Are the Unity Success Advisors worth it?

[Shadoninja]

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

[Kiwasi]

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.

[Shadoninja]

@Kiwasi

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.

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.

[Murgilod]

@Shadoninja

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.

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

[Kiwasi]

@Shadoninja

Well we shouldn’t just assume they aren’t going to be helpful.

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:

Unity Success Advisor — What can they do for you?
Never feel stuck. Only accessible to you as a subscriber, you will have dedicated access to chat with a Unity specialist who can help you with things like:

• Invite you to exclusive live online events hosted by Unity Engineers and Evangelists, including training sessions and live Q&A.
• Help you find tools and resources so you can develop as efficiently and smartly as possible with Unity.
• Introduce new contests and training to boost your creative growth.
• Keep you updated with the newest features available with your subscription.
• Leverage your subscription services to supplement your development.

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’.

[angrypenguin]

@Murgilod

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

@Kiwasi

The internet already contains better learning material for free.

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:

Help you find tools and resources so you can develop as efficiently and smartly as possible with Unity.

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.

[Kiwasi]

@angrypenguin

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

I’m having a very cynical day today.

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

[angrypenguin]

@Kiwasi

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

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

[zombiegorilla]

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.

[Kiwasi]

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.

[Deeeds]

@angrypenguin

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.

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.

[Deeeds]

@zombiegorilla

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.

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.

[angrypenguin]

@Deeeds

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.

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.

@Deeeds

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.

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.

[Deeeds]

@angrypenguin

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.

Couldn’t disagree with you more.

[Ryiah]

@Deeeds

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.

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://discussions.unity.com/t/693883/3
https://discussions.unity.com/t/691531/8

[angrypenguin]

@Deeeds

Couldn’t disagree with you more.

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.

[Deeeds]

@angrypenguin

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.

Not one, but two strawmen. Well done.

[Shadoninja]

@zombiegorilla

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.

I assumed it is unlimited technical support?

[Shadoninja]

@Deeeds

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.

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.

[Joe-Censored]

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.