Not sure where to place that. Maybe it belongs to the collaboration section.
Since I placed my programming offer to the collaboration section I get a lot of pm’s. I am not sure, but I think not all of them a serious.
Many of them have there own thread in the collaboration section, is this a good sign or can it be a fake?
How can I find out who is serous? Few have a professional webpage other don’t.
Is the webpage a good indicator?
Thanks for reading and helping
I don’t think any of that is a good indicator on whether they are serious. If I were you I would ask questions like how is the team organized and ran? What qualifications do each of the members have? What does the team expect out of you? There are so many other questions but that’s all I could think of right now. If they get huffy or defensive on any that is a good indication to me that it isn’t a serious project.
Im sure most of them are real, but maybe 99% dont know what they are doing / are incapable of leading a team. Its hard work. Most of them probably dont have experience making games. It is what it is.
So do you want to join me? Lets make a demo ftw! This is a half serious question.
You can’t really. Even seriously invested project can fall through most of the time (like 90%).
The only way you can weed out those totally obvious one is probably just judging by the way they frame their scope vs their capabilities. Is it too ambitious? Is it under staffed ? Are they teenagers? Is it MMO? 
Some obvious pointers - are there typos in their recruitment threads? Its pretty obvious if they can’t even get their spellings and grammars right they aren’t educated enough to make games! (or have the maturity for it! )
What does that mean? Why half serious?
I think something is not ok in this community 
There is nothing wrong with this community. Its just Unity community is grown so large now its by far the largest community out there compare to others (UDK, CryEngine, Leadwerks, Shiva, 3D Game Studio, Torque, C4…etc etc). So of course you going to get a lot of these. Like all things in real life, 90% rule RULES! 90% of business fails within 1 year, then out of that 10% the 90% fails within 10 years… its the same with all game projects.
You just have to look at the offer that you like best and give it a try. No one can ever be sure. Even if they are serious, and have the experience to make a game, that doesn’t guarantee they will be successful.
If your concern that maybe they are spam or bots, then no, im sure there are no bots spamming that they need help 
But I do actually want some help with coding for my game, but my game is on hold anyways so no need. Thats why it was a half serious question.
If you’re going to do programming for them I’d look first at the quality of their GDD. Is it comprehensive and well written?
Do they have concept art, good open communications channels, and a dedicated team, and a clear vision?
How long has the team been together? How much progress have they made?
I’d also have a Skype interview with the members, a conference call, and ask some questions. Ask difficult questions, and ask lots of questions.
If you’ve received lots of requests you are in the position to decide who you want to work with. I’d suggest working with the most professional looking/sounding team, who knows what they want out the project, and they know where it’s going. Also follow your gut instinct. If something sounds fishy or you don’t get a good feeling about a project or the group… you’re probably right.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
Hi ppan, this is just my personal opinion, but I don’t think you should necessarily look at someone’s seriousness, as there are a lot of people who are deadly serious that they will create the next World of Warcraft and really believe it. Perhaps you should look instead at someone’s competence or ability?
As Meltdown says, looking at what someone has already created will give you an idea of how capable they are and this can be a good indicator of the sort of results they will produce along the way. If they haven’t produced anything, then why not? If they don’t know how the mechanics of the game work, then they won’t be able to tell you either and you’ll be sat doing nothing whilst waiting for them to come up with those details.
If someone is looking for a programmer, then they will need to be able to communicate with you effectively to provide you with the information you need to write your code. This is especially important in an online collaboration, where you may be in different time zones. If, for example, they ask you for a character controller, can they give precise instructions about how the character can move, whether they can double jump, can they move in mid air etcetera, or do they just say that he does ‘cool stuff like in <INSERT GAME YOU’VE NEVER PLAYED BEFORE>’. The less clear their instructions, the harder it will be for you to complete your work without having to ask them something.
Listen to this.
Generally speaking, I prefer contracting with well established quantities (website, portfolio, contact page, reputation → written contract stating well defined deliverables + timelog + payment milestones + opt-out clauses) and never got in trouble that way. It also keeps your level high.
While that may apply to commercial work, its a lot tougher to apply that formula to collaboration where work is done for free.
Exactly
Torsh, no offense, but you are on of these guys who opens up a new big business plan in collab section every week, which all would lead to AVOID.
I am still confused about few things here, hope I get it soon.
If they haven’t even bothered to make some sort of simple prototype with the basic assets in Unity, OR don’t have any original artwork, models or concept art to show in their thread, stay away. These projects are most likely going no where, and they are just wasting your time and theirs, a lot of people who post in the collab section are in serious need of a reality check.
Hi,
I run a successful business developing apps, and have done quite well for myself. I wouldn’t actually use anyone from the collab section of this site because it’s infested with kids trying to poach developers and either rip them off, or promise them payment that will never arrive. They treat if like trying to poach a mage or something from a rival guild on wow.
Some tips:
agree to quarterly milestone payments. If you aren’t paid then for the work, you can stop the project without losing much time. If they won’t agree to milestone payments then why bother?
if it smells bad, it is bad. It smells bad for a reason. It’s not because of fairies or quantum dimensions, or cat poo. Trust your instincts.
the unity forums are available to anyone on the internet who signs up. Don’t assume it’s a valid unity user. Word of mouth can go a long way.
I hate Skype, Everyone wants to Bleeping skype… ugh
Thats not true… I have a thread in the collab section offering my services free of charge with the intentions to improve my skills. I ask for no money, just challenges…
As someone looking for artists for a project in the collaboration section, I can honestly say that I truly hate that section of the forums. Real project threads like mine often get buried in a sea of troll threads, MMO threads, or “Game Studios” and “Companies” that are not real companies, but a twelve year old, claiming to be the CEO idea man, who will “allow you to keep 60% of profits for your game”.
There has to be a better place to recruit talent for Unity. It is looking more and more clear to me that I will not find anyone of worth through the Collaboration section.
The paid work section
