Am I allowed to ask a question about Udemy courses?

Question

I want to know what course I can take on Udemy that is specific to general game development terms, such as the math behind it (matrices for transformations), what the specific gamedev lingo or jargon refers to (shaders, culling, ...), ...

I thought this was a great question to ask here, but I read that it is frowned upon to ask a question without one clear answer:

We prefer questions that can be answered, not just discussed.

Am I allowed to ask such questions and if not, where do I ask it (or what courses are good ones in my case? ;))

Answer 1

Questions about "what to learn next" are opinion based. And it's one of the reasons to vote to close a question.

The question being off-topic here, you should not ask it on the main site.

I think GDnet is more appropriate for this kind of discussion. Their model is a forum (as opposed to a Question and Answer site like we are here) which allows a better back and forth dialogue between the users. With this, other users will have a better sense of what you need and will be able to guide you better in your choices.

You can also ask in chat. Maybe someone there knows about what they offer and will be able to guide you.

Answer 2

The existing answers cover the site's policy and rationale well.

One other factor to consider here is that StackExchange is geared toward getting expert help. Most of the detailed answers you get here are written by people with substantial experience in game development — and usually that's a good thing.

But it also means we've been doing it for a while: the world we learned in when we were first getting started is not the world you find yourself in today. I'd wager that Udemy may not have even existed when the folks who've replied in this thread were making our first games.

So when you want to know what tutorials/classes/resources are good for beginners today, you'll probably benefit from more relevant experience by asking your peers & fellow early learners, rather than going to more established experts.

See if there are any gamedev hobbyist or student groups/meetups in your area, or people tweeting about Udemy courses they've taken — they'll be closer to the subject matter you care about than the type of user who hangs out answering questions here. ;)

Answer 3

Alexandre Vaillancourt makes some very good points, and you should definitely address his answer for advice on where to go to ask such questions. However, it is worth addressing the additional reason such questions would be considered off-topic;

Questions about "how to get started," "what to learn next," or "which technology to use" are discussion-oriented questions which involve answers that are either based on opinion, or which are all equally valid. Those kinds of questions are outside the scope of this site. Visit our help center for more information.
_{- Flagging > Closing > Off-Topic (emphasis mine)}

There is more ground to argue whether a question truly is opinion-based; and such questions can usually be salvaged, in one way or another. However, this is a moot point, as your question would most likely be closed for asking "what to learn next" before it was closed for "primarily opinion-based". As pointed out, your welcome to ask about it in chat.

It is worth addressing that this does not make questions in context of Udemy off-topic. For example, you might be able to ask about clarification referencing work you have completed and your own understanding from Udemy. Such questions are not necessarily off-topic, and indeed may make great questions, if they remain within the scope of Game Dev.