What is so special about unity-networking that it deserves its own tag?

Question

There is the unity-networking tag.

Is it so special that it needs its own tag?

The excerpt reads:

Unity 5.1 introduced a new framework to handle client+server networking, also known as UNet.

And the description is a quote:

Unity 5.1 has a new and improved Networking system with more flexibility and power than the networking system provided in earlier versions of Unity. It has a lower level NetworkTransport class which is a thin layer above basic sockets and then higher level components which add more useful multiplayer features.

Could questions tagged as such be re-tagged [unity, networking] instead, while keeping the same effect?

We've merged and blacklisted unity-related tags in the past.

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There is also the unet tag, which seems to be about exactly the same thing, so the answers here should apply to that tag as well. And we should make one a synonym of the other if it's decided to keep it as a separate tag.

Answer 1

I can see value in having a tag set aside for the particular networking library/API used in Unity, which I think is what the unity-networking tag is intended to do, judging from its tag description:

Unity 5.1 introduced a new framework to handle client+server networking, also known as UNet.

There are ways to do networking in Unity without using Unity's built-in Unity Networking, such as hand-rolling code or using third-party libraries like photon (which itself has a tag) — so it makes sense to be able to tag each of these use cases differently.

Similarly, I expect it would be possible for someone to be an expert in using Unity's networking API without being an expert in networking generally, and vice versa: an expert in networking may not be an expert in the Unity Networking API (or other APIs with their own tags like Photon...)

So tagging a question unity-networking/unet (I think these should be synonyms) says more than "this question is about networking a Unity game," it says "this question is about using this specific networking API"

This is analogous to tagging a question about using Unreal's node graph-based scripting system with unreal, blueprints, rather than the more generic term for that technology, graphs, to say "I need help with this particular tool, not just this class of problem"

If we find the Unity-Networking tag is being used too broadly to refer to networking scenarios not involving Unity's specific API, renaming the tag to something narrower (eg. making it a synonym of unet) may help reduce this temptation.

Answer 2

I agree with your unity, networking tag solution.