i think we should have debate chat rooms so that we can discuss our ideas with others, faster and more easily. I'm sure a lot of people have attempted to have a discussion with someone in the forums and it gets annoying, waiting and checking for a response. but with chat rooms organized by certain topics, things would be much easier.
No, I don't think this is a good idea for several reasons.
I think that people will not take their time to come up with a position and argument when it comes to a chat room. Chat rooms are traditionally short-sentence answers that give no indication of one speaking starting a conversation and another ending. Chats easily get broken up by multiple streams of conversation and lack of moderation. The best way for a debate to work is either passively or actively, and I feel that chat straddles that line.
I prefer the debates profiles started by Moegreche. Anyone can hop in on those as long as you find someone to oppose you, and it is a more formal way to discuss it. I think a formal venue for intelligent debates is preferable, such as these profiles or even on the forums. Chat rooms are more 'stream of consciousness' than forums, I believe.
As my dearest friend DragonMistress has already stated, Moe has set up an excellent debate system. Heck, it even gives out AP to the winner of each debate. You can not get much better than that. Anything else is frivolous and overkill.
The forums provide a much better source for reasoned discussion (not that we achieve it all the time...) Trying to have a debate in a chat room would just get messy.