Format war

"Format war" was a magic phrase used to cast a spell on quizbowl discussion fora, causing them to stop the folly of discussing quizbowl. To the wizards using this phrase, any attempt at discussing the merits or drawbacks of any tournament, regardless of the tone or aims of the discussion, was construed as comparing that tournament to some other tournament. Such implicit or explicit comparisons were, for magical reasons, viewed as the precise opposite of what the quizbowl forum should be used for. People such as Hayden Hurst and Doug O'Neal, who were fond of using the "format war" spell (citation needed), apparently believed that any invocation of it automatically showed that they were on the non-judgmental high ground and cast their foolish opponents into the underworld, ending the debate.