DART Hall of Fame

Author: bsh1

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About the Hall of Fame

Welcome to the DebateArt.com (DART) Hall of Fame! The Hall of Fame honors the very best users, debates, and threads this site has to offer. The Hall of Fame, as an institution, honors a tradition begun on another site, and hopes to continue a legacy of lauding the arts of debate and rhetoric, which are the basis of this site.

Each year, beginning in October 2019, the site usership shall nominate and elect three inductees into each of the three award categories (users, debates, and threads). The election will occur in two phases, a nomination phase and a voting phase. The nomination phase puts forward nominees for induction, and the voting phase selects which of the nominees will ultimately be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Each inducted user will be honored with a write up (not to exceed 1,000 characters) by a respected site user, honoring the inductee's character, achievements, and contributions to DART.

It is our wish that, as a community, people will always come to DART to engage in an honest, curious, and vigorous exploration of ideas. This site is unique among social websites in that it places special emphasis on intellect and rhetoric. DART's mission is to be a place where people can come to learn, to discuss, and to grow as thinkers and communicators. The Hall of Fame, at its best, is a testament to that mission, and strives to recognize those debates, threads, and users which add most significantly to the fabric of this amazing community.

Winners may be found below, or at the following URL: https://info.debateart.com/hall-of-fame

402 days later

bsh1
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Hall of Fame I

Pursuant to the first Hall of Fame election process, the following are inducted into the DebateArt.com Hall of Fame:

-- Users --

RationalMadman

Without a doubt, RationalMadman is a force to be reckoned with and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Within a year of joining the site, RM became the first person to achieve every single site medal. He was one of the first to be on the top of the leaderboard; he is one of the most prolific users on the site, having completed nearly 200 debates, countless rap battles, music battles, and forum posts. What makes RationalMadman unique is the fact that he’s willing to take debate topics that are unfamiliar to most and is willing to take controversial standpoints. Additionally, he has cast over 300 debate votes, making him one of the most active voters on this site. This metric doesn’t even begin to describe how much impact he has had on the site. Without RationalMadman, this site would be much more pedestrian.
          -Virtuoso

Virtuoso

Moderating is difficult. Working concurrently with bsh1 on moderator decisions while creating over 50 debates and presenting a magnanimous front to all users regardless of transgressions is nigh impossible. These accomplishments are certainly no easy feat, as I am sure the illustrious Virtuoso can attest. Nevertheless, his earnest enforcement of the CoC and pleasant demeanor toward users has never changed since day 1 of his moderator duties. In addition to creating a welcoming atmosphere for users, his debate activity is also commendable. As I am sure most would agree, DART is in its infancy. Nevertheless, Virtuoso’s mountainous record of over 50 debates is incredible given his other duties. As someone who has debated with him on multiple occasions, I know firsthand his debating prowess and writing skills. Virtuoso is a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame purely for his dedication toward forging a better DART for all to enjoy. For that, I congratulate him on his induction. Thanks, Virt.
          -blamonkey

DebateArt.com

What can one say about the mysterious Russian in our midst? Well, if he’s a troll farmer worker, he’s certainly an affable one. But then again, Mike (if that’s his real name) would be affable wouldn't he...to gain our trust...?! *shrugs* Without him, this community literally wouldn’t exist. He built this site up from scratch and has worked regularly to update it to meet user demands and needs. He is responsive, friendly, and solicitous. His concern for DART and its community is evidenced by the sheer volume of work he has invested and continues to invest in it. If anyone--and this is no hyperbole--deserves to be included in the inaugural DART Hall of Fame entry, it is the creator of the site. We are fortunate to have someone like him in our midst, one who is willing to volunteer his time as he does for so little recompense, esp. given the vitriol and hostility so often found on the internet. He has more than earned his place here, and I congratulate him on his induction.
          -bsh1

-- Debates --

Firing Squad is the best form of capital punishment
This was a high-quality debate by two obviously talented debaters--one who I knew well, one who I did not. It clearly generated interest on the site, with a sizable number of comments and multiple votes, and it is a prime example of the civil yet thoughtful debate we want to promote on the site. Lots of interesting clash and clearly well-researched, the excellence of this debate speaks for itself.
         -bsh1

Fetuses as a replacement for the USD

Oh dear,” “Genius,” and “Goat”!
         -Endorsements from the comment section

Jury Nullification


-- Threads --

Goodbye.
RationalMadman


Hall of Fame Upcoming
bsh1


RM Profile Pic Vending Machine (edited with pixlr to eye-pleasing perfection such as I do with mine)
RationalMadman


Conclusion

This concludes the induction announcement. Congratulations to all those inducted!

334 days later

Barney
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Hall of Fame II
Pursuant to the second Hall of Fame election process, the following are inducted into the DebateArt.com Hall of Fame:

-- Users --

oromagi

He’s undefeated at 88 wins and counting. His style of debate is well-organized and logical, yet also interjected with some humor. This has allowed him to reach a rating nearly 200 points ahead of his nearest rival. But more than just being a good debater, he is a good person. This combination of formidable debating skills and an approachable friendliness should earn him a place in the Hall of Fame.
          -SirAnonymous

Ragnar

Ragnar has been my model for online debating since he handed me my first debate loss back in 2013.  A US immigrant who served our country as a medic under fire in Iraq with the 82nd (“DEATH from ABOVE”) Airborne division, Ragnar has earned my admiration and gratitude far above and apart from any website participation but I believe that history and strength of character is evident in his leadership here among our little company of madmen and malcontents.  He is not just a paragon of persuasion, he is also an composer of crystal clear prose.  He is not just a moderator, he is also moderate and fair-minded and restrained in wise opinion.   After our losses in leadership late last year, Ragnar stepped up into the breach to preserve the legitimacy and quality of debates on this site and remains the strongest arch upholding the leaky roof that is our voting policy.   In fact, he’s just weeks away from becoming our all time top voter.  For his humor, keen reason, good sportsmanship, even-handed leadership and easy friendship, Ragnar is most worthy of this elevation to DebateArt’s Hall of Fame.
          -Oromagi

SupaDudz

With more than ten thousand forum posts, SupaDudz is one of DART’s most active members. However, he is much more than that. He’s a debater, a mafia player, a rapper, a poet, and a songwriter, to name just a few of his many activities. He’s served diligently as the moderator for DART’s discord server. Anyone who reads his posts can see his boundless energy and irrepressible friendliness. These qualities have made him an almost universally well-liked member. His contributions to this website have been invaluable, and it would be lesser without him and the joy he brings to it.
          -SirAnonymous


-- Debates --


Resolved: The US should institute congressional term limits

This was an intense debate between two incredible debaters that ended up being one of the hardest decisions I have had to make as a judge. As someone who has had the pleasure of debating bsh1 twice before, he brought his best to this debate, and I was impressed to see blamonkey rise to the challenge. These are two debaters for whom I have a great deal of respect, and they put on a clinic in a debate that rivals the best I have read on both DA and DDO. This is well worth the read for anyone who wants to see the best the site has to offer.
         -whiteflame

Legalized Abortion

This is an odd one, since it offers no middle ground (without exception all abortions legal or illegal, when the issue is clearly not black and white like that).
Still, while being short it manages to offer good value for research of the sides, to include an interesting chicken egg analogy.
Plus it is argued well enough that even a feminist like me ends up favoring con on the strength of arguments presented.
         -Ragnar

Is Jesus the Messiah?

While drilling down to one core issue, this was possibly the most in depth religious debate we’ve had. The educational value of this debate cannot be overstated.
Seriously, even as someone who attended Catholic University, this debate was able to impact my core religious beliefs.
         -Ragnar


-- Threads --

DART Bard, 1st Edition, 1/3/2020
SirAnonymous

The DART Bard, created by the user, SirAnonymous, seems like a normal DramaAlert esc news source discussing the topics. However, when you read it, it is much more than just that. SirAnonymous creates fictional character’s to relay the news to the people of DART in each characters own unique way. The DART Bard is extremely well written, comical, and most importantly, gives you the news going on in DART. This piece of work is always funny and informative, leaving the users of DART craving for another edition everytime! This thread would eventually become a Hall of Fame thread, and I am glad it was nominated sooner rather than later.
         -SupaDudz

I will stereotype debaters properly.
RationalMadman

It’s just too much fun, and could be picked back up at any time.
         -Ragnar


DEBATE ART TOURNAMENT ROUND ONE
Bearman

Despite being a relatively new user, BearMan has established his value to the site very quickly; and this thread is just another proof of it. Organizing and executing a tournament is an immense task, and BearMan and the voters (Ragnar and Whiteflame) have outdone themselves in making sure it goes smoothly. Not only was this a fun and unique idea, but it also had ramifications for the site as a whole. Before the tournament, debate activity on the site had grinded to a near halt. But as soon as it kicked off, DART saw a massive influx of debate activity and new, energetic users. While probably not the sole cause, this thread (the one that started it all) has certainly earned some credit.
         -MisterChris


-- Misc. --

Ragnar is the natural alpha male of this website.
RationalMadman

It is certainly interesting to see unorthodox discussions about our site’s users (especially in a positive light), with battles that intend no serious harm whatsoever.
         -Intelligence_06

BrotherDThomas’ performance art
BrotherDThomas

Seriously, love him or hate him, BrotherDThomas is probably the highlight of the religious forum... Which may unfortunately confirms me as a pseudo-christian needing to be bible-slapped silly™ for talking about him instead of Jesus!
         -Ragnar

I can’t help but enjoy reading his posts. They are the perfect level of over-top-ness.
         -SirAnonymous


Conclusion
This concludes the induction announcement. Congratulations to all those inducted!

343 days later

MisterChris
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Hall of Fame III
Pursuant to the third Hall of Fame election process, the following are inducted into the DebateArt.com Hall of Fame:
 
-- Users --

MisterChris

MisterChris has been an integral part of DA for quite some time as both a contributor and a moderator for the site. What really separates him from others, though, is a continual commitment to excellence in all that he does. Especially given how relatively new he is to debate, it’s incredible to see how his capabilities have improved so quickly. He’s constantly working to improve, not just for his own sake, but to elevate discourse on the site and to help others improve

      -Whiteflame

Dr. whiteflame always rises to meet the challenge, such that it is not hyperbole to say he is the apex member of this debating community. That he still makes the time for this, even after finishing his PhD and getting married, says a ton about his dedication. The core thing to understand about whiteflame is that he loves every aspect of debates. The overwhelming quality and thoughtfulness of his own debates speaks for themselves. As a voter he takes equal delight in following an epistemological kritik down the rabbit hole, or just appreciating a well executed comedic argument. Even with short notice, he honors requests to vote on even the most verbose offerings. With sufficient notice, he frequently casts several page votes, periodically being more detailed and knowledgeable to the subject matter than said debates themselves; with the quality of such further magnified by him doing that without assigning points for outside content.

Put simply, whiteflame is the very best of us.

      -Ragnar
fauxlaw is truly the master of semantics. He overwhelms any opponent with his wealth of knowledge to minute details others would overlook, and bedazzles voters... The depth of complexity and insights he reaches in his cases can be a double edged sword, making his cases both hard to defeat but likewise hard to judge.
In his relatively short time here, the magnitude of his contributions in both debates and forum posts are immense. He is in the top ten of the debates leaderboard most metrics (rating, votes, comments, total debates, debates won, and of course debates tied); and similarly for the forum leaderboard (top ten for topics created and liked posts, top twenty for posts made and mentions).

      -Ragnar
When an RFD on a debate is over 15 pages long, that tells you something about the debate's quality and intensity. Little needs to be said about the two debaters in this one: both MisterChris and Undefeatable are strong debaters, and I would go so far as to say that this is Undefeatable's best work I've read to date. Each approaches the topic via multiple avenues and works hard to both defend their arguments and assail those of the other side. There are many debates that could fit this description, but what sets this apart is the degree to which both sides commit. I've seen extensive debates like this play out over multiple rounds before and watched multiple arguments either dwindle or fall by the wayside when things got complex. It's incredible to watch these two debaters juggle all the arguments and keep all the balls in the air throughout.

      -Whiteflame
When you take two debaters of this caliber and have them compete, you know the debate will be of fine quality. This debate is no exception. Both oromagi and Fruit_Inspector are highly skilled and highly ranked, and their clash is truly impressive to watch. An argument could be made for the debate’s inclusion in the HoF based on the former alone, disregarding the debate’s outcome entirely. Yet, what makes this debate truly iconic and historic is the extraordinary upset victory pulled off by Fruit_Inspector, ending oromagi’s colossal sub-100 debate win streak in a rather close debate. Both the achievement of attaining such a gargantuan streak and the achievement of ending that streak are indisputably HoF worthy, making this debate a no-brainer for the Hall of Fame.

      -MisterChris
One of the earlier examples of many debates on this site about systemic racism, I see this one as emblematic of much of the arguments both sides give on the topic. While this might make it seem similar to other debates on the topic, including several others by Undefeatable, it is this debate that perhaps tests the concept of systemic racism best, with Undefeatable wielding a multitude of studies against an opponent whose arguments are largely built on de-linking those examples from systemic racism. What plays out is an examination of how society and culture have affected various peoples, and while there is agreement here on so much of what has gone wrong, it's in the details of where these stem from that the debate yields its most fascinating discussions.

      -Whiteflame

-- Threads --

Why are we banning wylted?
Lunatic
 
Why did I vote for "WHY are we BANNING WYLTED?" as one of the top topics of the year? 
 
  • Highly representative of our little cadre and how we do
    • 25 different posters across 288 posts.
    • Posted in the wrong forum
    • Focused on the limits of free speech (we have this conversation almost constantly in a lot of little ways)
      • Erred on the side of free speech
    • Lost the thread of our thesis many times
    • devolved into irrelevant dogfights and crosstalk frequently
    • continued arguing long after the question was decided
  • I like that minds were changed by way of debate- that rarely happens on this site but persuasion is our ultimate purpose here so it's nice to see a bit of friendly persuasion on display occasionally
  • Dramatic tension dénouementing in Wylted's return.  Has anybody alt'd harder than Wylted and still been allowed to return?  Drama.        
      -Oromagi 
Within this legendary thread, we uncover possibly one of the most shocking and disturbing revelations in all of DART history: every DebateArt user is secretly an alternate account of Sum1hugme. Yes, you read that correctly. Everyone is him. I am Sum1hugme. You are Sum1hugme. Even Sum1hugme is Sum1hugme! Pretty creepy, right?
 
      -MisterChris
A mafia game that can garner over 1000 posts certainly deserves to be credited for some honor, and the Hall of Fame. With Speedrace’s game being the only mafia game to ever hit 1000 posts on this site and with the integral core mafia plays on this site, without a doubt, this thread deserves it

      -SupaDudz


Conclusion
This concludes the induction announcement. Congratulations to all those inducted!



493 days later

Barney
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Hall of Fame IV
Pursuant to the third Hall of Fame election process, the following are inducted into the DebateArt.com Hall of Fame:
 
-- Users --

Intelligence_06

As the first non-native English language debater to be honored with a place in DART's Hall of Fame, as well as the first non-American, and the youngest debater to be so honored, Intelligence_06 contributes some serious diversity of perspective to DART as well as a tremendous talent for persuasive argument.
Not everybody knows that Intelligence_06 joined in April 2020 as User_06 and cranked out 50 debates in 3 months, rapidly improving his game against some of the best debaters on the site before switching his username to Intelligence. True to his new handle, Intel upped his game until achieving #2 in the rankings with the third highest number of debate wins on this site and among the highest like:posts ratios in the forums. Overcoming a 3 month long string of losses earlier this year, Intel hit his stride with a four-month long string of wins to surpass the unbeaten Barney and become only the second debater to break 1800. Intel is most proud of the potent and compelling argument he presented in Atheists Have a Burden of Proof.
Truly, Intel has earned a reputation as one of DART's most impressive contenders, and all debaters tremble at the prospect of Intel's continued improvement.

     -oromagi

3RU7AL
Presidential candidate with over 13k forum posts, he ran a very good campaign overall. Not to mention he is a very likeable person and contributes a lot to the site.

     -SupaDudz (placeholder)

Greyparrot
Though the Hall of Fame is often used to recognize top debaters, there are some people whose contributions extend outside of the debating realm. As the top contributor in forum posts to the website, GreyParrot has made himself an integral part of the website, providing everyone with their daily dose of YouTube videos and engaging with a broad set of users on a wide variety of topics. With his short, pithy responses, GP keeps threads interesting with his blunt and often humorous insights. He is the king of the political forum; long may he reign. He has also become one of the most regular participants in forum Mafia games, a wildcard that should never be underestimated. Even when he's literally blowing up games or posting absurd forum topics, you can't help but respect the breadth of GP's contributions to this site.

     -whiteflame

-- Debates --

THBT: On balance, the US ought to make abortion illegal.

Not to toot my own horn here, but a debate is a two person effort and Whiteflames performed exceptionally well. The matchup itself of this debate elicited much interest from the community, as evidenced through the 275 comments.
Furthermore, I may have to verify this, but I believe that this is the debate with the most votes (serious debate, being any with a no forfeit and an r1 of more than 100 characters), with votes from the likes of Barney and MisterChris.

     -Bones (placeholder)
This debate made it here for a reason, one MisterChris(MC) may despise but it was a significant moment regardless of debate; RationalMadman(RM) tied with MC and since RM had lower Rating it led to MC being knocked out of the top 5.
The debate itself is intriguing and perhaps it is accurate to say RM would have lost if not for newcomers voting. It was a debate whereby both debaters had very little rebuttal and tried to debate around each other and taught RM in particular the value of replying and rebuking directly to his opponent, if he wanted to secure victories more clearly. As for MC, it was his only debate really in the past year and only one since, for RM it was a turning point inspiring a more aggressive debate style instead of defensive and elusive.
 
    -RationalMadman
Placeholder
This community started as a refugees from debate.org (DDO), a site which will always cause mixed emotions to say the least. While most of us declared it dead years ago, the site still existed. This came to an end on June 5th, 2022. Just over a week before that, Lemming alerted us all that the owners had done a single act of goodwill for the userbase, which was to allow members to download their data.
DDO is also preserved in the Internet Archive, including most subpages such as the leaderboard.

     -Barney

This was one of the earlier threads to call out Airmax's inactivity after becoming president.It didn't get many replies, but it expressed a growing doubt at the time that would be later confirmed.

     -Mharman (placeholder) 

This was a thread highlighting yet another example of Airmax failing his presidency. RM pushed for the mods to notice that Shila was unlikely to be a bot and within 3 days she was unbanned. Quite the 'precedent' RM set...

     -RationalMadman

Conclusion
This concludes the induction announcement. Congratulations to all those inducted!

P.S.: Sorry for the delay.

591 days later

Barney
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Hall of Fame V
This year the winners were decreased to two per category, in addition to merging miscellaneous and threads so as to be more inclusive while not diluting the HoF. Due to a continuous stalemate on tied runner-up's, three users were still inducted.

Pursuant to the third Hall of Fame election process, the following are inducted into the DebateArt.com Hall of Fame:
 
-- Users --

WyIted (formerly Wylted... there's an i now)
165 IQ, ex-President of DART, the guy your mother warned you not to hang around with... He's that guy. Homophobic, misogynistic, racist and worst of all a good family man and Christian, this is Wylted.
He's apparently funny too, you'd need to hide your wife from him but he's a devout Christian and would never cheat unless it's with Salma Hayek, God allows all men 1 exception, or more as Trump would say.
He will get you riled up in all kinds of ways, you can never tell what he'll do next... Well you can tell it will seem stupid until it's not.
At first that's your guy, Wylted. Eventually that's your fear, Wylted. Finally, you feel something down there, that's your d- *censored by avid first amendment supporting anti-corporation private military corporation, Ponikshiy Inc.*
     -RationalMadman

Lemming
[placeholder]

zedvictor4
A proud father, a fan of the cycling cardio machine and an ever-present landmark of the website.
Zedvictor4 is a casual poster so you may wonder why he is in the hall of fame. The fact of the matter is that he has the 6th highest post count but 2nd-most likes from posts.
He tends to stick 'down the middle' of most issues and offer an almost poetic way of revealing how both sides of things are futile yet isn't exactly pure-neutral when it comes to site users.
It's safe to say you don't read zedvictor's posts to be highly stimulated but to chill out and go 'oh so that's the middleground approach I didn't think of' before taking your side and fighting your adversaries in the forums that represents the other side.
     -RationalMadman

-- Debates --

Derek Chauvin was not a racist
[placeholder]

All drugs should be legalized

The exploration of such a taboo subject, when done as well as it is here, is incredibly educational; which is the pinnacle of what debates ought to be.
Pro was quite successful in his clear goal of getting the audience to question the status quo on drugs, and he proved that better education would decrease drug death. However, his case highlights the problems of scope creep and interdependencies. Education was not the topic, and can be done independently of legalization. Legalization was the topic, and with so much focus on the other, its success seemed dependent on education.
Con showed how concise a good argument can be, with it growing shorter each round. He even brought up date-rape drugs, to which pro had zero defense for their legalization. While giving proper credit, he excellently quote mined authoritative sources on the topic, such that only about half his characters limit were his own words. And he (figuratively) ended the debate on a rare mic drop, having only a single line of arguments in the final round.
     -Barney

-- Misc.--
This year there is no stand-alone forum category, rather it is combined into a catch-all for what is outside of general user or debate excellence.

If You Have a Random Thought, Post it Here.
This whole thread started because spam threads were outlawed... it serves the same function as a spam thread, but you have to think of a thought in order to post something. So it's able to continue on without mods ruining it, because it isn't a spam thread.
I think this thread is a great piece of site culture. And I think it's closer in terms of content to the "Record Attempt at Most Posts" thread from DDO than the DART version that got put on read-only.
     -MHarman

Rap Battle: Sir.Lancelot vs RationalMadman

[placeholder] 

Conclusion
This concludes the induction announcement. Congratulations to all those inducted!

P.S.: Sorry for the delay... Again.