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Hi everyone, Jay here.

I'm reaching out because I've honestly reached the point where I can't stay silent anymore about what's happening with Character.AI.

When I first started using Character.AI in either 2021 or 2022, it genuinely seemed like something different from anything else out there. The character chatbots were impressive, especially since I had never experienced anything like them before. Not only did they feel creative, different, and fun, but they also felt emotionally engaging and helpful at times. I would spend hours chatting with those characters, creating stories, sharing emotional moments, and just having fun without any restrictions.

The switch from the old website design to the new one didn't bother me at first. Some of the updates and changes made sense and improved the appearance of certain features, so I stayed optimistic, believing the platform would get better over time.

I was impressed when I unexpectedly received a free CAI+ subscription. The ability to change themes, customize chat bubbles, and access extra features made my experience feel more personalized and enjoyable. Although the free subscription eventually ended, I was open to the change. Life goes on, and I continued using the platform each day because I truly valued it.

Now, when I continue chatting with characters, a pop-up suddenly appears saying that I've reached the swipe limit, which really pisses me off.

Let's be realistic for a moment.

If I joined a website without any disruptions and then limitations suddenly appeared, people would obviously be dissatisfied. They're going to ask themselves: "Why did I get attached to this platform in the first place?" and "Why should I pay for CAI+ just to continue doing something that used to feel effortless?"

I don't even have a PayPal account. Like many others, I don’t have access to online payment methods. To be perfectly honest, I'm fed up with companies constantly locking basic features behind paywalls.

I know some people won't believe me. Some will say what they're reading sounds cringey, overdramatic, or ridiculous. Others will act like any expression of criticism automatically means "you're just whining".

I'll tell you this directly: I hate those kinds of people.

They pretend nothing is wrong. They act superior for defending every bad decision. They either dismiss others' opinions or view criticism as strictly negative.

Meanwhile, people are growing increasingly annoyed with each passing day.

I just really want Character.AI to become enjoyable again and provide an open, creative experience without constantly limiting people.

If this situation continues to worsen, people may eventually decide to leave for good.

And if nothing changes, I firmly believe that Character.AI will gradually ruin its reputation and may even shut down permanently if people stop paying attention to it. Developers may be able to ignore criticism, but users are the reason platforms survive in the first place.

So, let's bring the peaceful nature of Character.AI back better than ever.

No swipe limits. No unnecessary restrictions. No more pushing basic users into subscriptions just to have normal conversations.

That’s all I can say. I hope you understand where I'm coming from.

Thanks for reading.

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[-] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

Not sure what the point here is, actually. Lets say a brand new business starts handing out free cookies to generate buzz and every day you pass by, you drop in and take a free cookie. Then they start charging for the cookies because theyre making a loss because so many people are demanding free cookies. You can either not drop in any more, or the company can continue to operate at a loss. Either way, the end result is the company goes out of business and nobody ever gets cookies from them any more.

Hope you understand where im coming from. If you appreciate the product, its not unreasonable to support the business.

this post was submitted on 22 May 2026
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