suggestion for website enhancements. (also user experience)

News & General Discussion
1

Hello all,

Note: when i say basic edition, i mean free (thus Unity).
Note2: Apologies for any (possible) Grammar/Wording mistakes, English is not my native language. However i assume you’re able to understand what i’m trying to suggest/explain to you :wink:

ok here we go:

A suggestion for product/information enhancement (user experience):
Looking at the Unity website, i noticed that the following links are far from clear on the version differences between the PRO and basic editions.

http://unity3d.com/unity/features/

The links are all based on the PRO version, not the basic version (former indie).
look for instance at this example: http://unity3d.com/unity/features/shadow-and-light

This is all PRO version only. Can’t be done as the text describes inside the basic edition.

I think it will confuse future/current users, about the abilities per edition. (i know there is a comparison sheet in the store, but it’s too hidden for the first glance)

Potential, and realisticly possible Result: someone, based on the feature list and descriptions (plus pictures), sees itself creating his/her/their game idea into reality, but get a huge dissapointment discovering it isn’t possible in the basic version. (and gives a taste of "but the site said it could be done, who says it can be done if i buy pro? thus potentially the user doesn’t consider it for future projects)

To come short:
For potential users this should be clear, imho.
I think that for each PRO only feature, there should be a symbol or asterisk before the feature, and in the title of the discription page.

what’s your opinion on this? Should UT update these pages, to reflect the differences more?

Update: i noticed the same issue with the online documentation.

PS: i don’t want to bash Unity or Unity PRO products, i’m just thinking out loud, how to improve the product presentation (and therefore enduser experience)

2

You may only have one drum, that Unity is not as full featured as Unity Pro, but I have to applaud your ability to bang the hell out it.

3

There’s a chart

and I don’t think any of the missing features would ruin the engine for anyone.

4

thanks so far, i already said there was a comparison sheet present somewhere on the site. That’s not the point i’m trying to put forward.

5

i guess, with more than 100 reads of this thread, most forum users are unaware/ignorent about the true impact of neglected quality ensurance based on advertisments/information offerings for a product/business (which in this case you all love and have close to your hearts: UT and Unity products).

Or are simply selfish on the topic. (i don’t care as long as… behavior). Understandable in some respect, but too bad nevertheless… really.

6

Or we simply think your making a big deal out of nothing. It might be a good idea to put a link to the chart and some info on pro vs free on the download page, but seriously, 99% of people understand free = limited, and wont be disappointed because its missing 1 thing, and its offering 100 other things for free.

7

True, but it’s about clear communication, in this case about WHAT the limitation are. And i mean upfront information. (knowing before downloading)
So your suggestion about putting the comparison sheet on different locations, thus easier to find, is a good thought.
Though, i think adding a symbol infront of every feature item in the left menu (see links in first post), would also clarify it more.

and to be clear, i know too that free means limited. But you must know how the human brain function in general, about purchages (when in doubt).

What about the documentation? is’t clearly written pre Indie license came to life. (lateron became free.)
it seems it was never adopted to the indie product.
I would suggest, two manuals, one for Unity, and one for PRO. Just to make it more easier to navigate for your version in use.

8

I think there is some reasonableness to your point, in a few occasions I’ve become hopefuly about a given feature being useable only to find out that it’s pro only and it doesn’t say it anywhere, ie in the documentation. Slightly annoying and disappointing.

But with that said, UT also has to consider how they want to market Unity in general - the free version brings in new potential customers who might at some point be more likely to upgrade to the pro version and pay some money, but their main money is coming from the pro version so it’d make sense for them to mainly focus on that rather than make the pro and free version seem equal. … I get your point about making things clear, fair enough, but they’re running a business too.

9

I agree with you on the documentation. Every page that describes a pro-only feature should have a disclaimer or something.

However, for advertising I don’t think it’s huge deal. It’s free, after all, it’s not like they’re ripping you off for anything more than hard drive space and download time.