Debate League Rules

Please read all rules carefully before posting in this section.

1. Each debate will follow this format:

• The first person to reply to a thread will pick which side of the debate he wants to argue.
  
• The second person to reply to a thread will argue the other side of the debate. If a second person has not replied to the thread within 1 week, the thread will be locked.
  
• Once a second person has replied, the debate will begin.
  
• The first person that replied to the thread will be the first to post an opening argument. Then the second person will post his opening argument. Then the first person will post her rebuttal. Then the second person will post his rebuttal.
  
• Debaters have one week from their opponent's last post to post their response. See rule #2 for more information.
  
• After both debaters have posted an opening argument and a rebuttal, the voting phase will begin. The judges will have three days from the close of the debate to post their vote and the reason they voted for that debater. No judge will be allowed to vote in a debate they participated in.
  
• After all votes are in or three days have passed, a winner will be declared.
  
• After a winner is declared, members of the forum have three days in which to post comments or opinions about the debate. When the three days have passed, the thread will be locked.

2. If a debater does not post within the 1 week time period allowed without clearing it with Y2J X or Sykesy first, he will be assumed to have forfeited the debate. His opponent will be declared the winner. If a debater forfeits a debate she will receive a PM warning. The second forfeit will result in a one month suspension from participating in the debate league. The third forfeit will result in an automatic removal from the debate league roster.

3. No flaming or personal attacks are allowed in the debates. Refusal to show respect to your opponent may cause you to lose debates or be removed from the active roster.

4. As an incentive to participate in the debate league, points will be given for each victory. (Details on this will be added later.)

5. No one except staff members (judges, moderators, and administrators) and the people participating in the debate should reply to the debate's thread until a winner has been declared. All other posts will be deleted.

6. Debaters may participate in up to 3 debates at one time. If you decide to participate in more than one debate at once and are not able to submit your arguments on time, the staff may limit your participation to one debate at at time in addition to the forfeiture penalties described in rule #2. This will allow debaters to participate in more debates that they are interested in.

Couple things:

1) How long until a debate gets locked if nobody chooses it? (I don't believe I read it anywhere, but it appears as though it'd be 1 week)

2) Any idea on how many points yet per victory? (And PM me with who to give points to because I might not check every thread and MF doesn't use the points system)

3) Will there be a standings thread when debates start to finish?

1) 1 week

2) TRF and I are still deciding on that one.

3) Yes, and it will have the number of debates won, lost, and percentages.

Point System:

Debate league participants will receive 100 points for each debate in which they are declared the winner.

Debate league participants will not receive or lose points for completed debates they do not win.

If the participant is on a winning streak, they will receive a bonus. For example, if a person wins three debates in a row they will receive an extra 100 points. If that person wins four debates in a row, they will receive an extra 200 points, and so on.