June 2021 Presidential Debate - Commentary Thread

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I'm just going to say it, I don't get why debates can't be held on Discord and then posted here.

Although I strongly dislike the impact of instant messaging on many aspects of the game, this is probably the one single instance in which outsourcing might be beneficial, if only because it allows for a more efficient simulation of a live, orderly debate that's also easier to control for any moderators, while also ensuring any performances are more spontaneous and accurate.

Not taking advantage of the one thing Discord can offer without it being harmful is sort of baffling.

I seem to recall we did a debate on IRC back in 2017 —great fun! We did one on Discord for Labor leadership elections more recently, though of course that was an internal affair.

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

we did one recently and people went crazy. I assumed that's why OBD opted to do it on the forum.

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=405998.0

I personally would prefer what we originally wanted with that discord debate and have a voice debate, but MB didn't wish to talk.

[OBD]

we did one recently and people went crazy. I assumed that's why OBD opted to do it on the forum.


I personally would prefer what we originally wanted with that discord debate and have a voice debate, but MB didn't wish to talk.

Exactly. We literally did this last time and everyone lost their collective sh*t, hence this 'compromise solution'.

That said, this experiment doesn't appear to be working super well. Perhaps next election (or in another debate this round) we could hold a Discord debate, and have a scribe transcribe the answers over to Atlas as they come in to keep everyone up to date?

[SevenEleven]

we did one recently and people went crazy. I assumed that's why OBD opted to do it on the forum.


I personally would prefer what we originally wanted with that discord debate and have a voice debate, but MB didn't wish to talk.

Exactly. We literally did this last time and everyone lost their collective sh*t, hence this 'compromise solution'.

That said, this experiment doesn't appear to be working super well. Perhaps next election (or in another debate this round) we could hold a Discord debate, and have a scribe transcribe the answers over to Atlas as they come in to keep everyone up to date?

It's been one person holding things up. That can be true no matter the format. As the saying goes, one bad apple can spoil the bunch. A rotten apple moved to a different set of apples is just as problematic.

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

we did one recently and people went crazy. I assumed that's why OBD opted to do it on the forum.


I personally would prefer what we originally wanted with that discord debate and have a voice debate, but MB didn't wish to talk.

Exactly. We literally did this last time and everyone lost their collective sh*t, hence this 'compromise solution'.

That said, this experiment doesn't appear to be working super well. Perhaps next election (or in another debate this round) we could hold a Discord debate, and have a scribe transcribe the answers over to Atlas as they come in to keep everyone up to date?

It's been one person holding things up. That can be true no matter the format. As the saying goes, one bad apple can spoil the bunch. A rotten apple moved to a different set of apples is just as problematic.

That's why we have a time limit right now. Let OBD and I focus on moderating, we've done this before. We had similar issues then, so we're handling it. That way everyone else can focus on what matters, which are the answers.

[S019]

I think the best answer is also the simplest, just post every question that will be asked and give people some time interval (say 48 hours) to post answers. Sometimes simplicity is the right answer.

[OBD]

And thus concludes the live portion of this debate. Thank you to WB, Ted, Sev, and LT, as well as the folks that submitted questions, for participating.

Obviously this format leaves something to be desired. I urge folks to make their thoughts known here so we can work on creating the best possible debate format to allow candidates to better get their messages out to Atlasia in the future. I still have hope for the live format, though if the traditional method is ultimately the best that might still be the way to go.

[West_Midlander]

To LT: You’ve made widely publicized offensive comments about your opponents and others. What is your response to accusations that you are too extreme and rude to unite Atlasia?

To S019: LT is not extreme at all and is a leader who can unite Atlasia. These gotcha questions to candidates who you won't ever consider supporting (in campaign threads, for example) is just petty.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

I would like to ask all candidates where they stand on Palestinian statehood, and whether they would support an independent Kurdistan.