44 replies to this topic

[Saru]

This thread is intended for questions and comments pertaining to the formal debates board.

Commonly asked questions will be added to the FAQ thread.

[Abecrombie]

Awesome !

Saru,

Q: I would like to know if this Formal Debate Forum is any different than the previous debates here at the Unexplained Mysteries ?

[Saru]

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Q: I would like to know if this Formal Debate Forum is any different than the previous debates here at the Unexplained Mysteries ?

They are esentially the same however members can now set up debates themselves on a topic of choice as oppose to having to volunteer for a specific debate thread set up by a debate organiser. The scoring and judging system has also been scrapped in favour of optional member commenting once a debate is completed.

[Abecrombie]

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The scoring and judging system has also been scrapped in favour of optional member commenting once a debate is completed.

Q: Can you specify this ? I don't quite understand .

Thank You,
Abecrombie

[Saru]

From the FAQ:

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Q. Will there be scoring and judges this time around ?
One of the biggest problems with the old debate set up was the scoring system. Members were having to wait too long for their debates to be judged, there was no way to guarantee impartial scoring and many debaters were opposed to the system. This time therefore we've decided to scrap the score system and instead allow a debate thread to be open for other members to comment once the debate has finished. This allows others to provide feedback on what they thought about the debate but without there being any official scoring or judging. When setting up a formal debate an option is available to not allow the debate to be open to comments afterwards if preferred.

[SQLserver]

Wait, so can I PM someone requesting a debate, and if they accept, I can just start a topic for it?

Thanks,
SQLserver

[Saru]

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Wait, so can I PM someone requesting a debate, and if they accept, I can just start a topic for it?

You can't start a topic through conventional means on the debates board, only through the debate system. You can PM someone and discuss a debate idea beforehand and mutually agree to participate, but in order to start that debate you will still need to do it through the debate system.

[Tiggs]

You can start a debate, here:

[danielost]

Except for the jokes and riddle threads, I thought that was the idea behind the whole site was debate or did I miss something.

Edited by danielost, 12 October 2008 - 01:46 PM.

[Saru]

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Except for the jokes and riddle threads, I thought that was the idea behind the whole site was debate or did I miss something.

These are structured, formal 1 vs 1 debates in which only the two members taking part can participate.

[when.i.am.queen.]

Presumably, the debates must consist of a supernatural or UM like topic, yes?

[Saru]

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Presumably, the debates must consist of a supernatural or UM like topic, yes?

No you can start a debate on any topic, it doesn't have to be paranormal related.

[SQLserver]

Ahh! Is anyone else experiencing this?
For example, I see the title of a debate I just challenged someone to as the "Latest Post" in the debates.

However, in the debate section I don't see the thread, and clicking on the thread from the "Latest Posts" thing gets me:

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Sorry, some required files are missing, if you intended to view a topic, it's possible that it's been moved or deleted. Please go back and try again.

Can someone tell me if the thread is actually there, or it isn't there yet and something's wrong...

Thanks.

Edit: I see it now. Huh.

Edited by sqlserver, 15 October 2008 - 08:45 PM.

[BlindMessiah]

sqlserver on Oct 15 2008, 08:46 PM, said:

Ahh! Is anyone else experiencing this?
For example, I see the title of a debate I just challenged someone to as the "Latest Post" in the debates.

However, in the debate section I don't see the thread, and clicking on the thread from the "Latest Posts" thing gets me:


Can someone tell me if the thread is actually there, or it isn't there yet and something's wrong...

Thanks.

Edit: I see it now. Huh.

Same thing when I challenged someone. I don't think it shows up until the challenged accepts. But a challenge shows up as latest post with the error message.

[Saru]

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I don't think it shows up until the challenged accepts. But a challenge shows up as latest post with the error message.

That is what's happening, it's a known bug that's currently being looked in to.