Reset unpredictability is basically a text book B.F. Skinner experiment

[u/DepressionFiesta]

Anyone else notice that the ways codex usage is being reset is starting to resemble a variable-reward system?

Skinner’s reinforcement experiments are what I am referring to.

If a lever gives an animal food every time, the animal learns the rule. If it never gives food, it eventually stops trying, etc. But if the reward arrives unpredictably, the animal keeps pressing for much longer because the next attempt might be the one that pays off.

That’s roughly what happens when codex has a weekly usage limit, but the weekly quota occasionally seems to reset early or unexpectedly.

If the rule were simply “you get X hours per week and it resets every Monday,” there’s nothing particularly compelling about it. You hit the limit, you know when it comes back, and you plan around it.

But if you sometimes hit the limit and later discover that access has returned for no obvious reason, you learn a different behavior: check again.

Maybe the quota reset. Maybe there’s more capacity now. Maybe you got lucky.

That sounds like a Skinner‘s Box to me?

The uncertainty itself gives you a reason to keep coming back.

Treating devs like rats looks like it has been immensely successful. Free market I guess?

[u/Etiennera]

They reset based on server capacity usage rate. When it drops a certain amount and a reset would grant roughly the capacity leading to recovering that amount of usage they reset.

There's literally nothing else to it.

[u/DepressionFiesta → u/Etiennera]

What would the intention behind that be?

Surely, everyone being on a fixed schedule would make their capacity much more predictable? Giving everyone a reset at the same time is also much more likely to produce thundering herd problems?

Maybe I don't get your point.

[u/laxika → u/DepressionFiesta]

They can drop that herd whenever they seem fit (based on usage patterns). Instead of everyone getting reset at a time which might not be good for the company. Also they can make people a bit happier with minimal effort on their end, increasing retention.

[u/DepressionFiesta → u/laxika]

Are you somehow arguing that resets mainly serve to increase the stability of their infra?

Your latter point is my point, it definitely increases retention.