Gemini 2.5 Flash vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite

Hi all,

I'm new to posting on this sub but I have gotten a lot of positive feedback on my build and have been asked to provide a guide.

**Notes:**

* AIOStreams is awesome but it can be challenging/intimidating to set up for beginners. I hope this guide is helpful regardless of your experience level.
* I sometimes say "required" or "optional" but technically everything here is optional. When I say "optional" here, I mean that it doesn't really take too much away from the main aspects of the build to omit it. You could probably figure out ways to replicate much of the build without some of the "required" things but I won't offer guidance on every possible combination/scenario in this guide. Feel free to ask in the comments though.
* All prices are in USD and are current as of posting.

**Key features of my build:**

1. Optimized: Fewer points of failure and increased redundancy without sacrificing performance.
2. Minimalist: Put all of the "heavy lifting" in the background so that I can keep the UX & UI as simple and clean as possible.
3. Aggressive language filtering/sorting for higher probability of getting correct audio & subtitles.
* Note that my build prioritizes English since it is my native language. I provide instructions for changing this.
4. All addons are within AIOStreams to keep everything fully customizable.
5. New approaches I have not found on this sub.

At the core of this build is AIOStreams. To have all of the addons in my build, I use [Midnight's instance](https://aiostreamsfortheweebsstable.midnightignite.me/stremio/configure). This will not be an all-encompassing guide to AIOStreams, just how to replicate my build. If you are unfamiliar with AIOStreams or just getting started, you can find great guides by following that link. However, my hope is that even a beginner could replicate this build using this guide (but may not fully understand AIOStreams in the end).

# Prerequisites

* Required - a willingness to accept that this probably isn't the perfect setup for you and you'll probably want to tweak it.
* Required - Stremio installed and running.
* Required - at least one debrid service.
* I recommend having two for redundancy.
* If it's just for you, I would recommend getting Real-Debrid and/or TorBox.
* If sharing with family/friends, I would recommend Torbox and/or Premiumize as they allow for concurrent streams from different IPs (Real-Debrid does not). This is what I have.
* Required - [TMDB API Key](https://developer.themoviedb.org/docs/getting-started) (free)
* Required - [TVDB API Key](https://www.thetvdb.com/api-information) (free)
* Required - [RPDB API Key](https://ratingposterdb.com/api-key/) (free)
* Required - [Trakt](https://trakt.tv) Account (free)
* Optional - [Debridio](https://debridio.com)
* A great scraper (good backup to Torrentio) and has other features.
* The price is $10/yr but I think it's worth it for most.
* Optional - [Google AI Studio](http://aistudio.google.com) (Gemini) API Key
* It's free (with rate limits) so why not.
* I went ahead and upgraded to Paid Tier 1 so I don't get rate-limited with multiple family members. It's dirt cheap and you get $300 credit for first 90 days (I've used $0.16 this month lol).

Pro tip: have all your API keys easily accessible as you're setting everything up (e.g., in your notes app).

# Getting Started

Head over to Midnight's instance of AIOStreams: [https://aiostreamsfortheweebsstable.midnightignite.me/stremio/configure](https://aiostreamsfortheweebsstable.midnightignite.me/stremio/configure)

Once there, make sure you select "Advanced" setup mode and familiarize yourself with the home page if this is your first time using AIOStreams.

Each section will now follow the tabs on the left (desktop) or top (mobile) of your screen on the AIOStreams website.

# Services

**Step 1:**

Click on the services tab (cloud icon) and select the debrid services you use. For Real-Debrid, TorBox, and Premiumize, this is as simple as pasting your API key found on the respective debrid's website. Here, I select TorBox and Premiumize but you can choose what you like (won't really make a difference).

**Step 2:**

Enter your RPDB, TMDB, and TVDB API keys at the bottom of the page.

# Addons

**Step 1:**

On the services screen, you can select "Next" or click the addons tab which has a puzzle icon to move forward to the addons section.

**Step 2:**

To the right of "Installed" click "Marketplace" so that we can install the addons we want.

**Step 3:**

In no particular order, you can search & install the following scraper addons:

1. Required - Torrentio
* Free - keep default settings.
* This is a popular scraper for torrents (files) to stream and will likely be the main source for files unless it's down.
* I include the other scrapers below for redundancy if torrentio is down or if there is a niche title. Most are free so why not have more options.
2. Required - Comet
* Free - keep default settings.
3. Required - Jackettio
* Free - keep default settings.
4. Required - TorrentGalaxy
* Free - keep default settings.
5. Required - TorrentsDB
* Free - keep default settings.
6. Required - StremThru Torz
* Free - keep default settings.
7. Optional - TorBox Search
* Paid - Requires TorBox API key entered in the "Services" section previously. This is included with all TorBox plans so "free" if you already have the service.
* Good scraper, backups others.
* Keep default settings.
8. Optional - Debridio Scraper
* Paid - Requires that you enter your Debridio API Key. Debridio is a paid service (see details in prereqs above).
* Good scaper, backups others.
* Paste API key, keep default settings.

Note that you can include a free popular scraper MediaFusion but I've had problems with it in this build. With how many scrapers I've already included, it doesn't really add much in my opinion.

**Step 4:**

In the same AIOStreams Marketplace from Step 3, search & install the following list/miscellaneous addons. These are all kinda optional and just really provide lists for the homepage. If you already have your own lists setup, feel free to substitute (also see step 5 if you can't find them in the marketplace). In no particular order:

1. REMOVED - AI Companion (can use Rotten Tomatoes instead maybe, config [here](https://7a82163c306e-rottentomatoes.baby-beamup.club/configure))
* EDIT - I can no longer recommend this addon as it seems like it’s down permanently. I will keep the instructions here in case it comes back online though.
* LLM Provider: select Gemini (OpenAI Compatible)
* LLM Provider API Key: paste your [Google aistudio](http://aistudio.google.com) api key here.
* Preferred search language: your language here (I put English).
* Model name: gemini-2.5-flash-lite (highest rate limits and fast).
* Maximum results: 10 (adjust to your liking)
* Keep default for everything else.
2. RPDB Catalogs
* Keep default.
3. Streaming Catalogs
* Select the services you want. Keep default for everything else.
4. USA TV
* Free - Keep defaults.
5. AI Search
* Paste AI studio API key
* If on a paid AI studio tier, turn off AI Response Caching. Otherwise, probably better to keep checked to avoid hitting rate limits on free tier.
* Paste RPDB api key.
* Language: yours here.
* Gemini Model Name: gemini-flash-latest
* Number of Recommendations: 20 (adjust to your liking)
6. Debridio TV
* Paid
* Paste your debridio api key and select what channels you want.
* Keep defaults for others.

**Step 5:**

AIOStudio addon marketplace doesn't have all stremio addons. However, you can add your own stremio addons by going to the same Marketplace section from steps 3 & 4, scrolling all the way down, and select configure under custom. Then, you paste the manifest url for the addon here (I just keep defaults). Below are the custom addons we'll configure in no particular order:

1. AIOMetadata
* Configure at: [https://aiometadatafortheweebs.midnightignite.me/configure/](https://aiometadatafortheweebs.midnightignite.me/configure/)
* The configuration is pretty straightforward. Add any of the API keys you have and configure the lists/catalogs to your liking.
* Here, I like to include the Gemini API key and integrate my trakt account for nice recs.
* Copy/paste manifest url at the end into the AIOStreams as instructed above.
2. AIOLists
* Configure at: [https://aiolistsfortheweebs.midnightignite.me](https://aiolistsfortheweebs.midnightignite.me)
* Same as AIOMetadata above but this one is easier.
3. IMDB Catalogs
* Configure at: [https://1fe84bc728af-imdb-catalogs.baby-beamup.club/configure](https://1fe84bc728af-imdb-catalogs.baby-beamup.club/configure)
* Just paste your RPDB api key on config site and then paste manifest url into AIOStreams.

**Step 6:**

Sort the lists/catalogs how you prefer. You can toggle individual lists off to hide them from home & discover pages in Stremio.

**Step 7:**

Go to "Installed" and at the bottom of the page, go to Addon Fetching Strategy. Select Dynamic and paste one of the below versions (change the language if non-English):

Version 2.0 (thanks to u/Razzmatazz1414 & u/HeyIntrovert):

This is the most recently updated one, best for most people. It may take slightly longer than V1 on more niche titles (no noticeable difference on new titles).

`((count(cached(regexMatched(resolution(language(quality(totalStreams, 'Bluray REMUX', 'Bluray', 'WEB-DL') 'English') '2160p')))) >= 3 and (count(cached(regexMatched(resolution(totalStreams, '2160p')))) >= 5 or count(cached(regexMatched(resolution(totalStreams, '1080p')))) >= 5) and count(cached(regexMatched(quality(totalStreams, 'Bluray REMUX', 'Bluray', 'WEB-DL', 'WEBRip')))) >= 5) or count(cached(totalStreams)) >= 3 and totalTimeTaken > 7000) or totalTimeTaken > 10000`

Version 2.1:

Use this one if you have a non-English (or English even) language that is not common you want to even more aggressively search for it. It will exhaustively search for your language, meaning if a stream exists with the language, it will find at least one (may not be high quality/resolution though). However, if a stream with your language does not exist, it will keep searching until the timeout condition which means it will take a while. I plan on optimizing this further and making a separate post for our non-English community but I hope this works in the meantime. MAKE SURE TO CHANGE LANGUAGE IF DESIRED.

`(((count(cached(regexMatched(resolution(language(quality(totalStreams, 'Bluray REMUX', 'Bluray', 'WEB-DL') 'English') '2160p')))) >= 3 and (count(cached(regexMatched(resolution(totalStreams, '2160p')))) >= 5 or count(cached(regexMatched(resolution(totalStreams, '1080p')))) >= 5) and count(cached(regexMatched(quality(totalStreams, 'Bluray REMUX', 'Bluray', 'WEB-DL', 'WEBRip')))) >= 5) or count(cached(totalStreams)) >= 3 and totalTimeTaken > 7000) and count(cached(language(totalStreams,'English'))) > 0) or totalTimeTaken > 10000`

Version 1.0:

My original condition. Use this if the above does not work.

`(count(cached(resolution(language(quality(totalStreams, 'Bluray REMUX', 'Bluray', 'WEB-DL', 'WEBRip') 'English') '2160p'))) >= 3 and (count(cached(resolution(totalStreams, '2160p'))) >= 5 or (count(cached(resolution(totalStreams, '2160p'))) > 0 and count(cached(resolution(totalStreams, '1080p'))) >= 5)) and count(cached(quality(totalStreams, 'Bluray REMUX', 'Bluray', 'WEB-DL', 'WEBRip'))) >= 5 and count(cached(language(totalStreams,'English'))) >= 2) or totalTimeTaken > 7000`

This will fire all of the torrent scrapers at once (in parallel) then as soon as there are "enough" files that are "high quality" then all of the searching stops. Often, this just grabs torrentio files and exits immediately. In the end, this makes sure that torrent search is super fast while also being redundant and gets quality streams.

# Filters

These next few sections are the "meat" of the build. Filters is where we tell AIOStreams which streams/files we want to keep/show after searching.

**Step 1:**

Now we move onto the next tab which is filters (funnel icon).

**Step 2:**

In Cache subsection, I like to exclude uncached (this is like excluding RD download). This makes sure I'm just streaming cached files from debrid and I don't have to wait for them to download to debrid.

**Step 3:**

Go to Resolution subsection. I require 2160p through 480p (nothing else with show up).

Select all resolutions in "Preferred Resolutions" then sort to your liking (I do 2160p first to Unknown last).

**Step 4:**

Quality subsection. I exclude CAM, TS, TC, SCR, Unknown.

I setup preferred qualities in the following order: BluRay REMUX, BluRay, WEB-DL, WEBRip, HDRip, HDTV, DVDRip, HC HD-Rip.

**Step 5:**

Encode subsection. I exclude XviD & DivX. I have the preference sorted: AVC, HEVC, AV1, Unknown.

**Step 6:**

Visual tags. Exlcude 3D. My preference order: HDR+DV, DV Only, DV, HDR10+, HDR10, HDR Only, HDR, 10bit, IMAX, SDR, Unknown.

**Step 7:**

Audio tags. My preference order: Atmos, DD+, DD, DTS, DTS-ES, DTS-HD, DTS-HD MA, TrueHD.

**Step 8:**

Language. Adjust this to your liking. My preference order is: English, Multi, Dual Audio, Dubbed, Unknown.

**Step 9:**

Stream Expression. My preference in order is (change language if non-english):

`language(resolution(cached(streams), '2160p'), 'English', 'Multi')`

`language(resolution(cached(streams), '1440p', '1080p'), 'English', 'Multi')`

This lets me put, for example, 1080p content with "for sure" english over 4K content with unknown/other language. This is aggressive and you may want to omit entirely (or change language, of course).

**Step 10:**

Regex. Here I just import Vidhin's regexes as stated on this page. Just go to the bottom of preferred regex patterns, click import, and paste this url: [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Vidhin05/Releases-Regex/main/merged-anime-regexes.json](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Vidhin05/Releases-Regex/main/merged-anime-regexes.json)

**Step 11:**

Size. I like to globally cap at 30GB because I find I get buffering over that. Adjust to your liking or omit.

**Step 12:**

Result Limits. I set global limits to 9 and resolution limit to 3. Then I get, for example, 3 4K streams, 3 1080p streams, and 3 720p streams (assuming all exist). This is plenty for me as I've done a lot of work on filtering and sorting and keeps my stream list minimal and simple. Adjust to your liking or omit.

**Step 13:**

Deduplicator. Enable this.

I keep the rest of the settings in the filters section as default.

# Sorting

Here is where we tell AIOStreams how to sort the streams/files found after filtering. This is the order in which they'll be displayed in stremio.

Set sort order type to global and include the following sort criteria: Library, Cached, Stream Expression Matched, Resolution, Language, Quality, Regex Patterns, Visual Tag, Encode, Size, Seeders.

I sort in the order above. This is aggressive with respect to language. Feel free to move language a bit lower if you care less. I found this is a good order for me.

# Formatter

Under Formatter Selection, select Custom. Then, paste this into name template:

`{stream.resolution::exists["{stream.resolution::replace('2160p','4K')}"||"NA"]}{service.cached::isfalse[" Download"||""]}`

Then for description template:

`{stream.seasonEpisode::exists["{stream.seasonEpisode::join('')}{tools.newLine}"||""]}{service.shortName}{service.cached::isfalse[" | ⬇️ {stream.seeders}"||""]}{stream.size::>0[" | {stream.size::bytes}"||""]}{tools.newLine}{stream.languages::exists["{stream.languages::join(', ')}"||"Language Unknown"]}{tools.newLine}{stream.resolution::=2160p::or::stream.resolution::=4K["★★★"||""]}{stream.resolution::=1080p["★★"||""]}{stream.resolution::=720p["★"||""]}{stream.resolution::=2160p::or::stream.resolution::=4K::or::stream.resolution::=1080p::or::stream.resolution::=720p[""||"★"]}{stream.quality::=WEB-DL::or::stream.quality::=BluRay::or::stream.quality::~REMUX["★"||""]}{stream.uLanguageCodes::~EN::or::stream.languageCodes::~EN["★"||""]}`

Here is an example of what it looks like:

https://preview.redd.it/l84vnht3s0bg1.png?width=2868&format=png&auto=webp&s=da9626fa8c4fff3d0557074fa5d9fec0b5da8aa7

I have also been experimenting with replacing the language with quality. Here is the description template for that:

`{stream.seasonEpisode::exists["{stream.seasonEpisode::join('')}{tools.newLine}"||""]}{service.shortName}{service.cached::isfalse[" | ⬇️ {stream.seeders}"||""]}{stream.size::>0[" | {stream.size::bytes}"||""]}{tools.newLine}{stream.quality::exists["{stream.quality}"||""]}{tools.newLine}{stream.resolution::=2160p::or::stream.resolution::=4K["★★★"||""]}{stream.resolution::=1080p["★★"||""]}{stream.resolution::=720p["★"||""]}{stream.resolution::=2160p::or::stream.resolution::=4K::or::stream.resolution::=1080p::or::stream.resolution::=720p[""||"★"]}{stream.quality::=WEB-DL::or::stream.quality::=BluRay::or::stream.quality::~REMUX["★"||""]}{stream.uLanguageCodes::~EN::or::stream.languageCodes::~EN["★"||""]}`

# Proxy

I leave everything as default here.

# Miscellaneous

I just enable pre-cache next episode (just a safety measure) and auto play. Keep everything else as default.

# Save & Install

Create a password and write it down (seriously). Click create and write down your UUID (very seriously). The only way to access/tweak this configuration in the future is via this UUID and Password combo.

Click install and import into Stremio as you normally do with addons!

# Final Notes

Under this build, the only addons I have in Stremio are Cinameta, Local Files, Trakt Integration, OpenSubtitles Pro, and AIOStreams (that we just configured). I personally delete the other addons and also use [this Addon Manager](https://stremio-addon-manager.pages.dev) to remove the popular Cinameta lists (removes from search and home page) and also remove the Trakt lists (we have these elsewhere).

This guide was requested by u/Fwhy_ u/DrZakarySmith u/[Equivalent\_Hawk\_9769](/user/Equivalent_Hawk_9769/) u/[BilgeMongoose](/user/BilgeMongoose/) and others!

Edit: Forgot to add my template to the post, dang! I couldn’t figure out how to get AIOStreams to accept the URL so unfortunately you have to download manually to use it (or copy/paste the json into a text editor for safety). Also idk if it fully works but you can always read the json file. Please let me know if there are problems. [https://drive.proton.me/urls/YYBWZGNXP0#QccY8og0POBf](https://drive.proton.me/urls/YYBWZGNXP0#QccY8og0POBf)

Edit 2: thank you for the amazing feedback, support, and awards! You all are truly who make this community what it is. I’m trying my hardest to respond to everyone’s questions! If I miss you on accident, feel free to DM me!

Source: Moneycontrol \[[Article Link](https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/startup/sarvam-ai-launches-30b-and-105b-models-says-105b-outperforms-deepseek-r1-and-gemini-flash-on-key-benchmarks-13834399.html)\]

>Bengaluru-based AI startup just announced the launch of two new large language models, a 30-billion-parameter model and a 105-billion-parameter model, both trained from scratch.

“At 105 billion parameters, on most benchmarks this model beats DeepSeek R1 released a year ago, which was a 600-billion-parameter model."

>“It is cheaper than something like a Gemini Flash, but outperforms it in many benchmarks,” Kumar said.

>On Indian language benchmarks, Kumar said the model delivers stronger performance than several larger competitors.

>“Even with something like Gemini 2.5 Flash, which is a bigger and more expensive model, we find that the Indian language performance of this model is even better.”

Sarvam was earlier announced as the first startup selected to build India’s foundational AI model under the mission.Article LinkBengaluru-based AI startup just announced the launch of two new large language models, a 30-billion-parameter model and a 105-billion-parameter model, both trained from scratch.

“At 105 billion parameters, on most benchmarks this model beats DeepSeek R1 released a year ago, which was a 600-billion-parameter model."It is cheaper than something like a Gemini Flash, but outperforms it in many benchmarks,” Kumar said. On Indian language benchmarks, Kumar said the model delivers stronger performance than several larger competitors. “Even with something like Gemini 2.5 Flash, which is a bigger and more expensive model, we find that the Indian language performance of this model is even better.”

Sarvam was earlier announced as the first startup selected to build India’s foundational AI model under the mission.

Playing around with Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (sorry, not calling it that other name) just now, I felt like Oppenheimer staring at the fireball. Such an enormity of new power, so suddenly.

The masturbators of tomorrow will marvel that people were once limited to non-customized pornography.

Seriously, I think this changes everything.

The CL-40 was nerfed in Season 3 — complaints dropped. Then it was buffed in Season 4 — complaints **tripled**. They calmed down. Then it was buffed *again* in Season 6 — and complaints tripled *again*. A perfect buff→backlash→calm→buff→backlash cycle, visible across 247,453 Steam reviews. The Sword? Complaints have *doubled* since Season 3 despite multiple nerfs — and 27 players independently suggested the same fix: "just remove it." One 247-hour veteran couldn't take it anymore: *"GET THE LIGHT SWORD OUT OF THE GAME!"* (I feel his pain). Meanwhile, 135,000 players called this game "fun and addictive" — the most praised aspect by a landslide.

I downloaded every single Steam review for THE FINALS (247,453 total, 15 languages, 9 seasons), fed them through a two-stage AI pipeline, and built a [15-page interactive dashboard](https://aryzhkin.github.io/the-finals/) to let you explore it all yourself. Buff cycles, hidden patterns, 440K specific complaints and praise — the entire AI analysis that uncovered all of this cost **$9.30**. Here's what 247K players are actually saying — not 10 Reddit posts, but a quarter million data points.

---

### What I did

- Scraped all 247K reviews via the Steam API (15 languages, Seasons 0 through 9)
- **Stage 1**: AI classified each review into 42 categories (30 negative, 12 positive) — cost: $3.30
- **Stage 2**: AI extracted 440,481 specific complaints, suggestions, and praise — cost: $6.00
- Normalized everything against a database of game entities (weapons, gadgets, abilities) from THE FINALS Wiki
- Parsed 106 patch notes (470 balance changes) from THE FINALS Wiki and mapped them to player complaints
- Built a [15-page interactive dashboard](https://aryzhkin.github.io/the-finals/) — [completely open source](https://github.com/aryzhkin/the-finals)

**Total cost of the entire AI analysis: $9.30.**

---

### Community's Top Pain Points

What do 247K players actually complain about? Here's the all-time ranking alongside a comparison of the last two "three-season windows" (S4–S6 vs S7–S9), normalized per 1,000 reviews:

| # | Issue | Total | S4–S6 /1K | S7–S9 /1K | Trend |
|---|-------|-------|-----------|-----------|-------|
| 1 | Cheating / hackers | 8,327 | 18.9 | 15.0 | ↓ 21% |
| 2 | Matchmaking (skill disparity) | 5,472 | 32.1 | **36.2** | **↑ 13%** |
| 3 | Server crashes | 2,656 | 6.1 | 5.7 | — |
| 4 | Light class: overpowered | 2,249 | 9.5 | 10.1 | ↑ 6% |
| 5 | Server latency / lag | 1,850 | 7.0 | 8.2 | ↑ 17% |
| 6 | Heavy class: overpowered | 1,587 | 3.2 | 3.2 | — |
| 7 | Server disconnects | 1,333 | 1.9 | 3.7 | ↑ 95% |
| 8 | Game design: unbalanced | 1,180 | 4.4 | 4.3 | — |
| 9 | Cloaking Device: overpowered | 1,071 | 0.9 | 0.0 | fixed |
| 10 | Anti-cheat: ineffective | 955 | 2.5 | 1.6 | ↓ 36% |

The all-time ranking is misleading — cheating dominated at launch (5,395 complaints in S1 alone!), but it's down 21% in S7–S9. Cloaking Device — fixed. But **matchmaking keeps climbing** (+13%) and is now the clear #1 issue by a wide margin. Server disconnects have nearly doubled, lag is up too — network infrastructure is losing ground.

---

### Community's Top Requests

| # | Request | Mentions |
|---|---------|----------|
| 1 | More game modes | 1,352 |
| 2 | Region lock | 946 |
| 3 | More maps | 833 |
| 4 | More weapons | 514 |
| 5 | Text chat | 385 |
| 6 | Russian localization | 319 |

Trends: region lock requests **tripled** in recent seasons (S4–S6 → S7–S9), text chat appeared out of nowhere. "More game modes" and "more maps" are declining — and credit to Embark here: TDM was added in S5, maps are updated regularly, and the data shows players noticed. Some requests also shift dramatically depending on playtime — more on that below.

About region lock: if you read the actual reviews, this isn't an abstract request. The vast majority ask for region lock because of cheating on Asian servers. The main voices come from Korean, Japanese, and Thai players. In S1 the request was massive (6.7 per 1,000 reviews), then died down (0.3 in S4), and in S7–S9 it climbed back up — which may indicate a new wave of problems in the region. And an important point: if cheaters are rampant on Asian servers, the anti-cheat vulnerability exists — and other regions are at risk too. This is a systemic problem, not a regional one.

---

### What Players Love (yes, there's a LOT to love)

Before you think this is a hate post — the positive data is massive:

| # | Praise | Mentions |
|---|--------|----------|
| 1 | Fun & addictive gameplay | 135,000+ |
| 2 | Destruction physics | 13,702 |
| 3 | Free-to-play model | 8,298 |
| 4 | Graphics & visuals | 8,033 |
| 5 | Movement system | 6,416 |
| 6 | Gunplay feel | 3,414 |

135K players called this game fun. And what matters: praise is **rock solid** — fun, destruction, and movement didn't budge between S4–S6 and S7–S9. F2P and gunplay even grew (+24% and +17%). The core gameplay loop — destruction, movement, gunplay — is what keeps people coming back. This is the foundation Embark should never touch.

Some of my favorite actual reviews from the dataset:

> *"I was too fat and slow to get to the top of the building to steal the vault, so I just brought the building down to me. 10/10 by far."*

> *"Please, I can't sleep... I can hear someone is stealing my cashout. There is invisible light, Heavy is coming..."* — a 358-hour veteran, probably with PTSD

> *"Just played with my boys for 3 hours straight. Didn't win a damn thing. Had a great time anyway."*

---

### The Juicy Part: Patch Notes vs. Player Complaints

This is where it gets really interesting. I parsed all 106 patch notes from THE FINALS Wiki (470 balance changes across 9 seasons) and mapped them to the actual complaint data. Some patterns are striking:

**CL-40 Grenade Launcher — The Buff-Backlash Cycle**
- S3: nerfed (damage 110→93). Complaints: 7.9 per 1,000 reviews.
- S4: **buffed** (damage 93→117, blast radius 9→30cm). Complaints: **21.0** (+166%).
- S5: no changes. Complaints calmed to 5.7.
- S6: **buffed again** (radius 30→60cm). Complaints: back up to 20.7 by S7.
- A textbook buff→backlash→calm→buff→backlash cycle.

**Sword — Buffs, Nerfs, Rework, and Complaints That Keep Climbing**
- S4: initial buff (lunge ~5m→~6m). Mid-S4 and S6: two nerfs (lunge shortened, secondary damage 140→105)
- S7: major rework — primary damage 74→88, lunge range to 7m, lunge speed +17%
- Despite nerfs, complaints climbed from 29.6/1000 (S3) to **60.7** (S9) — an all-time high
- The S7 rework appears to have accelerated the trend: 32.5 (S6) → 50.8 (S7) → 60.7 (S9)

**Cloaking Device — How a Rework Can Backfire**
- S1–S4: complaints were steadily declining (45.9 → 18.6 per 1000)
- S5: rework — fire and poison no longer break invisibility (previously the main way to reveal a cloaked player) → complaints **surged** to 31.0 (+67%)
- S5–S6: a series of nerfs (duration 133s→27s, increased visibility, added activation delay) → back down to 17.5
- A classic case of "removed counterplay → invisibility became unstoppable → had to roll it back"

**Important disclaimer**: correlation ≠ causation. Complaint changes can also reflect meta shifts, player count changes, or attention shifting to new issues. But when a buff lines up perfectly with a complaint spike, and a nerf lines up with a drop... the pattern is hard to ignore.

You can explore every entity's timeline with patch markers on the dashboard — it's the Patch Notes page.

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### Newcomers vs. Veterans: Two Different Games

One of the most interesting findings: **what "the community" wants depends entirely on who you ask**.

The dashboard has playtime filters — you can see the data through the eyes of newcomers (0–10h), regulars (50–100h), or hardcore players (500h+). The rankings shift dramatically:

- **Veterans** focus on: balance issues, anti-cheat quality, matchmaking fairness
- **Newcomers** focus on: content variety, server stability, basic accessibility
- The **cohort heatmap** on the dashboard shows approval varying by 10-15 percentage points across playtime brackets

Neither perspective is "wrong." But lumping them together hides the nuance. Retention starts with newcomers — if they quit due to cheaters or confusing UI, they never become veterans. But endgame quality is what keeps veterans engaged.

**"More game modes" — the top request... but which modes exactly?**

"More game modes" is the top request overall (1,352 mentions), but 80% come from players with under 50 hours. Filter to veterans and it drops sharply. And if you read the actual reviews, the picture becomes clear: newcomers come from COD/CS2/Valorant and expect Team Deathmatch. Instead, they find objective-based modes with cashouts and mandatory trios. Typical quotes: *"Why can't I just go team deathmatch and not worry about the money?"*, *"Not friendly to solo players — teammates quit on you"*. They haven't "failed to learn" the modes — they want a **different type of game** inside THE FINALS.

And here's the interesting part: Embark actually did it — **TDM was introduced as an LTM in S5, then made permanent in S6**. What does the data show?

- Requests specifically for "Add: Team Deathmatch" — S1: 54, S3: 12, S5: 9 (some reviews from before the LTM launched). After S5 — **zero**. TDM requests completely disappeared.
- But the general "more modes" request lives on: per 1,000 reviews — S4: 2.7, S5: 2.4, S6: 1.9, S7: 1.8, S8: 1.6, S9: 1.5.
- The downward trend **started long before TDM** (S1: 7.9 → S4: 2.7) — natural filtering: those who didn't accept the game's formula simply left.

Conclusion: TDM solved the specific problem — TDM requests dropped to zero. But "I want more modes" keeps coming, and after TDM was added it's unclear what people actually want — no specifics in the reviews, just a general "more variety." Personally, I think the game has plenty of modes and they're great — but the data says not everyone agrees. If you have ideas about what modes the game actually needs — drop them in the comments, I'm curious to hear.

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### If I Were Advising Embark (Based on the Data)

**1. Anti-cheat is the #1 priority across ALL player segments.**
8,327 cheating complaints + 955 "anti-cheat ineffective" mentions. It's the top issue for newcomers AND veterans. No amount of new content matters if players feel the matches aren't fair.

**2. Don't touch the holy trinity: destruction, movement, gunplay.**
These three mechanics account for 23,500+ praise mentions. They're the reason 135K people called this game fun. Protect them at all costs.

**3. The Sword keeps getting stronger — and complaints keep climbing.**
60.7 complaints per 1,000 reviews in S9, up from 29.6 in S3. Embark has tried nerfs (S4, S6), but the S7 rework (7m lunge, higher damage) pushed complaints to record highs. The current iteration is the most complained-about version yet.

**4. Servers — a bigger problem than it looks.**
Crashes (2,656) + lag (1,850) + disconnects (1,333) = 5,839 complaints combined. In the table these are three separate rows, but they're really one systemic issue — and it's **bigger** than matchmaking (5,472). Server stability is especially critical for retaining newcomers: if the game crashes in the first few hours, there won't be a second chance.

And a general note on working with data: **listen to different player cohorts separately.** "More game modes" being a top request masks the fact that it's almost exclusively a newcomer ask. Veterans want balance and competitive integrity. Both matter, but they require different solutions.

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### How It Was Done (for the curious)

- Started with regex-based classification → too many edge cases → switched to AI
- Model: Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite via PayPerQ ($0.07/M input tokens)
- Two-stage pipeline: categorize → extract specific issues
- Game entity data from [THE FINALS Wiki](https://www.thefinals.wiki/wiki/Main_Page)
- ~5 days of work total — 3 days building the pipeline and dashboard, then 2 more days of data quality audits, bug fixes, and polishing (fixing data integrity issues, adding disclaimers, verifying every number)
- **Completely open source** — link below

Fair warning: the dashboard UI isn't perfect — I know there's room for improvement on the design side. But this was a side project that already took way more time than I planned, and honestly I think it turned out pretty decent for a first attempt. The data and the analysis are what matter most here.

The data is current as of the scrape date but I haven't decided yet whether I'll keep it updated going forward. If there's enough interest — I'll set up regular updates and keep the dashboard fresh with new seasons and patches.

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### What's Inside the Dashboard (15 Pages)

Here's a quick tour so you know what you're clicking into:

1. **Overview** — top-level metrics (247K reviews, approval rate, volume trends), top negative/positive categories with season & playtime filters, review volume timeline
2. **Community Insights** — the granular AI extraction: specific complaints, suggestions, and praise (440K data points), filterable by season & playtime, with optional vote-weighting
3. **Season Health** — approval rate and review volume per season, daily sentiment charts, top complaints/praise per season, recurring cross-season problems
4. **Player Journey** — how sentiment shifts with playtime (0–10h newcomers vs. 500h+ veterans), category heatmaps by playtime bracket, cohort × season approval matrix
5. **Praise vs Complaints** — same game aspects get both love and hate — paired categories show the contrast, plus cohort approval trends across seasons
6. **Entity Tracker** — search any weapon, gadget, or ability and see its mention timeline across seasons with complaint/praise ratio
7. **Category Deep-Dive** — pick any of the 42 categories and see its season trend + playtime distribution + related specific issues
8. **Language Analysis** — approval rates and complaint profiles by review language (15 languages), with deviation-from-global-average charts
9. **Top Reviews** — most helpful and most funny reviews, filterable by season, with a "Random Funny Review" button
10. **Review Explorer** — drill down from any category/issue to read actual player reviews, stratified by playtime bracket
11. **Word Cloud** — visual tag cloud of all categories sized by frequency, colored by sentiment
12. **Review Bombing** — daily/weekly spike detection for negative review surges, worst days table, patch date overlays
13. **Patch Notes** — all 106 patches (470 balance changes) mapped to complaint timelines — the buff→backlash analysis lives here
14. **Methodology** — full transparency on the AI pipeline, model parameters, confidence metrics, and all caveats
15. **About** — data sources, tech stack, credits

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### Links

- **[Interactive Dashboard](https://aryzhkin.github.io/the-finals/)** — 15 pages of charts, filters, and drill-downs
- **[Source Code](https://github.com/aryzhkin/the-finals)** — scraper, AI pipeline, dashboard, everything

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**If you were Embark — what would you prioritize first? And if you dig into the dashboard — share what you find, I'm curious what you'll uncover.**