"Radon" or "Radium": a one-time purchase that is lighter than Plutonium

(#3602) Feature Under consideration billing profiles

Current problem

User wants to just customize their discriminator. To do so, they must pay Plutonium price. Problem is that user doesn't use voice chat or streaming or other infrastructure. They just want to customize their discriminator.

Proposed change

Introduce a low-cost/lower-tier subscription option called "Radon" or "Radium" (since radon is a gas and radium is lighter than plutonium on the periodic table) that just allows a user to customize their discriminator. EDIT: My proposal is now: one-time payments for non-Plutonium users to be able to set their discriminator. One payment per discriminator change. Pricing up to the team. Plutonium's unlimited discriminator changes are unaffected by this proposal.

Platform

feedback.fluxer.com

Additional information

the credit for this goes to the community. thank you fluxer hq

History

13 comments

vicky 4 votes 1d ago 3 replies

Hmmm, while the end-result here is definitely something nice (being able to customise your discriminator for a lower cost than plutonium); I would say that I'm generally against multiplying offers because it can very easily introduce confusion (even with clear documentation or resources to help with the choice). Nitro basic and Nitro are one such example of confusing subscriptions in my opinion. As for a one-time payment, while — I think — a nice idea; I worry that the same problem could apply, as well as another. Right now, paying for plutonium (or having it gifted) gives you a temporary ability to change your discriminator, which will be re-generated randomly at the end of your subscription. If we introduce a one-time purchase of "discriminator change" it raises the question of: (1) How long does it last?

If it lasts forever, then it theoretically lowers the value of plutonium since that particular feature is now overwritten by that one-time purchase you made
If it's limited in time, it's not really a one-time purchase any more
What if you want to change it later down the line? Do you buy the permanent ability to change it at will, or a one-time change that you would have to buy again every time you want to change it?

(2) How much does it cost?

If it were a subscription, it would make sense to be cheaper than plutonium, as it offers very limited features in comparison. However, as a one-time purchase it becomes harder to gauge how much it is worth in comparison to plutonium.
- Pricing it lower than plutonium, especially with plutonium's control over your discriminator being temporary; makes this particular feature of plutonium worth a lot less, unless you have the absolute certainty that you won't ever suspend your subscription it will probably be best to invest in that one-time purchase if you're even slightly interested in having control over your discriminator.
- On the contrary, pricing it higher than plutonium could maybe make the customer feel like Fluxer Platform AB is trying to force their hands and buy a plutonium subscription

Overall, I would say that, while it is a nice idea to have more control over your discriminator (hence your fluxer identity) the execution might be a little tricky to pull off. At least I don't know what would a good solution be. On the other hand, an argument in favour is that, right now, the lack of consistency and control in your own discriminator makes it really annoying to outsource your Fluxer account. What I mean by that is my own example: I unfortunately don't have the financial means of sustaining a Fluxer subscription but, thanks to the generosity of other users, got to enjoy plutonium twice. Each time, I set my discriminator to the current 7777; but for a month only — meaning that everytime it changes, I have to edit everywhere I've put my Fluxer handle (contact forms, mails, websites, whatever). Some of which I don't have control over anymore (namely, mails). Which could be a real concern should people use Fluxer professionally down the line.

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astromahdi OP2 votes 2h ago 2 replies

Thank you for your detailed reply. For (1): I propose that a one-time purchase of discriminator changing would be "forever". If someone wants to change their discriminator down the line, they would pay again, if they do not have the Plutonium subscription. For (2): I have reconsidered and no longer think discriminator changes without Plutonium should be a recurring subscription. One-time purchases, on the other hand, make more sense since the change is one-at-a-time. I was initially thinking that identity stability would be the allure of a subscription for Radon/Radium, but after your points raised, I think the same stability can be achieved by one-time purchases safely. Thanks again for your thoughtful reply.

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vicky 2 votes 2h ago 1 reply

I think if we have a one-time "change your discriminator (or, I guess, full username)" purchase, it would make more sense to me that the discriminator would then not be re-rolled after a plutonium expiry. I think it makes it much easier to market and explain:

Without any re-rolls

Plutonium: Enjoy all plutonium perks and the ability to change your discriminator at will.
Radium: Gift yourself a one-time discriminator change!

With re-rolls

Plutonium: All premium perks and the ability to change your discriminator at will!

Warning

Attention, should your subscription expire, your custom discriminator will be re-rolled (unless you paid for it with Radium).

Radium: Gift yourself a one-time discriminator change, forever!

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astromahdi OP1 vote 2h ago

Agreed. Plutonium behavior would have to change, in my opinion, to "no re-roll after expiry" unless the team is willing to maintain the logic behind "did the user change their discriminator via Radium even though they had Plutonium?"

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AlexPewMaster 2 votes 10h ago

In my opinion, letting non-paying users change their discriminator one-time for free would be a neat compromise. Existing Plutonium subscribers most likely have already customized their discriminator (or have refrained from doing so because of the fear of re-randomization, like me), so their unique identity wouldn't be impacted with that change. Some mobile games (for example Clash of Clans) have the same system: You can change your name for free one-time, but after that, you have to pay for subsequent changes. This is also closely related: Plutonium discriminators re-randomize once it runs out. This holds paying user's discriminator (and therefore established identity) behind a paywall. TL;DR: Non-paying users should be able to change their discriminator only for once and Plutonium discriminators shouldn't re-randomize once it runs out.

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astromahdi OP1 vote 1d ago 1 reply

Or, maybe it isn't a subscription. Maybe it's a one-time payment for a non-subscribed user that is cheaper than plutonium to change their discriminator?

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astromahdi OP1 vote 2h ago

I have decided that a one-time fee will be my proposal, per customization of discriminator, for non-plutonium users.

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sodiboo 1 vote 1d ago 3 replies

Problem is that user doesn't use voice chat or streaming or other infrastructure

i think this is a compelling argument why discriminators should not be gated behind plutonium at all. it's not something that costs anything to provide. so why charge for it? Root is another chat app like Fluxer and Discord. with their equivalent to Plutonium they make this promise:

purely cosmetic touches [...] are free today and always will be. We're never putting self-expression behind a paywall. [...] We charge for things that cost us real money to provide, like HD streaming, that deliver genuine value beyond decoration, [...].

i think that ultimately, if accommodating users who want a discriminator but no plutonium is desired, it should only ever be under this principle. the idea of having several different subscriptions or purchase options in the app feels inherently dangerous, because it easily leads to the perception that Fluxer is predatorily monitized. almost nothing can make that worth the risk. Signal usernames have a discriminator but they're not monetized at all. you have to pick some digits, and if they're available, they're yours to keep! --- one thing i always liked about discord was that its usernames were this freeform thing where your desired name was never "taken". the discriminator would just be different. i actually think allowing discriminator customization kinda goes against that? because if you can choose your discriminator, then your desired discriminator can be taken, so now your desired full username can be taken... so you're back at the problem that discriminators were invented to solve. why have discriminators at all if they're not arbitrary for everyone?

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sodiboo 1 vote 1d ago 2 replies

besides making it free for everyone or abolishing the perk, maybe discriminator customization could be a perk, just not of Plutonium? maybe it could be for people who are recognized as being significant in some way for fluxer? like, if you report a bug or submit a pull request? something where you are not paying money, but still somehow making Fluxer better? that way, people who want this username customization don't need to decide whether it's better to just buy full Plutonium instead. in the back of my mind, I'm inspired by Hypixel's nickname functionality, where only YouTubers (a status you apply for, rather than pay for) get to choose their nickname freely. all others can only get a randomly assigned one. you cannot pay for exactly this perk.

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astromahdi OP1 vote 2h ago 1 reply

I can see the argument for de-pricing discriminator customization, however I think it's a value proposition of the Plutonium subscription (yes, I know, I'm a Plutonium subscriber, so I am psychologically biased to "protect my purchase", but I can see your perspective). Granted, I'm not an ecommerce wizard or even like thinking about ecommerce topics, so my opinions on value props and subscription allure is limited. I think raising the bar for discriminator customization to "significant in some way for fluxer" is risky - why: it would encourage spam "contributions" just for the purpose of the perk, or the perception that "those who are selected for discriminator selection" are some kind of "sEkRiT cLuB" that are opaquely determined by platform staff or moderation. I wouldn't like to see Fluxer get that kind of perception for having those groups (I know I'm not the Fluxer team, but that's just my wish as an observer and community member).

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sodiboo 1 vote 2h ago

i agree that it's a value proposition . and that can be a good thing. in that case, i want to argue that "Plutonium should be reasonably priced, such that most users can comfortably afford it". if it's considered "too expensive" for a user, maybe that's the real problem and the price should be lowered? [see also: regional pricing, income inequality] at any rate, having more than one subscription option within the app feels like it is a dangerous slippery slope to "overmonetization", or even just the perception thereof. one thing that i noticed about Fluxer when i heard about it at first which immediately turned me off big time was that Plutonium perks are just Discord Nitro perks. i had the impression that "this is just as much of a moneygrab as discord is". only with the launch of FluxFur, with entirely different leadership, did i actually let myself try Fluxer. i've obviously since fallen in love with it, but i still think Plutonium feels like the one thing that should DEFINITELY NOT have been copied from Discord. the main reason i'm not more vocal about this is because i understand that development needs to be sustainable; the last thing I'd want is to try and kneecap the revenue source of a small team pouring countless hours into improving the software i want to bet my social life on. like, for months, i completely ignored Fluxer, because i perceived its monetization as being predatory without even trying it. adding another user-facing transaction will contribute to others dismissing Fluxer for the same reason. ---

I think raising the bar for discriminator customization to "significant in some way for fluxer" is risky - why: it would encourage spam "contributions" just for the purpose of the perk

i think Not Having A Quantifiable Requirement can go a long way to prevent the spam. do NOT make it "anyone who gets a PR merged"; that's how you get AI slop in your review queue. make the requirement be to actually do something cool. impress the core maintainers. make them think you're cool.

the perception that "those who are selected for discriminator selection" are some kind of "sEkRiT cLuB" that are opaquely determined by platform staff or moderation

the opaqueness is kinda the point to prevent it becoming a target. if people can "optimize" for it, then it's a bad measure. i think this reputation is less bad than the reputation of being predatorily monetized. but really, the concerns with making it a park of any contribution (financial or otherwise), are a good reason for why it shouldn't be a perk at all. just let anyone customize their discriminator. or let nobody customize it (random for everyone). or only let it be customized if the name is unique across the platform (this would encourage people to actually pick unique usernames still, perhaps, without forcing them to). with federation, it would feel unfair that remote users get to customize their discriminator for free but you don't. so i think that's also a great reason to make it free for everyone. i really like Signal's approach: every username must end with at least two digits (it's a discriminator, but you must choose it along with the rest of your name). it really does go a long way towards preventing people from feeling like "someone else took my name :( "

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Naomi 1 vote 6h ago 1 reply

I doubt this could really work as a monthly subscription. After VAT and Stripe fees, I'd estimate Fluxer only keeps around ~€3.5 for every €5 subscription payment, even less so in countries with higher VAT like Hungary. A cheaper subscription, like a €2.5/month one, would be hit even harder, probably around €1.5 per purchase. You could take a page out of Migadu's book and have it be yearly-only for the lowest tier, so it could be €10-20 a year, maybe? Either way, though, I definitely wouldn't add a subscription entirely focused on discriminators. Federation v2 will almost certainly affect usernames and discriminators, and considering it's relatively high up on the roadmap, making a subscription, much less a one-time purchase, based on a feature that might not exist in 2 years would be a waste of development time and consumer money. If discriminators still exist after federation v2 is added, then I think this could be something to be considered. Until then, it's hard to justify.

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astromahdi OP1 vote 2h ago

Agreed that it should not be a subscription. I agree with vicky above.

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