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Write Code, Crush Foes, Get Hired – Multiplayer Programming Tournament

blog.codecombat.com

21–30 of 50 posts

Re: Write Code, Crush Foes, Get Hired – Multiplayer Programming Tournament

#21
post #18

I wonder if the marketing copy of this is inherently biasing it away from women. This isn't to say that there aren't plenty of women who like to "crush foes" - but societal norms are definitely still in the realm of associating that with men.

Though 'crush foes' is just rpg/fantasy-speak for 'beat your opponents'. So they would have to take the competition-part out of it if they wanted to change it.

Re: Write Code, Crush Foes, Get Hired – Multiplayer Programming Tournament

#22
post #20

Have some self-respect. If this was any other profession, a contest like this would not be tolerated. If people get the idea programmers work for free, as long as you have a clever contest, that idea becomes popular and it's bad for all of us in the long run. The fact there's lots of prizes here doesn't change the underlying problem. Contests, in any field, devalue the profession. Even if I was a high school teacher…

I don't know why you're so down on this. It's a competitive game that looks fun, no one is forcing you to take part. The code created here isn't even useful for any other purpose! It's not some 99 designs contest for code, it's like the Stripe CTF challenges if anything.

Agreed, I don't believe they are taking advantage of you.

Re: Write Code, Crush Foes, Get Hired – Multiplayer Programming Tournament

#23
post #11

Great to see CodeCombat getting more exposure. I've actually started to use it to teach Javascript to 10 year olds in my local primary school (through a CodeClub I run). It has been a great experience and a lot of kids are moving quickly through the campaign levels. I even have a few kids who moved on to the multiplayer levels. Quick remark: the computers in the school are Core 2 Duo machines with 1.75GB of RAM. They…

We'll keep working on the RAM needs, but yeah, that is just about the lower limit that I would expect to be able to play the game at all currently. We have a lot of work to do, but don't worry, we'll get it running on older and older hardware as we optimize. Thanks for your patience (and your students'). I've started a GitHub issue to track that coordinate selector bug: https://github.com/codecombat/codecombat/issues…

Oh wow. Please tell me he's French (although in an english school). That might be one of my students, he ranked 7 on a multiplayer level!

I might have a go at a few bugs over the summer after I finish my high-school exams.

Re: Write Code, Crush Foes, Get Hired – Multiplayer Programming Tournament

#24

Have some self-respect. If this was any other profession, a contest like this would not be tolerated. If people get the idea programmers work for free, as long as you have a clever contest, that idea becomes popular and it's bad for all of us in the long run. The fact there's lots of prizes here doesn't change the underlying problem. Contests, in any field, devalue the profession. Even if I was a high school teacher…

Hey pj, sorry you feel that way. I can assure that our intent here is not to get cheap labor, the code that people write won't be usable to use in any way by us or third parties, so as pdenya mentioned you should only enter the contest if you think it's fun!

Re: Write Code, Crush Foes, Get Hired – Multiplayer Programming Tournament

#26
post #17

> Custom CodeCombat Wizard (est. $500 value) Really?

Yeah, artwork is surprisingly expensive if it's customized. Obviously it's possible to get really cheap artwork, but we've found that quality and reliability are worth paying for. We also allow every winner to iterate the design a few times to get what they want.

Re: Write Code, Crush Foes, Get Hired – Multiplayer Programming Tournament

#27
post #2

Someone should really retitle this to $512 programming tournament.

Yeah, I don't like the trend of eye-catching false advertisements either. In a way, this resembles those infomercials that give you a bunch of random stuff along with the core product and then claim that it's a $500 value that you're getting for free!

I would think that they'd want to attract those coders who are not directly interested in cash prizes because anyone with half a brain could tell that the prizes do not match the original $40k advertisement. If you're advertising to a bunch of smart developers, don't treat them like idiots who buy into infomercial style advertising scams. These guys should reconsider spinning the contest as a fun & challenging way to top the leaderboard, and the prizes are just a small token of appreciation for attending the contest.

Re: Write Code, Crush Foes, Get Hired – Multiplayer Programming Tournament

#28

A company blog with no clickable link to the main page?! In 2014?! EDIT: it's there if you widen your browser super wide

Hi malloreon,

You can find the link to the main site in the middle of the top bar of the blog where it says "Click Here for the Main CodeCombat Site".

Re: Write Code, Crush Foes, Get Hired – Multiplayer Programming Tournament

#29
post #18

I wonder if the marketing copy of this is inherently biasing it away from women. This isn't to say that there aren't plenty of women who like to "crush foes" - but societal norms are definitely still in the realm of associating that with men.

We pay a lot of attention to the way we position our site content, and thought this was in line with the copy for other competitive games. I don't think that competitive games are inherently masculine or feminine, but the critique is valid: competitive games I'm familiar with do tend to rely on marketing language that's more targeted at men.

Re: Write Code, Crush Foes, Get Hired – Multiplayer Programming Tournament

#30
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We'll keep working on the RAM needs, but yeah, that is just about the lower limit that I would expect to be able to play the game at all currently. We have a lot of work to do, but don't worry, we'll get it running on older and older hardware as we optimize. Thanks for your patience (and your students'). I've started a GitHub issue to track that coordinate selector bug: https://github.com/codecombat/codecombat/issues…

Oh wow. Please tell me he's French (although in an english school). That might be one of my students, he ranked 7 on a multiplayer level! I might have a go at a few bugs over the summer after I finish my high-school exams.

Oh, which player is your student? Our ten-year-old is American, actually.
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