BE IT RESOLVED:
Oromagi is the Best Active Debater on DebateArt
Key Definitions:
Best: of the most excellent, effective, or desirable type or quality.
Debater: a person who argues about a subject, especially in a formal manner.*
DebateArt: this website
Active: accepting and/or currently participating in debates
*more accurately described in “What Makes a Good Debater’
Interpretation of the Resolution:
PRO will have to prove that oromagi is more excellent, effective, or of better quality, than every single active debater in the site. CON has to disprove this statement, meaning that the BURDEN OF PROOF is on PRO.
The scope of this debate should be not related to other websites, but only DebateArt.
Prelude:
The problem with my opponent’s resolution is that he has to prove that every single active debater is worse than oromagi in every single way possible (related to debating). My opponent does not effectively describe a debater carefully, leaving the real question in place: what makes a good debater?
What Makes a Good Debater?:
As stated in the prelude, my opponent or PRO does not effectively describe a good debater. Notice, that PRO does not prove that oromagi is a good debater, rather he proves that he is good at arguing with others, which is not the entirety of a good debater. So, now to answer the question, here are criteria that should be found in a good debater.
1. Ability to Recognize and Use Good Format[1]
Oromagi has never been known for his format, Ragnar is. Ragnar has posted a format guide of DebateArt and DDO, which is still widely used today. It is clear that oromagi is not the best at this. The user RationalMadman even flat out says that he gets eyesores reading through oromagi’s formatting.
2. Ability to Persuade[1]
There is not a doubt that oromagi has the ability to persuade. The question leads: is oromagi the greatest at persuading? Let me point out another flaw in my opponent’s argument. Oromagi has admitted that he is worse than Ragnar at debating.
“I call that false modesty on Ragnar part. Consider he had an undefeated record on a site with thousands of active and experienced debaters- orders of magnitude greater degree of difficulty. I think anybody can beat anybody under the right circumstances but I assume Ragnar could hand me my ass in any more formal venue or traditional resolution. He has ten times my experience and excels at deduction. I think I’m pretty good at style and originality but in the world of formal debate I think those abilities count for less while Ragnar’s skills weigh heavier.I’d say 9 times in 10, Ragnar would win. ” [3]
Another flaw with my opponent’s argument is that he is cherry picking oromagi’s debates. It may seem that oromagi accepts quality debates, but in reality, my opponent is misinforming the voters. When a logical person actually looks through oromagi’s debates, it becomes apparent that he debates a user named “Ramdatt”(who is a troll who lost 19 debates out of 19) regularly, a user named “PaulVerliane”(who is also a troll), and a user named “billbatard” who is a troll(59 out of 75 lost).
3.Ability to Lose and Improve[2]
Ultimately, a trait of a good debater is to lose. Those who always win never learn and remain somewhat the same. Those who win and lose on the other hand do improve and succeed. The best debaters have lost, and the best debaters will lose. Oromagi has lost, the question to ask is: has he lost enough? Has the user oromagi lost enough debates to improve and be a better debater? No, he has not. My opponent mentions only three times in which he has lost, which doesn’t seem nearly good enough to improve. Let’s take a look at a user named User_2006, or anc_2006. He has participated in 47 debates, and 29 of them were losses. [4] He has shown significant improvement, which is acknowledged by several users, including myself. User_2006’s ELO is 1415, that is absolutely terrible (no offense). Now, he goes by the name Intelligence_06. His ELO is now a whopping 1585, showing a 170 point difference. Has oromagi improved by that much? No.
4. Ability to Use Multiple Arguments
Can't fit inside word limit. Debate next round.
In conclusion:
- Oromagi is not the best at formatting
- Oromagi is not the best at persuading
- Oromagi is not the best at losing or improving
CONCLUSION:
Even though oromagi has the highest ELO, it does not mean he is the best active user on DebateArt. The resolution does not include the word “overall” which means that oromagi must be better than every single active debater at every single one of the listed criteria. My opponent seems to think that the only debaters on this site are Ragnar and bsh1, because he has only compared Ragnar with oromagi, rather than every single active debater.
"multiaccounting"?
whiteflame isn't an active debater under your definition. I would prove that 'best' has elements to it that you're ignoring and that Oromagi continually takes easy sides on all topics.
I'd say RM is the best debater on the site currently but oromagi follows behind him
oromagi does have a better ELO an win loss ratio than RM, but RM takes on more challenging debates an has more creativity with his arguments
not to mention he also has alot more debate experience than oromagi
honestly i would take this debate up but ill just let RM do it
you could definitely prove that Whiteflame is better than Oromagi using that many characters LOL
increase char count to 17k and I'll accept. Minimum 17k.
He definitely is within the top 2-3. Definitely better than I am (although admittedly he debated me when I was new to the site and really just developing my debate style and skill. The end result would be the same but I like to think it would be more of a challenge for him now). It would be fun to see a full-blown debate tournament where (try) to see who truly is the best debater on the site.