Originally Posted by
effervescence
Sounds quite interesting, but I think a group of the same people would use it repeatedly which will end up with it forming yet another clique on this website.
And yes, we would need a webmaster first.
I never really thought that only the same people would participate. I mean I'm sure there would be some people that liked to debate and would participate often, but it was my hope there would be plenty of new faces. Also, giving the DMs control of choosing captains would let them pick new people each time, and if the DMs pick the team rosters then they can get first preference to new faces.
If there isn't much participation altogether, then yes it could be a problem.
Originally Posted by
Carousel
Yeah I think this is a good idea! And I don't think that it would necessarily cause cliques, as there could be a range of topics that different people would want to get involved in. I personally would love to get involved in some philosophical debates, I really hope you can get this set up. :)
Debates wouldn't have to be all "fire starters" too. For example, if this would idea was a success, the first debate I might do would be "Which system of the body is the most important?" So in the first debate you could see a "Respiratory vs. Circulatory" debate. Basically it's a debate people can get into, but it's not something that could rock the foundation of their beliefs. This way people can take it less seriously, and less personally. :) If you get into things involving the existence of God, you have to be careful not to push too hard against someone's beliefs, but I would never rule those debates out.
Originally Posted by
Stop! Hammer Time
If an actual forum couldn't get set up, could you adapt your ideas to specific threads instead, with certain people discussing & starting them, etc.?
I really like the idea of more properly structured debates - I just think that if we waited for the presence of a webmaster, we would be too old to go on the computer by the time it came around...
So maybe a way of doing this without a forum to start with? :)
That's an interesting idea! There could be another subforum within the Debate forum for open debate discussions that any RYL member can start.
Originally Posted by
Snow White.
Theoretically a forum could be added without Harley, it would just be really bad ethics ^_^
Yeahhhh I agree. No worries. :)
Originally Posted by
Taliesin
As much as I like this idea, knowing the people who use RYL, it would be haaaaaaaaard for it to stay all civil and debate-y. A lot of people here, myself HIGHLY included, tend to be opinionated and argumentative. Which is proven by the fact that almost every thread on this Forum and Community section has turned into a blazing row.
There is that possibility with debates, especially when talking about politics or religion. There would have to be a disclaimer before all debates saying that it's just for fun and not to take it too seriously. The DMs are also there to make sure a player does not harass another for his/ her beliefs. And a player could be allowed to leave at any time if they aren't feeling comfortable. In my opinion, having your beliefs challenged can actually make them stronger! I don't dislike having to debate about things like religion.
Here's another fun idea that might relieve some of the debate tension:
I thought it might be fun if for some debates the rosters would be a blind pick. The DMs would just randomly assign people to a team. In this kind of debate some people might be forced to debate /against/ their beliefs and see things from the opposite perspective, which is really quite eye opening and in my experience makes you more understanding/ tolerant of others' beliefs. Not everyone might like that though.
Originally Posted by
user_name
I love this idea but I doubt it will happen here to be honest. Let me know if you do manage to set up a site or anything with this in mind as I have loved my debate classes in uni.
Thank you! You bet. :)
Thanks all for the comments.