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The point of an online discussion is not to win or lose, it's to learn and hopefully educate others.

Online discussions can go on forever.

But if you keep score, one side might consider giving up if it is obvious that it is losing.

What if the side that's losing is right?

They did not make their case well or perhaps the forum is not an appropriate one. They can try again in another debate.

So, is it working yet?

Welcome to democracy @work ;)

I think of karma as the "game" part of sites like this. The winner would be the one with high karma. It's just not very satisfying to win.