Friend-room setup that avoids most failures
Steam reviews repeatedly complain that friends cannot land in the same match. The fix is not magic: keep the first room simple, then add maps and rules after the group proves it can connect.
- Host creates a private Custom Room and waits in lobby until everyone joins.
- All players use the same region / server tag. Do not mix VPN and non-VPN routing.
- Start with an official map. Add workshop maps after the first successful round.
- If two friends fail, recreate the room instead of retrying the same broken lobby.