When using the Steam version of any Maniaplanet environment, the Maniaplanet client has microlag/stuttering (frame drops happening like every second) when having too many friends (online?). Apparently, the amount of friends matters, because not all Steam version users I talked with, have this issue.
I have around 200 Steam friends, they are not listed in the friendslist of Maniaplanet, but probably somewhere in the background (memory), because I see Maniaplanet notifications are popping up whenever a Steam friend is coming online.
Temporary fix: putting the steam friendslist offline instantly fixes the issues. No frame drops, also average fps increases by 15-20 fps for me.
Btw, I would not be bothered to have the Steam friendslist integration be disabled due to performance reasons. I guess that would be one way to fix this issue.
Keep up the good work and I am looking forward to the next update
Best regards,
eFFecT