[dragons]

for now it sounds like it requires some "grinding", and for me that sounds like wasted time

I haven't seen enough info, either, but I got the same feeling. When I first read about Starfighter I thought "neat, maybe this is a way to avoid the obnoxious typical interview process by demonstrating what I can do with some kind of ranking system." The Starfighter site implies this "Starfighter is not here to fix the job interview. We're here to destroy it, and replace it with something better" http://starfighters.io/

From reading the OP, now it sounds like a way to filter out a few diamonds-in-the-rough in a very specialized area. The system may teach you something, but the people who will shine and rise to the top will (I think) have some natural talent that makes them stand out. What will the vast majority of players get from participating? And how many hours of time do you have to devote to this simulation before you get introduced to a company (if that even happens)?

Well, maybe I'm not the target market because I'd rather spend my free time building my own business than playing a game. I'm currently doing that. But if my business doesn't work out, and I need to go back to work at some point, I don't see this system helping me. I have no idea how much time it would take, and what the possible reward would be. I hope these questions will be answered eventually.

[tptacek]

Since we're counting on lots of people who aren't in the job market to participate, if people get nothing out of Starfighter other than referrals to jobs, we're doing something very wrong.

The first Starfighter CTF is first and foremost a labor of love. I know the hiring angle dominates discussion of the concept, but I can't say this any more clearly: we are sinking all our energy into building the programming game we've wanted to exist for years. The thing we're building is only peripherally connected to hiring.