Fire Emblem Debating Board Rules

[Mekkah]

It was agreed upon we needed a new one. Here we are.

You want to do a debate? Let's keep it fun and stick to these guidelines.

1. Seek out your opponent in the debate challenges thread. State what game or character you want to debate, perhaps mention if you want a short* (size-restricted) or conditional debate** (neither recommended for beginners). Make sure you're in full agreement on the rules beforehand, including things such as who opens, which mode, ranked (FE4-FE7) or not, etc.

2. Then, it's debating time. Almost anything goes during a debate. Practically nothing is assumed, and everything can be argued. Make sure to back up every single of your statement properly unless it is a really obvious waste of space (e.g. explaining why FE6 Karel joins too late for Fir to support). Make sure you keep in mind your goal: proving that your character is better than the opponent's. Look for a debating guide here.

3. If your debate finishes, post a link to it in the voting topic, so the judging panel will cast votes on it to see who is the winner. You will also be given feedback, if you want.

* A "short debate" is a set of debating rules I designed to help people train to make good points with limited space. You only get to write so much new material (so quoting doesn't count) per post. The generally accepted set is 1 for the first two, 2 for the second two, and 3 for the last two posts of the debate, but this may change in the future since the concept is still being tested.

** A "conditional debate" means the two debaters agree on something to happen in the game no matter what, even before the debate starts. The most common form is to assume certain reclass routes for Shadow Dragon so there is no space wasted on arguing what exactly every route does for a unit. Another use is to pretend things in the game aren't the way they are, such as characters joining earlier, later, more or less powerful, with different classes, etc. An example can be found here.

Obvious rules:

- Stay civil. It's a game and it's the internet, two reasons not to get worked up. Don't make it personal.

- Don't post in an on-going debate topic unless you're a participant and you're making a debate post. Posts like "I'll get to this later" and such can be done via profile comments or private messaging. Posting only part of your post when you're not done is absolutely useless.

- You're free in principle to chime in on the judging stage even if you're not a judge, but I heavily recommend against it unless you're a very seasoned debater. Nothing more annoying than getting error-filled advice from someone less competent than you.

- This board is mostly for debate challenges between two, or maybe sometimes more people, but pretty much no open topics. Use the board for a specific game or the general fire emblem board for debates where everyone gets to say their thing, such as tier lists.

Happy internet debating!

Edited June 19, 2009 by Mekkah

[Colonel M]

I know you put it in the "etc." category, but suggesting FE11's reclassed option should be added in the sentence. Nothing worse than disagreeing on a route when it takes quite a bit of the debate why and why not.

[Mekkah]

Oh, I forgot the notes about conditional and short debates. Their explanations were eaten by the board backflip.

[-Cynthia-]

I personally found the short debate requirements very restrictive, though having it in a Ike vs. Haar debate didnt't help. Maybe I'm juust destined for tl;dr.

Edited June 19, 2009 by -Cynthia-

[Mekkah]

We'll discuss and update the short debate idea in another thread. I already have some ideas on what could be improved, but I'll wait on putting it on the table when my short debate with Colonel M is finished.

[Colonel M]

I actually like the restriction a bit. Though this is just because I've needed to cut down for a while. The opener really shouldn't be long, since as someone (maybe Vykan) pointed out is that you should use the opener to build into your argument, then the second post can easily go more in-depth.

Maybe it's just me. Also Mekkah I'll get my retaliation done ASAIC.

[Narga_Rocks]

Posting here in the hopes of reminding people:

Debates are 1 on 1 and it is up to the debaters to point out flaws in their opponent's post. Not the public. Don't post in a debate unless you are one of the debaters or if you are voting after the debate has been completed.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Narga_Rocks