Hello I Am New

Hey everyone. I want to help build this community though it seems kind of dead at the moment...

Or am I wrong?

TowerOfBabel: Just casually bumping this thread so people see it, whenever all you normal people are back online. Just wait a month until the WODC preparations start in earnest - it's a tournament where we challenge Debate.Org and possibly others - the only inter-site tournament on the net. Last year it saw a big community boost.

Ideas are always welcome with me. Four questions I have:
- Do you think the community would be better off if I reduced the number of forums? More of a focus on debate forums?
- Do you think we'd do better with gamification-type stuff? Little badges on profiles or something?
- Would allowing foreign-language groups make a big difference, do you think?
- What kind of additional support could the site offer for debate coaches?

Any other cool ideas?

admin: Ooo that sounds interesting. Is that coming up soon?

I don't think the forums are an issue as long as debating stays the primary focus (which DDO clearly lost a long time ago).
I personally kind of enjoy the idea of badges and such but I don't think they'll attract people but might help them stay.
I don't think foreign language would help much, because how would they communicate with us if they're using the site in their language? lol
I'm not familiar with debate coaching currently so I can't comment.

I could advertise the site potentially on my websites as well as my university's Facebook groups to try and draw traffic.

I'll brainstorm other ideas as I get more acquainted with the site.

TowerOfBabel: The WODC this year runs from June to August, but because it's literally one of the most complex debate tournaments on the net, there's about 1-2 months of preparing. This year with the new chief judges system it'll become more complex to prepare, so the timeline sorta reflects that. The details are on http://www.edeb8.com/wodc2015/ . It re-occurs every year.

Poor @Sovi . You shut down both of his ideas lol. Badges are something I considered - Heineken had a related concept back in 2013 for his own site and it's been in the back of my mind since then for this one. Basically debate coaching right now is just like "congratulations, your application to coach [user] is successful" lol - the site doesn't really do much more than that. The idea is that the coach is supposed to help out beginner debaters.

Thanks for the opportunity to spread the word about the site

TowerOfBabel: I don't think the forums are an issue as long as debating stays the primary focus (which DDO clearly lost a long time ago).
Hear me out. What if we reduced the current amount of forums to 4, all debate-centric? Edeb8, Community, Debate Discussion, Other

Blackflag: I can see a merit to that. But I think forums are important though.

TowerOfBabel: What about groups? The key to making this a true debate site is not having the center of attention anywhere other than debate. I try to learn from histories mistakes.

Blackflag: I agree. I love the group function from what I've seen. It's just not active enough.

And histories mistakes... are you referencing DDO? And if so who were you there?

TowerOfBabel: And if so who were you there?
An observer to Edeb8's biggest competitor

Blackflag: Just a simple observer?
I wish more people would come over here > .>
DDO has turned into a stupid immature reddit knockoff.

TowerOfBabel: He doesn't like me publically saying who he was because he was kinda infamous there. Edeb8 reformed him in a way.

admin: Makes sense.
I had an infamy of my own there lol I understand.

TowerOfBabel: Which is why reducing the forums doesn't sound like such a bad idea to me