I agree Day 1 can be pretty brutal. I may make a rule that on Day 1 once the page count reaches 15, the lowest 3 posters get put in a hate and whoever gets picked gets the Act of God. This way it won't just be the lowest poster in case that person was gone for a couple days but at the same time it keeps everyone talking so they don't fall in the bottom 3.
With that said, I'll make the executive decision that if by page 15 if it looks like everyone is making progress I'll hold off the Act of God but at any point it starts to slow down or it appears you aren't getting any further I'll go ahead and put the low 3 posters in a hat and end it...no more 30+ page Day 1's...unless you are actually making legit progress with the discussion.