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Are the Unity Success Advisors worth it?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Shadoninja, Jul 13, 2018.

  1. Shadoninja

    Shadoninja

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    I was thinking about getting Unity Plus just so I can have a Unity Advisor to help me through technical questions with the engine. It does not appear that I am able to do a 1 month subscription (both options require a 1 year commitment), so I want to hear people from the Plus/Pro side on how useful they have found the advisors
     
  2. Kiwasi

    Kiwasi

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    Didn't even know they existed last time I was on plus. I don't really see how they will be anymore helpful then random forum posters.

    Maybe I should get a job as a Unity Advisor...

    Edit: Also with a plus subscription you can really only expect to get a couple of hours worth of time a month. You aren't paying for much more then that.
     
  3. Shadoninja

    Shadoninja

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    Well we shouldn't just assume they aren't going to be helpful. They may be really really good at explaining certain subtleties about the engine. I am definitely curious about response times when questions pop up.
     
  4. Murgilod

    Murgilod

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    I just don't see them offering anything that the collective knowledge of the internet can't match, honestly.
     
  5. Kiwasi

    Kiwasi

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    Why not? My experience with the unity certification course work that was locked behind the plus paywall is that is wasn't helpful. The internet already contains better learning material for free.

    Doing some further digging, here is the advertising blurb for the success advisor:

    Read carefully. Ignore the marketing speak. What it actually says is the advisor will do something like this:
    • Send you invitations to Unity promotional events
    • Send you advertising material for new assets on the store
    • Send you advertising material about Unity competitions
    • Send you advertising material on new features
    • Send you advertising material on subscription services
    At no point does the list include 'talk to a real person about technical questions with the engine'.
     
  6. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    Sure, but the internet also has lots of junk that will send you barking up the wrong tree. One of the buggest challenges for people at the early stages of learning is that they don't know enough yet to tell the difference between good resources and bad. With that in mind, dot point #2 sounds like it could potentially be highly valuable:
    It does also say it's chat access, which means it should be at least partly bi-directional.

    I have no idea whether this is a useful service or not, but lets not be too cynnical without reason for it. ;)
     
  7. Kiwasi

    Kiwasi

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    I'm having a very cynical day today. :p

    How much of a support persons time can you really buy for just $25 a month?
     
  8. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    Hardly any. But how many people paying for it will actually use it?
     
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  9. zombiegorilla

    zombiegorilla

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    If @Kiwasi was accurately assessing the marketing text, how many people, like the op, will assume it is unlimited technical support? I foresee some frustrating chat sessions in people’s future. ;)
     
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  10. Kiwasi

    Kiwasi

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    If I was still on plus I would go check it out for you, just to see how far one can push the limits of the included support.
     
    Joe-Censored likes this.
  11. Deeeds

    Deeeds

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    The second part of this problem is this: nobody with the knowledge to go through and critique, rate and subsequently recommend learning materials is doing so. Nor are they building on what's out there when making anything new. It's a mess.

    The same folks that could asses the quality of learning materials often respond to newb-ish questions with: "there's tonnes of resources on the internet..." without any reference, link, recommendation or even the provision of basic keywords and terms to help the poor sods with Google.
     
  12. Deeeds

    Deeeds

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    If Unity put a tenth of the resources they put into marketing communicating into documentation and good quality manual writing, they'd sell more licenses and have more happy, rapidly learning, productive users creating more interest in Unity.

    But that kind of virtuous loop doesn't seem to have occurred to anyone making decisions on where to spend writing and communication resources.

    Try to untangle the docs on Cinemachine. Or Animators, or Timelines, or the Playables. Oh... the Playables. That documentation is hilariously bad.

    But the cake that eats itself lays waiting, like a honeypot, at the Simple Animation Component. If it's simple, it should be simple to explain it. Not seeing that.
     
  13. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    That's not true at all. People around here recommend learning resources regularly.

    Getting past that, complaining that the people who help aren't helping enough or the right way is missing the point. The thing is that just as people make resources that aren't very good, people can also give recommendations, critiques or ratings that aren't very good. The same thing that stops a newbie from recognising the quality of a resource is similarly going to make them unable to effectively evaluate 3rd party ratings.

    Unfortunately, I suspect that the best way to deal with this is for newbies to identify reputable people and either specifically look up their recommendations, or ask them. Which brings us right back to people 'round here answering exactly that kind of question regularly.

    There has to be some balance. Usually the people who get that kind of response either haven't tried to find an answer for themselves, or haven't communicated that. If someone hasn't put their own effort in then they can't really expect more of others.
     
    Kiwasi likes this.
  14. Deeeds

    Deeeds

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    Couldn't disagree with you more.
     
  15. Ryiah

    Ryiah

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    My recommendations are posted in Getting Started. You just have to actively read the threads where people are asking for them or create a new thread yourself. My posts are not being stickied and thus they will be buried but that's fine because recommendations are subject to change.

    That said you need to temper your expectations. Creating an exhaustive list that evaluates, critiques, and rates them would be a full time job. Quite possibly multiple full time jobs. We're all volunteers here including the moderators so unless you have a solid way to monetize this you're going to have to live with what you're getting.

    Below are example posts.

    https://forum.unity.com/threads/what-is-best-site-for-top-quality-unity-courses.520502/#post-3414471
    https://forum.unity.com/threads/is-...lsight-by-unity-complete.517225/#post-3390171
     
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  16. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    Then get Plus/Pro and ask your Success Advisor and let us know how it works out for you.

    Or, if you don't need that, get started on compiling that list of critiqued and rated recommendations that you expect someone to make.
     
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  17. Deeeds

    Deeeds

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    Not one, but two strawmen. Well done.
     
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  18. Shadoninja

    Shadoninja

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    I assumed it is unlimited technical support?
     
  19. Shadoninja

    Shadoninja

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    It is funny that you brought up the Animation Component. That is where I just got eaten alive trying to sift through their C# docs. I would also like to test out their Playables as an alternative to their traditional approach to animation, but didn't feel too good after reading those docs either.
     
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  20. Joe-Censored

    Joe-Censored

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    When I first got an email about my new Unity Advisor, I didn't read it as a technical support person. They aren't going to look at your code, they aren't going to troubleshoot your issues.

    They will probably suggest tutorials or assets that will generally help with implementing a feature, but nothing as far as down to specific lines of code. They might be willing to pass on questions to people with more knowledge on topics, but not sure about that. That is all just my impression. I haven't used one yet.
     
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  21. Deeeds

    Deeeds

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    I've done a lot of testing of Animation component and using/driving it with code, recently, and now moved to that, away from Animator. It was mostly trial and error, as docs and "Legacy" history mean it's not been articulated in recent times, nor explained well. An Ian Dundore video revealed its benefits, and I chose to believe him. He was right on.

    That Ian Dundore works for Unity is amazing. That he's not given a secretary and writer to help him articulate his insights and wisdom for easy, rapid, referencing and learning, and mass consumption, is a travesty.

    For me, Animation Components and clips almost "just work", after figuring out how to use them, as I'd like them to work.

    If I was to imagine a Unity Success Adviso; I'd hope it was someone like Ian Dundore, personally considering my situations and needs within their insights and understandings of Unity's nuances, weaknesses and strengths. At their limits, they'd reach up to someone within Unity able to answer questions exactly, precisely and beneficially to an objective.

    Unfortunately, Dundore seems to be somewhat unique in the Unity lineup.

    -----------
    Playables look to have gone unloved and forgotten, in the race to promote Timeline and Cinemachine.

    If you spend anytime on it, I'd like to know your findings. I have found little to nothing about them, but am also curious, but currently satiated by what I can do with the Animation Component. And not the world's best coder, nor at deciphering scant documentation.
     
  22. MrLucid72

    MrLucid72

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    Hmm, did Unity forget they advertised the success advisor? They said you'll get an email with instructions how to connect.

    I didn't get his email and I'm fairly sure no one in this thread did, either, or perhaps at least 1 of us would be able to share their experience haha.
     
  23. I've got the Advisor spam for a while, then I just unsubscribed. I don't think they can provide me anything valuable I can't find myself in minutes (and they probably would just offer me some assets or services).

    I just want to note that Ian Dundore indeed awesome, but he's not doing that alone, the whole team he's in is awesome, they relentlessly document problems, tricks and how-tos while they're helping out the corp clients and they share with us. I'm always looking forward to these talks.