Character.AI’s Latest Shake-Up: PSQ2, Soft Launch, and What “Metering” Really Means
Man, sometimes I feel like I spend more time scrolling through AI chatbot subreddits than actually chatting with bots. It’s a whole world in there, full of drama, complaints, and the occasional gem of an update. Lately, the vibe on r/CharacterAI has been a mix of cautious optimism and eye-rolling skepticism. Why? Because the Character.AI team just dropped another big update about their PSQ2 model, the return of ‘Soft Launch’ for paid users, and some much-needed clarification on ‘metering.’
Every time a major platform like Character.AI announces changes, the community goes into a frenzy. Will it fix the issues we’ve been screaming about? Will it break something else entirely? Will it make us open our wallets even wider? These are the questions that keep us glued to our screens. This latest announcement from /u/MarieLovesMatcha is no different, trying to address some core user frustrations while also, you know, being a business.
Let’s get right into the heart of it, because this update really sets the stage for where Character.AI might be heading. It touches on performance, user experience, and monetization, which are pretty much the holy trinity of AI chatbot concerns right now.
Hey everyone – three updates today!
PipSqueak 2 updates
We believe PSQ2 is a strong foundation for the future of chat on Character.ai. It’s built to improve the structure and quality of chat, while making new features like advanced Memory and the upcoming Lorebook possible.
We can see that the vast majority of you are really enjoying PSQ2, but we've also heard a clear theme in your feedback: replies are leaning too heavily into narration, with not enough dialogue and back-and-forth chat.
We’ve identified the issue causing lack of dialogue and we’ll be rolling out a fix for this as soon as we can.
The team is also working on improvements to address chat pacing and to give you more variation between swipes, and we'll keep refining PSQ2 based on what you're seeing in your chats.
Soft Launch is back for (c.ai+) for a limited time
After the changes to legacy chat styles, we heard your feedback: Soft Launch filled an important niche in your chats. We wanted to find a way to bring it back, and starting today it will return as a (c.ai+) style.
Soft Launch runs on older infrastructure that we’ve been retiring as we move to the latest chat styles like PSQ2, DSQ, and soon DSQ2. We’ve spun up a new effort to keep that older system running longer than originally planned specifically for Soft Launch, and that extra support is only possible for (c.ai+)
While it’s back for now, we can’t promise Soft Launch will stick around forever. Our team is actively working on a new generation of Soft Launch that gives you everything you love about the chat style, while supporting new features like advanced Memory and Lorebook.
About metering
We wanted to clear up some confusion about metering on c.ai. Our March update left a lot of people thinking metering was going to hit normal chats. It isn’t.
Metering is designed for extremely high usage, like hundreds and hundreds of swipes or go-ons in a very short window. It’s very possible that most of you will never encounter it during your time using c.ai — the limits are that high. For the very small number of people who do, (c.ai+) is the unlock. No Charms, no surprise charges.
Thanks to everyone sharing feedback and examples of how you want to see things change. It's directly shaping what we're working on, and we'll keep sharing updates as changes roll out.
Source: r/CharacterAI
Deep Dive into the Character.AI Development Trends
Let’s be real: Character.AI has been on a rollercoaster lately. The introduction of PSQ2 was met with a *lot* of feedback, much of it not exactly glowing. The primary complaint? Bots suddenly sounding like they were narrating a novel instead of having a dynamic conversation. It was a huge frustration point for anyone trying to roleplay or just have a natural chat. So, the acknowledgment that
Storychat: A Fresh Take Worth Checking Out
While we’re on the topic, here’s something that caught my eye recently. Storychat takes a different approach to some of these pain points.
You can try Storychat free with 500 SP and see for yourself.
