Hacker News Reader

the never give a number advice is good if you are early career and lack a track record or you have poor information with regards to your own value but terrible advice for most mid career developers who should have the tools to estimate their own worth (peers, levels.fyi, their current comp)

opening with a high but not unthinkable number is way more likely to maximize your comp than playing games and refusing to give a number. the worst case is they deem you not worth it and stop the process but if you are confident in your worth that is a good outcome for you

I think your attitude about this is too negative. Making them open is not "playing games" and serious companies don't regard it as play or jerking them around, they know it's just a part of negotiation.

this is exactly right. negotiating up is hard.

The key is to not allow them to anchor your comp. Which leads right back to rule #1: never be opening.