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Question by dval · Jan 20, 2016 at 02:41 AM · flag

How to handle questions about applications outside the Unity workflow?

Earlier today I flagged this question as 'not relevant' because it was about rigging issues in a 3D modeling program. (Blender)
I see that UA has a Blender tag, but wouldn't this more be for the Import process or for FBX settings, or items that have to do with Blender and Unity?

I am curious, did I flag a post for the right reason?

Or are questions for 3rd party applications like Blender, 3dsMax, Maya OK, if they are questions that are outside of the Unity workflow?

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avatar image Dave-Carlile · Jan 21, 2016 at 01:08 PM 0
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If it's just about the other app and not importing then yes, I'd say you did the right thing.

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Answer by incorrect · Jan 20, 2016 at 05:26 AM

I believe this question was not Unity-related at all. There are lot's of questions like general programming, maths, asset editing... Even what I had for breakfast can affect my working progress. :) But if we keep it all and accept any question, Unity Answers will soon bloat to 'Everything Answers' and become completely useless because no-one will be able to find something they look for.

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Answer by Owen-Reynolds · Jan 22, 2016 at 04:32 AM

This was one of the reasons for the HelpRoom area. People who didn't know any better would ask Q's purely about modeling, programming (most common,) making textures. They'd get rejected, but they didn't have the background to understand why, so there was no way to explain in less than a page. So they complained through other channels about being unfairly rejected.

It seemed easier to move Q's like that into a Help Room area, where they wouldn't get in the way, and not hurt anyone's feelings.

No one uses it, and it's a pain to move questions there (I've noticed most Moderators will just answer a Q like "how do I use elses?" in main UA and not bother moving it.) But the theory is that any not completely off-topic spam is moved into the Help Room. Probably someone there will essentiallycut&paste from the docs that models are made in a modeling program, but it makes them feel better about Unity.

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Answer by meat5000 · Feb 15, 2016 at 06:29 PM

I tend to answer Blender questions as although the word Unity may not appear it is totally apparent that it is for a Unity workflow. I have a personal interest in the topic so maybe I'm biased.

However, I read on Blender forums that Mr Wilky and co are tired of the Game-Devvin community moaning about Blender lacking in features and people asking questions in the domain of game Creation as Blender was not really made for that and us using 5% of the program's power is a little bit of an insult to the Blender Gurus. As such, Blender forums are not a great place to go to get Unity Specific Blender questions answered and for that reason I try to answer as many as I can.

I'm not sure how well the forums of other third-party programs handle the Unity relationship so i try to be forgiving: It is usually completely obvious if the question has Nothing to do with the Unity workflow.

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avatar image meat5000 ♦ · Feb 15, 2016 at 06:31 PM 0
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Rule of Thumb : Be reasonable

avatar image Owen-Reynolds · Feb 16, 2016 at 06:48 PM 1
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I think that's fine, as long as you move them to the Help Room.

Lots of $$anonymous$$oderators have always had pet topics that they know don't belong in UA, but want to answer anyway -- you give a typical reason: you enjoy the topic, and don't have a perfect place to redirect.

In the past, $$anonymous$$ods have published these, answered them, had them closed by other $$anonymous$$ods as off-topic ... . But I think it was always an argument about what exceptions we should make, and we pretty all much know what really belongs in regular UA.

The Help Room is a perfect area for not-really-Unity-related pet Q's, where we just feel like helping.

avatar image meat5000 ♦ Owen-Reynolds · Mar 07, 2016 at 12:19 PM 0
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I agree. Its very easy to put them on-topic with Unity, but if it truly never touches upon it I usually have no choice but to reject them.

Having a separate place for this stuff would be good. Ultimately, Unity has agreements, licenses and working relationships with these other groups; Blender Foundation, Autodesk's lot etc and some of the usage is featured in the manual. The usage of these programs is heavily implied and supported so it makes sense for us to offer some kind of help; on-topic :)

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