What Are Revived Debates?
Revive Debates allow users to bring outstanding past debates back into the spotlight.
Every debater receives three revival tokens per month, which can be used to vote for an older Debater of the Month debate, re-entering it into the next month's competition.
This feature gives both new and returning debaters the chance to update, improve, or re-present their previous arguments to a new audience and earn new votes.
How Revive Debates Work
The revival process is designed to celebrate quality and give debates a second life:
- Use Your Tokens: Each user gets three tokens every month. These can be applied to any past Debater of the Month debate they wish to revive.
- Top 6 Selection: The top 6 revived debates will be added to the next DotM.
- Vote to Revive: Once a debate receives enough revival votes, it automatically reappears in the next month's competition.
- Update Arguments: Debaters have a 7-day window to update their arguments. If they don't update within that period, the argument remains unchanged.
- Vote Restrictions: If a debater keeps their argument as is, they will not be eligible to receive new votes from users who had already voted for them in the previous version.
- Win Again: Revived debates are eligible for new votes and prizes, just like current DotM debates.
How Revival Tokens Work
Every debater receives three revival tokens each month, which can be used however they prefer — either all on one debate to boost its chances of revival, or spread across multiple debates.
To be eligible for revival, a debate must be at least three months old, ensuring that only high-quality, time-tested discussions return.
You can manage your tokens and monitor your activity in the Revived Debates Dashboard, accessible from the main menu, home page, or the Debater of the Month (DotM) tab.
Each month, the six debates with the highest revival votes are selected to reappear in the next Debater of the Month competition, marked with a 🧟 "zombie" icon.
Fairness and Transparency
To keep the process fair, debates in the running for revival have a hidden vote count until the end of the month — votes are revealed only once results are finalized to prevent bias.
If a debate fails to make it into the top six but receives at least one vote, it automatically returns to the Revived Debates list. Users can then vote for it again the following month using their refueled tokens.
Why the Feature Exists
Revive Debates celebrates great ideas and great effort. It allows debaters who wish to participate in a debate they love and update their argument, can do so.
It was created to:
- Keep VersyTalks' debate library alive and evolving.
- Allow newcomers to experience impactful debates from the past.
- Give previous debaters a chance to refine their reasoning and showcase growth.