6 ms·

link to the difference between Stockfighter and Starfighter? (i can't tell which one sounds more exciting based on the title / credentials. am i supposed to?)

patio11 11y ago
Starfighter is to Stockfighter as Blizzard is to World of Warcraft. We (Erin, Thomas, and I) are a company which makes games; Stockfighter is the flagship product of the company for the foreseeable future.
- dvanduzer 11y ago
  Thank you! Although... I still can't tell if this is the Starfighter tech tree or the Stockfighter tech tree. I think the confusion is intentional, and I do like that. I think. :) edit: nobody thought notch was joking about 0x10c, and this is clearly in that vein. but an AVR is a real CPU, and suddenly... mind blown?
  - kasey_junk 11y ago
    Starfighter is the name of the company. Stockfighter is the name of the game. So there are multiple tech trees in Stockfighter, of which this post is about one. Starfighter the company doesn't have tech trees.
    - dvanduzer 11y ago
      > The Starfighter Low-Level Tech Tree (sockpuppet.org) I'm not sure you read this thread. Starfighter the company definitely uses technology. edit: was your post using in-game voice? i'm totally about staying in character :)
      - jsmeaton 11y ago
        Stockfighter is the game. Starfighter is the company. The article you quoted is technically wrong, but since the company has only one game it is conceptually right. Blizzard (the company) is to starfighter (the company).
- tzs 11y ago
  > We (Erin, Thomas, and I) are a company which makes games OK, I'm curious now. I've seen a lot of comments from two of you (you and tptacek) here on HN, and never noticed anything in those that would have led me to guess either of you had a sufficient interest in gaming to want to start a gaming company. Did I just not notice your comments indicating a gaming interest, or were you wise enough to stay out of gaming threads knowing they usually turn to pointless time wasting crap, or what?
  - AdamTReineke 11y ago
    I'm sure patio11 will reply, but my take: The purpose of Starfighter is to engage talented engineers long before they start searching for new jobs. When it's time for a job change, Starfighter will leverage their relationship with the player and the player's demonstrated engineering skills to connect them with employers looking for matching candidates. As high as referral fees are and as hard as great engineers are to find, this looks like a win for everybody.
    - sfk 11y ago
      What a load of marketing speak... You forgot to mention "synergy".
  - kbenson 11y ago
    I think in this case, game is less "Mass Effect" or "Grand Theft Auto" and more alternate reality + really hard (programming/networking) puzzles, where the mechanics to the puzzles have some non-fictional relevance to how you would really exploit, reverse engineer and attack a network or system, thus proving competence in a few key areas. Monetization is through taking people that have both completed and/or done really well in this game and are interested in new employment, and after a few in-person meetings with the Ptaceks and Patrick, you might get a private lunch with a CTO looking to hire (in their words, IIRC). They would get finders fees for that.
  - patio11 11y ago
    Thomas is actively concerned that I describe our products as "games" but I've been having difficulty finding a word the market understands for this, since "CTF" gets blank stares from people on both sides of the market if they don't have a security background. Neither he nor Erin would self-identify as gamers in the same way that I do not self-identify as a ballet enthusiast. Would I self-identify as a gamer? Well, "Ran a WoW raid guild", "I main AD Jungle Evelynn but haven't gotten many games in since having a kid", "My Steam account lists 720 hours of playtime on 60 games." I don't particularly hide this on HN and also don't particularly go out of my way to talk about it. Games, books, and running software companies are my three big hobbies; one of these seems to be most relevant here. You can probably find 5~10 comments from me if you search for WoW, Warcraft, LoL, or Starcraft, but mostly they're talking about business, like you would expect.

patio11 11y ago

Starfighter is to Stockfighter as Blizzard is to World of Warcraft. We (Erin, Thomas, and I) are a company which makes games; Stockfighter is the flagship product of the company for the foreseeable future.

dvanduzer 11y ago
Thank you! Although... I still can't tell if this is the Starfighter tech tree or the Stockfighter tech tree. I think the confusion is intentional, and I do like that. I think. :) edit: nobody thought notch was joking about 0x10c, and this is clearly in that vein. but an AVR is a real CPU, and suddenly... mind blown?
- kasey_junk 11y ago
  Starfighter is the name of the company. Stockfighter is the name of the game. So there are multiple tech trees in Stockfighter, of which this post is about one. Starfighter the company doesn't have tech trees.
  - dvanduzer 11y ago
    > The Starfighter Low-Level Tech Tree (sockpuppet.org) I'm not sure you read this thread. Starfighter the company definitely uses technology. edit: was your post using in-game voice? i'm totally about staying in character :)
    - jsmeaton 11y ago
      Stockfighter is the game. Starfighter is the company. The article you quoted is technically wrong, but since the company has only one game it is conceptually right. Blizzard (the company) is to starfighter (the company).
tzs 11y ago
> We (Erin, Thomas, and I) are a company which makes games OK, I'm curious now. I've seen a lot of comments from two of you (you and tptacek) here on HN, and never noticed anything in those that would have led me to guess either of you had a sufficient interest in gaming to want to start a gaming company. Did I just not notice your comments indicating a gaming interest, or were you wise enough to stay out of gaming threads knowing they usually turn to pointless time wasting crap, or what?
- AdamTReineke 11y ago
  I'm sure patio11 will reply, but my take: The purpose of Starfighter is to engage talented engineers long before they start searching for new jobs. When it's time for a job change, Starfighter will leverage their relationship with the player and the player's demonstrated engineering skills to connect them with employers looking for matching candidates. As high as referral fees are and as hard as great engineers are to find, this looks like a win for everybody.
  - sfk 11y ago
    What a load of marketing speak... You forgot to mention "synergy".
- kbenson 11y ago
  I think in this case, game is less "Mass Effect" or "Grand Theft Auto" and more alternate reality + really hard (programming/networking) puzzles, where the mechanics to the puzzles have some non-fictional relevance to how you would really exploit, reverse engineer and attack a network or system, thus proving competence in a few key areas. Monetization is through taking people that have both completed and/or done really well in this game and are interested in new employment, and after a few in-person meetings with the Ptaceks and Patrick, you might get a private lunch with a CTO looking to hire (in their words, IIRC). They would get finders fees for that.
- patio11 11y ago
  Thomas is actively concerned that I describe our products as "games" but I've been having difficulty finding a word the market understands for this, since "CTF" gets blank stares from people on both sides of the market if they don't have a security background. Neither he nor Erin would self-identify as gamers in the same way that I do not self-identify as a ballet enthusiast. Would I self-identify as a gamer? Well, "Ran a WoW raid guild", "I main AD Jungle Evelynn but haven't gotten many games in since having a kid", "My Steam account lists 720 hours of playtime on 60 games." I don't particularly hide this on HN and also don't particularly go out of my way to talk about it. Games, books, and running software companies are my three big hobbies; one of these seems to be most relevant here. You can probably find 5~10 comments from me if you search for WoW, Warcraft, LoL, or Starcraft, but mostly they're talking about business, like you would expect.