Debate Hall Activity Initiative

[Crimson King]

Well, I see it a lot. Everyone feels the need to claim the DH is dying from lack of activity. While I disagree, I do champion that if the room is dead, it's because of everyone not actively posting enough. So, I am instituting a contest of sorts. Starting August 1st until August 31st, the DH is holding a period where everyone will be awarded points for posts. The person with the most points will net a custom title and a post proclaiming their excellence. The winner will also become a "moderator" of the PG for a month. I say "moderator" because they will have no real powers, BUT if they decide to warn, close, or anything, they will PM us to get the actions done. Their real purpose is to impress the PG. Since the winner will care enough about the DH to post this much, they will be allowed to do whatever they want, within reason, to make the PG more active, better educated, and more prepared.

To enter, simply create a topic from August 1st - 31st with "DHAI" as a prefix before your topic's title. Then, every post you make, whether in the DH proper or the PG, will be counted towards your total. Only QUALITY posts will be counted for this, so one-liners, spam, etc. will be a waste of your time and net you infractions.

I will work on a rubric soon, but the topic will be worth one point, however, I will have in-contest achievements worth more points, as well as points for other things. There will be only one winner, so if you want the custom title, work harder.

Thoughts?

Rubric - There will be 5 categories worth 2 points each. 0 points means you failed that category. 1 point means you were adequate (think typical post in Proom or something), and 2 points means you were great on this category.

Clarity - Is your stance clear and concise? Can anyone who knows nothing of this topic jump in?

Logic - Does your argument have a logical basis? Is it easily defeated within one post?

Sources - Do you back-up your assertions with opinions or credible sources? Can these sources be verified as unbiased?

Spelling/Grammar - Did you spell correctly? Did you use proper grammar in establishing your argument?

Your side - This subject is deeper than the rest. Essentially, do you become biased in showing only one side of an argument, and either ignoring the opposing side, or not fully addressing it? An important aspect to a good debate is rebuttals. If you cannot respond to every bit of negative advice, then you are going to fail as a debater.

Participants:

1. Miggz - http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=243360
2. Riddle - http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=243416

Currently, Miggz is the only debater who will begin accruing points. Tomorrow, and every Sunday during the contest, we will post the points for all participants, as well as their topics.

 

[Zero Beat]

I'd say it's an interesting idea and the newcomers arrived just in time. Not only will this eliminate inactivity, but demand utmost perseverance towards getting the custom title and the respect of your fellow members.

Now, you mentioned custom title. Just to verify, this would be a title strictly of their choice I assume.

 

[Evil Eye]

This topic is EE-approved.

 

[Riddle]

So wait, you get points for every post you make, and the person with the most posts gets a custom title?

 

[Crimson King]

Yes.

I'll post a rubric this weekend after getting a plan with EE/Zero for how we'll grade the posts.

 

[Riddle]

I don't want to seem rude, but I don't think this is a particularly good idea. All I think that this is rewarding is people who want the title/privileges badly enough and have the least amount of other commitments. I, for one, have a limit on the time I can use on the computer(2 hours) and so could never, even if I posted as much as possible, win this competition. There are simply people who have much more time than me to post. Thus, I have no incentive to even try to do this. I'm sure other people have committments with work/whatever that will also stop people from doing this.

However, if you made it based on eloquence/intelligence of posts or something wuality based rather than quantity based you could make it possible for everyone to win, and would get a lot more activity from it. Also, why only one winner? I for one am discouraged by this as I know I have no chance of winning. What is the harm of having multiple winners, but differentiating between first and multiple runners-up.

Everyhing in the Debate Hall must be a debate!

 

[Crimson King]

I don't want to seem rude, but I don't think this is a particularly good idea. All I think that this is rewarding is people who want the title/privileges badly enough and have the least amount of other commitments. I, for one, have a limit on the time I can use on the computer(2 hours) and so could never, even if I posted as much as possible, win this competition. There are simply people who have much more time than me to post. Thus, I have no incentive to even try to do this. I'm sure other people have committments with work/whatever that will also stop people from doing this.

However, if you made it based on eloquence/intelligence of posts or something wuality based rather than quantity based you could make it possible for everyone to win, and would get a lot more activity from it. Also, why only one winner? I for one am discouraged by this as I know I have no chance of winning. What is the harm of having multiple winners, but differentiating between first and multiple runners-up.

Everyhing in the Debate Hall must be a debate!

If you post, just to post, you won't get any points. Each post will have the ability to go up to 10 points per post, which Zero, EE, and I will judge (We'll probably recruit some non-participants to give it a go too). Also, there are achievements. If you do a secret set of criteria (nothing, ridiculously hard), you will get bonus points. All this is intended is to show how easy it is to get this room active.

 

[Riddle]

Do you honestly think anyone that can only post for around an hour and 45 minutes a day has any chance of winning this though? Just wondering.

 

[Nysyarc]

Oh okay, thank for that elaboration CK, I was going to (sort of) agree with Riddle. I didn't realize posts could count for more than a single point. And bonus hidden achievements? That's awesome, I'm gonna have to step it up in here.

That's a great idea because it judges quality and quantity but quality more so. I mean, one person could make nine posts with very basic and unsupported arguments while someone with a single post full of insight, relevant content and solid arguments could overtake that frequent poster. I like this, I like it a lot.

 

[Mewter]

This is great! The more that people post, the more of an avalanche effect it will have on every one else! I also like the way the system is set up: quality over quantity!

I'll start posting as a devil's advocate more often to stimulate more debate. This is going to be fun.

 

[Crimson King]

If this works well enough, we may do it more than once, and add it to the PG. Time will tell.

Also, I am trying to decide if we should do a running total of posts/points or wait until the end. At the very least, the achievement bonuses will be added later, though I will tell you all the total number of points available.

 

[Deleted member]

I don't want to seem rude, but I don't think this is a particularly good idea. All I think that this is rewarding is people who want the title/privileges badly enough and have the least amount of other commitments. I, for one, have a limit on the time I can use on the computer(2 hours) and so could never, even if I posted as much as possible, win this competition. There are simply people who have much more time than me to post. Thus, I have no incentive to even try to do this. I'm sure other people have committments with work/whatever that will also stop people from doing this.

However, if you made it based on eloquence/intelligence of posts or something wuality based rather than quantity based you could make it possible for everyone to win, and would get a lot more activity from it. Also, why only one winner? I for one am discouraged by this as I know I have no chance of winning. What is the harm of having multiple winners, but differentiating between first and multiple runners-up.

Everyhing in the Debate Hall must be a debate!

This is a capitalist society broheim. People who want to win will do so. That means if you can't handle the effort, the time commitment, the post quota - then don't bother. It's like trying to get the high score in a popular video game - there will always be someone who has too much time to try and win. But that's competition. If you can't hack it, you can't hack it.

 

[Evil Eye]

^ That.



Plus that kind of complaint 100% circumvents the fact that the point of this contest is to encourage people to be active and engage in more discussion, not to encourage people to try to win a contest. The former is an objective, and the latter is just the means to an end. If you can't see the value in at least encouraging those who do have time for it, I don't know what to tell you. Other than that you'll have loads more debates to take a peek at.

 

[Faithkeeper]

Does one have to create a topic with the "DHAI" prefix to be eligible for the bonus achievements?


OFF-TOPIC EDIT: What ever happened to the postbit thing?

 

[aeghrur]

I'm kind of upset that there's so much inactivity that we must resort to bribery...
What's the problem here? Bad topics?
This seems interesting, but I think it also makes everyone look shallow, like we're debating not for the education or the enjoyment, but to gain some prize.

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

I like the idea.

But unfortunately, I'm going to be in Australia for most of August, so I won't win...

 

[RDK]

This is such a great idea. Props, CK.

 

[Crimson King]

Added rubric and the first participant, Miggz.

Does one have to create a topic with the "DHAI" prefix to be eligible for the bonus achievements?


OFF-TOPIC EDIT: What ever happened to the postbit thing?

Yes. To be considered in the running for points, you must create a topic. Otherwise, it'd be VERY hard for me to keep track of who is even involved. As of now, I just have to follow Miggz's posts, which should be easy. Achievement awards will be awarded every week as well.

For post-bit: it'll be a while. I sent it MLG.

 

[RDK]

I'll participate in this too. Do I just start posting, or do I have to link you to my threads / posts?

 

[Crimson King]

Just make a post with the tag. I'll get you in to the topic.

Note: I am going to wait until Wednesday to rate the posts with hopes of more people joining in. Two people will skew things a bit.

 

[Aesir]

CK I had a thread on Electoral Reform but it's been inactive for almost 3 months now. Could I make a DHAI thread on the same subject? Or should I just revive the thread? I know some people have a real problem with reviving dead threads.

 

[Crimson King]

Well, thanks to me getting a house right when I start this, I was unable to really grade the posters. More tragic is the fact that we only had 3 official sign-ups, so it wouldn't have really mattered anyway.

With that in mind, I am up for suggestions. I want to add some new people from the PG soon, but is there anyway we can actively push the PG to get better? I need suggestions.

 

[aeghrur]

Let Shadowlink84 into the Proving Grounds for a while.
He'll force them to either debate or give up, lol.

 

[RDK]

I honestly think we should open up the PG to everyone, and then just choose the best of the best. It seems like there's zero activity most of the time, and even when there is it's the same topics over and over again.

Letting people access the PG whenever they want will give a bigger pool to pick from.

 

[Crimson King]

Not going to happen. Opening it up will create the exact reason why I don't want to open this room up: people posting without having to answer for their posts, people just wanting to post on one topic, etc. When people actually go through the work of getting added, it ensures they are at least held accountable.

 

[Miggz]

Hm. How about you guys post a small list of debate topics. I dunno how many topics. Five maybe? Then you can simply ask us in a "yes" or "no" fashion how we feel about all five. The topic that receives the most opposition can be turned into a thread.

 

[Riddle]

Hm. How about you guys post a small list of debate topics. I dunno how many topics. Five maybe? Then you can simply ask us in a "yes" or "no" fashion how we feel about all five. The topic that receives the most opposition can be turned into a thread.

I really like this idea so I decided to try it. I am posting a list of topics here and in the Nomination topic and I would like you to post your opinions on each topic.

The topics I am thinking of are:
1)Stem Cell Research
2)Legalization of Marijuana/other drugs (more general then the one I made in the proving grounds)
3)Your opinion of the war on terror
4)Should standardized tests be required
5)Adoption of Children by same Sex Couples
and
6)Is it morally accceptable to conduct expiriments on lab animals.

Give me your brief opinion on each issue and then the one with the most dissagreement I will make a thread about.

By the way, when I need to find debate topics I go to http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_index.php which is a large database of debate topics.

 

[Faithkeeper]

The topics I am thinking of are:
1)Stem Cell Research
2)Legalization of Marijuana/other drugs (more general then the one I made in the proving grounds)
3)Your opinion of the war on terror
4)Should standardized tests be required
5)Adoption of Children by same Sex Couples
and
6)Is it morally acceptable to conduct experiments on lab animals.

Give me your brief opinion on each issue and then the one with the most disagreement I will make a thread about.

1) Go for it. Not using stem cells from aborted babies might be a diplomatic move to get conservatives to back it.

2) I'm going to probably go in opposition with this, but I'm not a firm either way.

3) Undecided.

4) Until some better format is presented, yes. (I say this because I wont continue to debate for them if someone suggests a better alternative)

5) Undecided, I need to be more informed to have an opinion on this.

6) It depends on the experiments. There are a lot of possible experiments, anywhere from testing hair care, to psychological tests, to (I would assume) testing out potential pharmaceutical drugs. Narrowing down the topic would make me more decisive.

 

[aeghrur]

So, who's winning so far?

 

[Mewter]

I wanted to make a topic on stem cell research, but I don't really have enough statistical information to create a good enough OP.

Who is winning?

 

[Miggz]

1. Yes, I agree with it.

2. I don't agree with legalizing marijuana. There are just too many people who will use it for their own pleasure, and it'll only do more harm then good.

3. I'll have to rethink about this one.

4. I disagree with standardized tests. Standardized test doesn't reflect creativity and the actual character of a person.

5. I feel same sex couples should be allowed to adopt kids. Heterosexual parents can be just as destructive to the well being of a child.

6. I feel its wrong to conduct experiments on animals. Period. I find it cruel.

It looks like numbers 4, 5 and possibly 6 are potential topics to discuss.

 

[RDK]

2. I don't agree with legalizing marijuana. There are just too many people who will use it for their own pleasure, and it'll only do more harm then good.

As opposed to using it for the forces of good?

Edit: as for the conducting of tests on lab animals, I sure hope nobody here condones that.

 

[Mewter]

1. Totally.

2. Undecided.

3. Undecided.

4. It's "good enough" for now, until we find a better alternative.

5. For.

6. Depends what the experiment being carried out is.


Say, where is that thread Gamer4fire made that listed people's opinions on stuff? That would/could come in handy. We could choose a subject based off of that list.

 

[manhunter098]

1. I agree with this almost completely, not that I think human embryos in early development really need legal protection, but with the ability to turn skin cells into pluripotent cells stem cell research done on embryonic stem cells might become obsolete anyways.
2. Agree with completely.
3. I think we should be looking for Bin Laden and fighting Al-Quaeda, but thats pretty much the extent of the war on terror I think we should be fighting.
4. Im somewhat undecided here, but I do think we need alternatives for those who do not do well in a testing environment.
5. I support adoption of children by same sex couples.
6. I support this but not completely, I would like a gradual move towards testing on human tissues that have been cultured in a lab and a greater push for technology like this.

 

[Crimson King]

The contest pretty much died when we had only two people for about a week or two. It was just a failed idea.

 

[Riddle]

Wait CK, is the competition over? That really sucks, because I put plenty of effort into this competition would like to get the reward.

 

[Crimson King]

There were, at most, 4 people in the contest. It'd be really unfair to give anyone in the contest a free custom title when I base it off of that. The whole point of this wasn't even a contest really, it was to get people posting more.

If anyone can figure out a way to increase activity, I'd gladly give them a custom title.

 

[aeghrur]

There were, at most, 4 people in the contest. It'd be really unfair to give anyone in the contest a free custom title when I base it off of that. The whole point of this wasn't even a contest really, it was to get people posting more.

If anyone can figure out a way to increase activity, I'd gladly give them a custom title.

I thought activity has been up lately ever since kazoo came in. =/
give him one? lol.
and my idea would just be to make controversial threads dealing with economics.

 

[thegreatkazoo]

The contest pretty much died when we had only two people for about a week or two. It was just a failed idea.

If activity has been down for a hot minute, we can let this go.

If later you decide that you want to bring it back up, that's cool to. Just let us know.

 

[RDK]

I think we're about ready to bring some new people in from the PG.

Speaking of which, where the hell is Zero?