gramps
c72b61b61e
Records the split so neither side drifts: the app repo holds the real numbers (720p30 free, $10/mo or $400 lifetime, Store individual account) and the site holds only the promise (free forever, every feature unlocked, a paid edition at launch).
109 lines
7.2 KiB
Markdown
109 lines
7.2 KiB
Markdown
# Decisions log — retired paths, kept so they are not re-litigated
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One dated line per decision that **no longer governs**, plus the reason it died. Read only when
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you are about to re-open one of them. Live rules live in the subsystem files; this is the
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graveyard with cause of death.
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## Monetization
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### 2026-10-30 — freemium replaces free-forever (creator ruling)
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Free tier caps output at **720p30**; **$10/month** or **$400 lifetime** unlocks 1080p. Reverses the
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2026-10-08 free-forever ruling below, which was a *current decision*, not an absolute.
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**The website publishes the model, never the numbers** (free forever, every feature unlocked, a paid
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edition at launch) — the terms may still change. The real plan is recorded internally in the site's
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`build-this.md`; keep both in step when it moves.
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### Superseded: free forever (2026-10-08, TASK 54)
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- **2026-09-21** one-time perpetual licence `$29` founder → `$49` list — superseded 6 days later.
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- **2026-09-27** `$10/mo` subscription or `$400` lifetime, **no annual**. Store revenue share was
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verified at **15%** (ADA v8.10 §6(b)(i) → `$8.50` / `$340` net), including subscriptions.
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- **No annual tier** because Microsoft does not pro-rate: *"monthly subscriptions and initial
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(pre-renewal) purchases aren't eligible for a prorated refund"* — a first-year subscriber who
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cancels loses the remaining months and the developer cannot refund it.
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- **Clean numbers, no `.99`** (creator: *"Let's stop with the x.99 stuff"*). The convention exists
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only to make a price look cheaper, which is incoherent for a brand sold on honesty.
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- **Escalation model** (2026-09-01): the credit was deliberately obnoxious self-promo; the cadence
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*is* the nagware — no modals, no feature locks, no stream-time cutoffs.
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- **Pre-GA posture — preview-only flash** (reversed 2026-09-26): the credit used to render in the
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preview and never on the broadcast, to keep test VODs clean. The creator ruled the free tier must
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be honest advertising; it now composites into output and recordings when enabled.
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- **Rejected**: always-on watermark (obscurable — replaced by the flash), hard stream-time cutoffs
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(a stream dying mid-broadcast reads as broken), soft-limit nagging, freemium feature tiers,
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donation-only, and any resolution/quality ceiling. Auto step-down (TASK 33) is a *protect the
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stream* feature, never a monetization penalty.
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- **Polar** — $50 already paid, 5% + $0.50 Starter, merchant of record. Dormant, not
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deleted-in-principle: no product, org ID, key prefix or discount code exists
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(`d105dfa1-…`, `c05fb364-…`, `LCYT-`, `LLAMAFOUNDER`/`LLAMA50`, the portal-validate endpoint and
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the 14-day offline-grace machine are all gone). `Distribution.md` §4.2/§4.5 keeps the design.
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- **Store IAP** was never implemented — `Windows.Services.Store` appears nowhere in the repo.
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- ⚠️ **Two obligations any future subscription would create** (ADA §6(h)): fulfil the whole period
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as marketed (breach → Microsoft may refund in full at its discretion), and **raising the price
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disables auto-renew** — the launch price is effectively locked for the product's life.
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## Distribution — Store route RE-OPENED 2026-10-30 (Individual account)
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**2026-10-30:** the Store is the route again, via a **Microsoft Individual developer account**
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(not Company), so no legal entity is needed and the publisher line shows the verified individual
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name. The creator will open the account; distribution work stays parked until then. The site copy
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("Coming soon to the Microsoft Store") is therefore accurate again, and the 2026-10-22
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"Store is dead / direct + Steam" ruling below is superseded.
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## Superseded: Store route withdrawn 2026-10-22
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- **2026-09-27 Store MSIX + Store IAP decided; 2026-10-22 withdrawn.** A brand name on the
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Store's *publisher* line requires a **Company** account → a registered legal entity (LLC ~$85
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New Mexico with a ~2-week SOS backlog, ~$143 Wyoming). Partner Center does **not** convert an
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Individual account to a Company account later, and an Individual account publishes under the
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verified legal name. The creator will not fund an entity for a nameplate.
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- **2026-10-22 Velopack deleted** — it downloaded and executed, which Store policy 10.2.2 forbids.
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The Store was going to update the app, so that premise died with the route: **the app now has no
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update path**, and `StorePackagingTests` currently asserts that no updater exists — rewrite that
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guard with the chosen updater, never leave it to veto one.
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- **The MSIX package still builds** (159 MB `artifacts/LlamaCasty.msix`, submitted nowhere). The
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route contradiction between `ai.md`'s older text and the TASKS files is settled in one sweep at
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the distribution revisit, not patched piecemeal.
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- **Signing**: Microsoft removed the EV instant-bypass for SmartScreen in March 2024, so EV buys
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what OV buys; the 2026-10-22 ruling is **ship unsigned** and accept the "unrecognized publisher"
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warning until download reputation accrues. Deferred, not rejected.
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- **Steam when $100 exists**: Steam Direct $100/product (recoupable after $1,000 AGR), categories
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*Audio/Video Production* / *Player Tools* (OBS precedent), developer/publisher name self-chosen
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(no entity needed), 5+ 1920×1080 screenshots + capsule art, a build Valve runs, a 2-week live
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page, 30% cut.
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## Product surface — retired
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- **2026-09-24 StreamElements replaced by native alerts** (TASK 43). No third-party widget feed:
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the chat poll *is* the event feed.
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- **2026-09-01 the screens/layers settings audit** was retired into the gold pass (TASK 36 item 3)
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rather than run as session debt.
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- **2026-10-04 launch position**: restoring the saved position was rejected for a derived
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top-left placement. The live rule is in `ui-surface.md`; the old clamp's tolerance range is why
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it must not come back.
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- **D3D11 swap compositor** — superseded by the software compositor (TASK 3 item 16).
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- **Windows 8 / 32-bit support** — 64-bit Windows 10/11 only (creator ruling 2026-10-09).
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- **"There is no v1.x"** (2026-09-01): everything queues to v1 or to *out of product,
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permanently* — no feature parks "for a later version".
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## Out of product — permanently
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Do not build these; each was explicitly ruled out.
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- D3D11 swap compositor (superseded by the software compositor).
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- OBS-style source expansion — game capture, browser-source zoo, media playlist, VLC, colour-key,
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MIDI. The minimal source set is deliberate; creators who need more have graduated to OBS.
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- Multi-layout / profiles / presets — that is what OBS is for.
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- Cross-process stream resume (impossible via the API; creator ruling 2026-09-01).
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- Stream Deck / Loupedeck integration — the device sends keystrokes, and global hotkeys already
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*are* the integration.
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- Per-source audio sync offset — global offset shipped (TASK 22); per-source is the OBS mixer
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rabbit hole and breaks the one-knob audio rule.
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- Chroma key / NVIDIA-only background removal (the bundled ONNX path is the one shipped).
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- Virtual camera output — a different product and a device-driver swamp; our output is one
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YouTube stream.
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- Replay buffer, stream clipping, multi-destination restreaming, an in-app bug reporter, and an
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advanced broadcast-form tab (latency/DVR/embed/projection/CC/region are fixed at sane defaults;
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every exposed field is a support ticket).
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