Netcode and bandwidth improvements, mods policy change, the road ahead

Rebound v1.3.1 is now live ːreboundː

Improvements

- Several netcode improvements have been made that will help improve the worst case scenarios
- Reduced the bandwidth usage of the game slightly to improve slow connections

Fixes

- Futuristick now has a stick highlight
- Created a permanent fix for the Steam authentication change
- Fixed players sometimes being literally frozen (with ice) on the end game screen
- Patched a minor security concern that could crash servers ($200 bug bounty awarded to Wallie for reporting it)

Modding Policy Update

Before today, our policy on modding was to allow it as long as there was no competitive advantage and didn't go around our monetisation. Unfortunately we need to take a different stance to maintain the competitive integrity and stability of the game. From this update onwards modding is no longer allowed. You'll notice if you have mods installed, the game will not work. Make sure to completely uninstall the game and install it again to fix this problem. We are not taking action this update so the news of the policy change can spread but from v1.4.0 onwards we will start taking action against the accounts of people that modify the game. In the past, we have seen mods as more advanced feature requests and have implemented several concepts into the game in an official capacity (clubs system for casters, arena changes, dark ice,..). There are a few cool mods that we still plan to implement officially after this change to make sure legit players don't lose out on any functionality. Thank you for your understanding.

The Road Ahead

We've been asked about what the future brings for Slapshot, here's some more insight into our plans:
- We're currently working on an overhaul to the shop. A lot of people have told us they wait way too long for a rotation as the amount of cosmetics we have increases.
- Season 2 is in production. We're planning to create a smaller season pass with 30 tiers (which will also be cheaper). With a new season come season rewards, these are in production too. We're estimating a release for late October. An official announcement with the exact date will be made at least one month before its release.
- After the above, we plan to focus on a full game replay system as the next major feature. It's still some time out but it will happen!
- Of course smaller additions and improvements will still be made as always

Happy slapping!