I'm good with it, both parties agree to a limit. But what about setting the limit before hand in the spirit of a cage match, you have limited space to move and with a limit you're both on equal ground so it means you have to be intelligent with your space alloted. One might want to say something but in order to say it, they have to weigh the worth with other elements of the essay. Plus the disadvantage if any is even. With an issue like abortion, I totally see the need to extent the limit, I just think an agreed limit should be negotiated before and that might be part of the strategy, one might think they could make their case better in a shorter space so they may attempt to negotiate a shorter essay. Thoughts? thoughts?... 
Addition to the previous post:
When DEbussey enters a debate, Debussey wants to express its full spectrum of ideas. Since Debusseys ideas come from telepathic transfers from Gary Busey, they are usually pretty hard to comprehend (due to stupidity? 
), and the total sum of ideas and arguments = vast. Debussey prefer its ideas to be presented in the form they deserve, at the cost of less users reading it. People that really have something to contribute will read most of it anyway.
Comments: Debussey thinks that both posters should make a rough draft before giving their opinion regarding the word limit. This way, there will be a limit that can be used as an advantage or viceversa, yet, the limit will still allow for each opponent giving it their best shot. Some people are long distance runners, some are sprinters. Meeting in the middle end once the rough drafts = completed is kinda the same as knowing what kind of runner you are before agreeing on the max word limit.
This is not a political debate in the classical sense where all sorts of trickery = allowed. This is a forum to learn from eachother, and the best way to do that is to be clear, precise, and give each "cage combatant" the best opportunity to express him/herself. The competitions will then be determined by each participants arguments and persuasive ability, not by other factors.
