Friends vs Friends News

Hey, Friends!

Fresh off IGN"s Summer of Gaming showcase, we're super excited to share what Friends vs Friends Year One looks like. We told you this journey was getting started!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



It begins tomorrow with the first BFF Update - Little Lars - and continues in early July when you'll get to visit Baba's Laundromat.

Now you may be thinking Baba's Laundromat is just full of stray pigeons and stinky clothes, but it'll also have :

- 10 new cards
- 15 cosmetics
- 5 new skins
- New Quest Chains

And d'ya know what the best bit is? It's coming 'atcha Free. Of. Charge. That's right, you won't have to pay a dime to get your clothes dried. Or, well, get all that other cool stuff at least. You just have to own Friends vs Friends.

How cool is that?

We're not stopping there, though. We've got lots more to talk about in the weeks and months ahead, so be sure to stay subscribed to our Buddy's Bulletin for all the latest inside news. And gossip from the Mayor, of course.

In the meantime, while you wait for Baba to join the crew on Buddy's Boulevard, make sure to check out tomorrow's Little Lars update! You'll get a new skin, 5 new cards, Hama-chains, and a Lars-themed card-back variant, all available from the Gashapon machine!

Until then, Friend-o's,

- Brainwash Gang & Raw Fury

[h2]Letter from the Team[/h2]

Well, it's been another busy week! We've pushed two fairly big updates live, containing a number of highly requested features such as protection against scenarios where the opposition quits during a match - also known as rage-quits - and a rework of the matchmaking system.

Please check them out below!

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1785150/view/3668791667174962890?l=english

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1785150/view/3691309032058111599?l=english

Speaking of updates, we have also made our first balance change to some of the cards in the game.

• Big Head size increase at max level reduced to 80% (was 100%)
  
• Small Head size decrease at max level reduced to -60% (was -80%)
  
• Rubber Bullets damage bonus at max level reduced to -32% (was -40%)
  
• Steel Bullets damage bonus at max level reduced to 32% (was 40%)
  
• Medkit health recovery at max level reduced to 70 HP (was 80 HP)
  
• Poison card duration is reduced to 5 seconds (was 8 sec)
  
• Poison Bullets damage at min level reduced to 1 (was 1.5)
  
• Poison Bullets damage at max level reduced to 1.5 (was 3)
  
• Poison Bullets tick duration reduced to 2 seconds (was 3 sec)
  
• Titan armor at min level increased to 85% (was 70%)
  
• Titan damage bonus at min level reduced to 20% (was 30%)
  
• Titan damage bonus at max level reduced to 25% (was 40%)
  
• Laika fire rate reduced to 3 rounds per second (was 4.5 RPS)
  
• Katana damage at min level reduced to 40 (was 45)
  
• Boomstick damage is reduced 2 points at all levels
• Boomstick capacity reduced to 6 shots (was 8 shots)
  

[h2]Reveal of the Week[/h2]

Some of you might have noticed that last week's card reveals were especially explosive. This week, we've got a couple more cards we'd like to share. If you’re a fan of those iconic, cheesy action movies from the 80s, then some of these might tickle your fancy.

And we've got some great news for Little Lars players everywhere. These cards will be accompanied by a strikingly fashionable new skin! Rejoice!

This ensemble makes up our very first BFF Update, made up of regular content updates to the game, focusing on a specific character.



Little Lars' BFF Update is out next Tuesday, June 13th!

[h2]Community Spotlight[/h2]

This week, we’re spotlighting an amazing piece featuring Stevie Gull and Donnie B.
It's made by twitter.com/shaferbrown



[h2]Mayor’s Message[/h2]

Hey folks, it’s me, the Mayor of Friendtown. What a treat it’s been to see so many new faces around here since the grand opening last month. It's certainly been keeping me busy. In fact, I’m proud to say that Buddy’s Bulletin has a new sponsor! You'll be hearing much more about them and their business at the IGN Summer of Gaming Showcase, this Monday!

Many of you have been asking about juicy gossip around town. As a Mayor, I do, of course, hear it all. As a matter of fact, I was speaking to Little Lars just yesterday who told me a particularly funny joke! You had to be there. Ha-ha.

Truly a lovely friend!

Anyways, thank you for reading the Mayor’s Message from yours truly, the Mayor. That’s me!

- The Mayor of Friendtown

Hello, Friends!

Remember when we mentioned on Monday that we're working on the matchmaking system? Well, we've got some news to share! This is our first attempt to tackle some of the issues players have been reporting, and we'll keep fine-tuning the matchmaking to make it the absolute best it can be.

[h2]Changelog[/h2]
[h3]Content & Features[/h3]

Matchmaking
• Improved level-based matchmaking: Improved chances of finding matches with players on at a similar level as you & fixed an issue when a party is created and enters the 2v2 queue
  

UI Updates
• Added controller binding to the "Invite Friend" shortcut
  
• Improved UI navigation with controller
  
• Rich text is disabled in nickname tags so that players can't change colors/format
  

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed: Out of bounds & occlusion issues in Subway Station
  
• Fixed: The first voted map is always the picked map for the rematch
  
• Fixed: Friends & "Recently played with" widgets in the Friends menu get mixed up & unsorted after a few seconds
  
• Fixed: "There's nothing to lose at this point" can't be obtained
  
• Fixed: The Self-Destruct card explosion didn’t do any damage, now it does!
  
• Fixed: Bots on Rooftop stay defensive
  
• Fixed: There was a bug where all explosive quests didn’t work as intended
  
• Fixed: Removed the movie playing on the Theatre's screen to avoid random crashes
  

[h3]Issues with matchmaking in Australian regions[/h3]

Additionally, we've received numerous reports about high ping issues & incorrect 'best regions' from users based in Australia. We've been going through this issue with our multiplayer server provider and found out that this issue is, for now, exclusive to all players who have internet provided by the company Optus, or any ISP that relays on the Optus network.

If that's your case, we're terribly sorry, but there's not much we can do on our side. We can tell you about some workarounds some of you found, though!

1. Using Cloudflare WARP. You can access it here: https://1.1.1.1 (it looks shady but we promise it's not!). It's free, so give it a shot if you don't have access to a paid VPN service!

2. Using Optus Game Path. You can access it here: https://www.optus.com.au/broadband-nbn/gaming-internet-plans/game-path

3. Using any VPN service of your choosing. Since the issue is how the Optus network reroutes the connection to our Australia server, this should potentially fix the high ping, no matter the service you use.

Again, we're sorry about this, and we hope these solutions can help you enjoy Friends vs Friends with us ❤️

Until next time!

- Brainwash Gang & Raw Fury

Howdy, Friends!

We just wanted to leave a quick sec here to thank the community that jumped into Friends vs Friends this past week. It's always a nerve-wracking moment when your passion project is released into the wild!

We will be a part of next week's IGN's Summer of Gaming! Tune in on June 12th at 8:50 AM PST/11:50 PM EST/17:50 CEST when we unveil a new trailer on top of what's next to come for our frantic FPS.

Follow this link for more information on the event and how to tune in: https://www.ign.com/articles/summer-of-gaming-2023-schedule-how-to-watch-and-what-to-expect

See you on Friday for the next installment of the Buddy's Bulletin where we unveil unreleased information and updates for the cuddliest character (pfft) from our roster: Little Lars!

- Brainwash Gang & Raw Fury

Howdy, Friends!

We're back with some updates and fixes you've been asking for since the launch last week! We continue to work on matchmaking and you should see some updates soon about our progress.

[h2]Changelog[/h2]
[h3]Content & Features[/h3]

Mid-match quit rewards
• Added a new flow for rage quits: from the second round on, if a user leaves the match the rest are shown the aftermath screen and receive EXP as if they've won. (The match won't get added to the played matches count or the win streak.)
  
  UI Updates
• Improved controller navigation on rematch, main menu & friends menu
  
• Added "Invite friend" shortcut in the hub overlay
  
  Quest Progression
• Quest progress re-enabled when playing with a friend in 1v1
  
  Balancing
• Punch-R damage reduced by 15%
  
  Input Update
• Max sensitivity has increased for controller support
  
• Keyboard and Mouse is now supported with Steam Deck
  

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed: Cash's ring floating over hand
  
• Fixed: Bullet decals stop appearing after a while
  
• Fixed: Mines stop working after being used a few times
  
• Fixed: "Small Head" French descriptions were in Spanish
  
• Fixed: "Easy Target" quest description didn't show the real headshot count needed
  

Until next time!

- Brainwash Gang & Raw Fury