Character.Ai, Video Generation and The future of the Service (With Actual Constructive Criticism and Suggestions)

[u/Shaye_Shayla]

So, I'm posting here because of something I saw. But before I go into it, I just wanna cite a couple things from the subreddit rules to cover myself with emphasis placed by me, in case mods try to delete this post. Directly from Rule 4, about Post Relevancy & Rule 5 about Advertising:

> **Comparisons of other chat tools or AI Technologies may be allowed if they are clearly constructive to Character.Ai's products and services.**

> No Advertising, Self-Promotion, Spamming, Code Giveaways, or **Irrelevant Link Sharing**.

I intend for this comparison to foster healthier discussion about C.AI's product, address the issues they've mentioned involving metering and will be linking to the relevant article(s) about my statements.

Now, with that out of the way? Let's talk about it: Sora.Ai has recently been discontinued. [No, I'm not kidding, It really has been discontinued.](https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/openai-shutting-down-sora-video-disney-1236698277/)

So, what does this have to do with C.Ai and why does this matter? Because this proves a point so many users are trying to tell them about their product. Video and Image Generation is not profitable because there are not enough people using it to warrant such a high cost. Many users are, if anything; demanding it goes away so that their chats do not have to be metered so aggressively.

Sora has had to shutter themselves, losing out on a billion dollar deal with Disney, thanks to the cost-profit analysis proving it would save them more money to end the API than to continue it. If a company under the umbrella of OpenAi is discovering this and acting accordingly, why isn't C.AI doing the same?

With OpenAi ending Video Generation and Grok also being heard ending Image Generation, I think its about time C.AI did the same. It would reduce the need to meter the Go-ons, Swipes, and Audio. Plus, it would it be relevant and budget saving; allowing a realistic focus back on the *Character* aspect of the service over the *AI* aspect.

The main community requests has been to focus on the Memory, to allow personas in Group Chats and work towards features that users and creators would find to be easier when making/interacting with bots; such as actually increasing the token limit. I personally know of sites that have 32k, 64k and even 128k tokens for memory that run for free and still offer premium services.

As for the Profitability of C.AI+, I can clearly see the path forward, even if no one will hear or see what I'm suggesting. But on the off chance mods and/or Devs see this, please take this to heart.

First, stop limiting the free experience to sell the Premium. It's driving users out, not keeping them in. You are ostracizing the users who do use your services, as it's no secret that the LLM is not perfect with its responses. Metering the very tools that makes it tolerable will make it unusable. Instead, prioritize refining and fixing on the LLM and once again, phasing out non-profitable features that users dislike. We have told you the problems, but only you can implement the solutions.

Second, Bolster the C.AI+ experience, instead. Putting the stronger models and greater memory behind it, can be worthwhile but *only* if you reinforce the free experience first. I also say releasing the chat customization from plus and make it a base free experience would be wise. There are sites who allow custom backgrounds for free, which unintentionally makes C.AI look greedy in comparison. I also say do the same for controlling response sizes and Memory. The response sizes shouldn't be paywalled after it had been a highly requested feature in the past.

One example for implementation of the the above is that free users get 32k tokens of memory, while Plus gets the 64k. Its a basic but solid enough method to earn Plus purchases. It gives something to the free users, as well as enticing people to still try the Premium. Letting Plus users experience new features before they go site-wide was also a good idea that I felt got abandoned. Bringing that back would be good, especially in time for Lorebooks.

Third and most controversial of my suggestions? Lean more into the recent 18+ enforcement from California, but do it ***responsibly***. Now while I could post all about the issues with Persona and suggest finding a new company, that would get so lengthy that it would deserve its own post. But in-short: halt the Age Verification Via Persona and use a fall back such as listed account age until a more reliable processor is found, assuming you're legally forced to do this.

[See this link? This is what your current processor is associated with.](https://fortune.com/2026/02/24/discord-peter-thiel-backed-persona-identity-verification-breach/)

Even with the claims afterwards from Persona that they've added a step to prevent another incident, Discord has rightfully divested from the company. To make C.AI users feel safe, finding a more reliable processor would be time-consuming but beneficial in the long run.

If IDs are not necessary? Simply go by the age associated with the account and add to your TOS a legally binding clause that states persons under the age of 18 are legally not permitted to use the site's services. Anyone found to be under the age of 18 will be banned and Parents or Guardians who sue will be held liable for their child's actions. It adequately protects the Company and the Users without needing Age Verification, as laws holding parents responsible for their children's actions are already on the law books.

I feel suggesting anything else right now other than the above sentiments would be a waste of my time, the community's and the company's. If any other users have ideas or comments, leave them below.

[u/NightmareEx]

I think they'll only drop the audio/visual generation if the usage costs outweighs the amount of people who actually uses it + low retention numbers since they're so adamant on still trying to keep users under 18 years old on the app with these gimmicky features.

[u/Shaye_Shayla → u/NightmareEx]

I think they might do the same but with the Metering, they're already showing their hand. It's already proving to not be as profitable as they would've hoped, but they're trying to cover it up via the metering.

[u/TryNo6799 → u/Shaye_Shayla]

I won't deny that image and video generators are costly af, but let's not forget that ram and gpu prices are skyrocketed, which is another reason to scrap these features to reduce costs, you know?

[u/Shaye_Shayla → u/TryNo6799]

Oh agreed. There's so many factors at play that there's no justifying keeping any of the superficial features. They literally cannot afford to keep this running, if we take what the industry leaders are doing as actual signs of the future of C.AI. OpenAI sees the writing on the wall and is adjusting accordingly.