleeb - 1
Angelito - 1
del_diablo - 1
antipaladin - 0
william - 0
JollyJoker - 0
Asheera - 0
TheDeath - 0
baklava - 0
Debate topics - winning side
World Currency - for
Now Needed: A banner/logo for the Guild, judges, debate topics, contestants.
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Eccentric Opinion
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mvassilev
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posted February 03, 2009 03:33 AM |
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Quote:
So when people pick a topic to discuss does it go to create a new thread or go into one already made?
That's up for discussion. It won't take another thread over, but the two options are either creating a new thread or holding the debate in this one.
Quote:
I would suggest you have a Mod ready to go and clean up.
Perhaps we should have point penalties for unruly members. That's also up for discussion.
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Eccentric Opinion
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JollyJoker
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posted February 03, 2009 07:46 AM |
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Yeah, fine, let's go back to school and make every serious topic an exercise in rhetorics and give points for the technically correct use of rhetoric elements.
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antipaladin
Promising
Legendary Hero
of Ooohs and Aaahs
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posted February 03, 2009 10:55 AM |
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i would like to participate if i may.
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types in obscure english
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Doomforge
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Retired Hero
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posted February 03, 2009 11:25 AM |
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Actually, a big topic where you take the discussion on any semantics you find controversial would be a blessing. Both for members who enjoy talking bout them, mods and users who don't give a...
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We reached to the stars and everything is now ours
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JollyJoker
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posted February 03, 2009 11:55 AM |
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Yeah, right. Let's reduce the OSM to Tavern status and transfer the more serious things and issues into the Debaters' Guild where we can make them an exercise in rhetorics and award the more skilled debaters with bonus points.
I can see the posts already in the original threads. Someone will post something, another poster will quote a sentence and post a contradictory or simply different opinion and then the next one will demand to transfer the discussions into the Debaters' Guild, since discussion will be against the spirit the topic was made of.
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Doomforge
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posted February 03, 2009 12:02 PM |
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Not the opinion. I meant that the whole semantics discussion is in fact a different topic and should have one of its own instead of being scattered across every possible topic.
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We reached to the stars and everything is now ours
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Lexxan
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Unimpressed by your logic
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posted February 03, 2009 12:06 PM |
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I thikn the idea itself is good, but I also think that this thread will fade swiftly and the Quote Wars will soon recommence. Remember what happened to "TheDeath, I challenge you!" and "the Universal Off-topic thread"?
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Coincidence? I think not!!!!
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Doomforge
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posted February 03, 2009 12:09 PM |
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In a place meant for quote wars, quote wars are no longer scary.
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We reached to the stars and everything is now ours
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mvassilev
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Undefeatable Hero
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posted February 03, 2009 02:35 PM |
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Anti:
Okay, I signed you up.
JJ:
If you don't like it, then don't participate.Quote:
Someone will post something, another poster will quote a sentence and post a contradictory or simply different opinion and then the next one will demand to transfer the discussions into the Debaters' Guild, since discussion will be against the spirit the topic was made of.
And what, exactly, is wrong with that? Not everyone likes to read the debates. Perhaps we should just keep them in here. And just because we have the Guild doesn't mean we can't have informal debates elsewhere.
Lexxan:
That's what the judges are for. TA wasn't active enough to keep order, and there weren't enough rules, so it just went on and on and deteriorated.
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Eccentric Opinion
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JollyJoker
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posted February 03, 2009 02:59 PM |
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Quote:
JJ:
If you don't like it, then don't participate.Quote:
Someone will post something, another poster will quote a sentence and post a contradictory or simply different opinion and then the next one will demand to transfer the discussions into the Debaters' Guild, since discussion will be against the spirit the topic was made of.
And what, exactly, is wrong with that? Not everyone likes to read the debates. Perhaps we should just keep them in here. And just because we have the Guild doesn't mean we can't have informal debates elsewhere.
If someone doesn't like the debates they don't need to read it.
Handling simple discussion as if they were something to frown upon and further devaluate their content by exiling them into a debaters guild is certainly the wrong step. I can make a point for everything, and THAT is what a debaters guild is for: that you debate for debating's sake. That means, the fun is the debating, not the issue.
A debaters guild would mean that you'd debate for example communism and just for the heck of it YOU would argue pro communism and Death would argue liberal capitalism. For the sake of ARGUING.
But exiling all discussion into it is plain nonsense.
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mvassilev
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posted February 03, 2009 03:04 PM |
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True, if someone doesn't like debates, they don't need to read it. But the thing I've noticed with debates is once they start, the regular discussion in the thread seems to wither.
Quote:
A debaters guild would mean that you'd debate for example communism and just for the heck of it YOU would argue pro communism and Death would argue liberal capitalism. For the sake of ARGUING.
No. I encourage people to argue based on what they agree with.
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Eccentric Opinion
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Lord_Woock
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posted February 03, 2009 03:19 PM |
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I for one don't see what's wrong in someone playing devil's advocate every now and then.
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Yolk and God bless.
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My buddy's doing a webcomic and would certainly appreciate it if you checked it out!
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mvassilev
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posted February 03, 2009 03:21 PM |
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There's been too much of that already.
Anyway, we need a logo/banner, judges, a topic, and more participants!
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Eccentric Opinion
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JollyJoker
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posted February 03, 2009 03:27 PM |
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Quote:
No. I encourage people to argue based on what they agree with.
Yeah. And in that case it means that ARGUING which in this case means having a closer look at the REASONS someone has a specific opinion, is exiled into a specfic thread.
It's like discussing for example death penalty.
You have a starting post, for example, someone is quoting an actual case of an especially gruesome crime, and expresses agreement with the death penalty.
The next posters would express either their agreement or disagreement, after a time the debate would become a bit more general, and as soon as it went into an actual discussion of the pros and cons of death penalty it would be outsourced, since people now cannot simply state their opinion anymore without having to suffer more than 3-liners that come with a quote or two.
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Lord_Woock
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posted February 03, 2009 03:28 PM |
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Okay, another question: why exclusively serious topics? A "lollipops vs cotton candy" debate would be awesome.
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Yolk and God bless.
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My buddy's doing a webcomic and would certainly appreciate it if you checked it out!
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angelito
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proud father of a princess
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posted February 03, 2009 04:09 PM |
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Quote:
Okay, another question: why exclusively serious topics? A "lollipops vs cotton candy" debate would be awesome.
Because this is what the wastelands are for 
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Better judged by 12 than carried by 6.
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pandora
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posted February 03, 2009 04:27 PM |
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JJ - unless I am the one in the wrong, I think you are reading too much into this.
Discussions, debates - even arguments will happen as they will in the OSM , however if a topic inspires someone to get down to a serious side vs side debate on an issue - that would happen elsewhere.
Personally I would sooner see new threads appear than have the debating all happen here, if too many erupt at once it could be needlessly painful reading.
Naturally the point of this is not to say that any time two people have a difference opinion they must run over here to settle it before they can come out and talk to the rest of the participants.
But the verbal tennis match seems to be a method of communicating that some people here really like, and debating is a great way to broaden your mind.
I personally think that debating sillier things (in a serious manner) could be quite entertaining - how about MightyMage vs Shadowcaster - who would win?  (Shadowcaster of course, mad stealth skills)
In any case, I don't believe that the intention of this thread is to take anything away from what posters in the OSM have now - the idea is to add something new.
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"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
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JollyJoker
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posted February 03, 2009 04:39 PM |
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Yes, that's what I said as well. A Debater's Guild should be something where you debate for the sake of debating, not for the sake of the issue, probably with the exception of very specific debates - however, if you do exile certain debates it will add additional work, since there will have to be decisions made as soon as someone complains about a discussion getting to "discussive".
Not to mention that I'm not in school anymore and don't want to be "judged" in a serious debate when the issue is the issue.
In a debate for debate's sake, no problem.
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pandora
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The Chosen One
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posted February 03, 2009 04:54 PM |
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Well, I think that extra work is unavoidable - but it's worth it if this can somehow make the OSM more appealing to members that were previously staying away. (also, let's home that the bulk of the work lands right on Mvass' shoulders
In any case, I hope that this will help some people with an insatiable lust for debating find an outlet and be happy, as well as giving those who are tired of reading the debates a reprieve from seeing them arise in every thread.
I am interested in hearing about the 'judging' idea. I didn't actually think on it so much as a competition type of thing, but I'll wait and see what happens as the rest of you do
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