The blog
Dragon Days at Xfire!
2009-10-19 11:27 AM PDT
From Video Capture Contests to Play 2 Win events, this is a busy week at Xfire!
Today marks the launch of the Dungeons and Dragons: Online Play 2 Win event and on Tuesday, the Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Video Capture Contest draws to an end.
The DDO campaign runs now through November 2nd with plenty of prizes at stake: Intel Core i7 gaming rigs, Radeon graphics cards, Samsung widescreen monitors, DDO Store points and more! To win all you have to do is play DDO as much as possible!
For more information check out the Event Page!
On the Dragon Rising front, it’s not too late to vote and win prizes! With over 250 entries thus far, we’ve had quite an outpouring of video submissions. To reward the OFP community, we’ve decided offer more prizes, inviting you to upload any Operation Flashpoint video for a chance to win. For all videos tagged, “ofplastchance” between October 16th and October 20th, you’ll be eligible to win one of two Arctosa Keyboards with Deathadder mice. Please note that entry in this category is separate from the three existing categories, but entry in one does not exclude you from the others.
For more information about the video capture contest visit the Event Page!
Today marks the launch of the Dungeons and Dragons: Online Play 2 Win event and on Tuesday, the Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Video Capture Contest draws to an end.
The DDO campaign runs now through November 2nd with plenty of prizes at stake: Intel Core i7 gaming rigs, Radeon graphics cards, Samsung widescreen monitors, DDO Store points and more! To win all you have to do is play DDO as much as possible!
For more information check out the Event Page!
On the Dragon Rising front, it’s not too late to vote and win prizes! With over 250 entries thus far, we’ve had quite an outpouring of video submissions. To reward the OFP community, we’ve decided offer more prizes, inviting you to upload any Operation Flashpoint video for a chance to win. For all videos tagged, “ofplastchance” between October 16th and October 20th, you’ll be eligible to win one of two Arctosa Keyboards with Deathadder mice. Please note that entry in this category is separate from the three existing categories, but entry in one does not exclude you from the others.
For more information about the video capture contest visit the Event Page!
GODJonez's Workshop - Xfire: Sound Optio...
2009-10-16 12:24 PM PDT
To continue the "Xfire Options" series, this week you will have an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the Sound options of Xfire. In this context the Sound options mean options for event sounds such as receiving messages and knowing when friends log on. Options for voice chat and video recording will be later.
The first option is Send or receive a message. When this is enabled, you will hear a sound whenever someone sends you an instant message or when you send a message to someone. This option is for out-of-game situations.
The second option Receive a message while gaming controls whether you hear a sound for incoming messages while playing games. This sound is also different to that of the out-of-game message indicator.
The third option is Friend logs on or off. As you might guess from the label, enabling this option will make Xfire play a sound whenever any of your friends log on or go offline.
Next up is Someone joins or leaves a chat room. Enabling this option makes Xfire play a sound effect whenever someone joins or leaves a chat room (obviously). In large chat rooms this option along with the "Send or receive a message" will create quite the orchestral performance of sound effects so you might want to turn them off if you take part of such chat rooms.
Next up you will find the option Send or receive voice chat requests. Enabling this makes Xfire play a dialing tune or ringing sound (or whatever sound effects the selected sound pack has) when you try to call your friend or when you receive a voice chat call.
The last toggleable option is Take a screenshot while gaming. Enabling this makes Xfire play some kind of camera shutter sound when you take screenshots so you know that the screenshot was taken.
All of the above options are saved in your Xfire user profile, so they are retained across systems as long as you log in with the same Xfire username. They are all enabled when you create the Xfire account but can then be disabled and enabled by will from...
The first option is Send or receive a message. When this is enabled, you will hear a sound whenever someone sends you an instant message or when you send a message to someone. This option is for out-of-game situations.
The second option Receive a message while gaming controls whether you hear a sound for incoming messages while playing games. This sound is also different to that of the out-of-game message indicator.
The third option is Friend logs on or off. As you might guess from the label, enabling this option will make Xfire play a sound whenever any of your friends log on or go offline.
Next up is Someone joins or leaves a chat room. Enabling this option makes Xfire play a sound effect whenever someone joins or leaves a chat room (obviously). In large chat rooms this option along with the "Send or receive a message" will create quite the orchestral performance of sound effects so you might want to turn them off if you take part of such chat rooms.
Next up you will find the option Send or receive voice chat requests. Enabling this makes Xfire play a dialing tune or ringing sound (or whatever sound effects the selected sound pack has) when you try to call your friend or when you receive a voice chat call.
The last toggleable option is Take a screenshot while gaming. Enabling this makes Xfire play some kind of camera shutter sound when you take screenshots so you know that the screenshot was taken.
All of the above options are saved in your Xfire user profile, so they are retained across systems as long as you log in with the same Xfire username. They are all enabled when you create the Xfire account but can then be disabled and enabled by will from...
Xfire Beta release 1.116
2009-10-14 3:57 AM PDT
Ladies and gentlemen (and not so gentle men too), I have the pleasure to announce that the next version of the Xfire program has entered into open beta testing.
The Xfire 1.116 beta does not bring many visible changes since this time the work has been directed to the foundation of the client: the skinning engine is undergoing a major overhaul.
If you are one of the people who prefer using other skins than the official Shadow one, then it would be greatly appreciated to get you to test the beta and find out if your skin still works the same it has been in previous versions.
I have seen that lately the little part of Xfire community that has been creating custom skins for the Xfire client has pretty much vanished. I hope these changes that have effect on the skinning system will make it closer and easier for users to make their own skins so that this valuable user contribution type gets back on its feet.
According to the 1.116 Beta Notes also the live broadcast feature has once again received improvements. What those improvements specifically are, that's not told and I don't know them either. Rest assured, the engineering team is working on things based on the bug reports from users having problems with the system.
As always, to get your hands on the beta, go to the Official Xfire Beta Testing Team page. If you haven't already, use your chance to also join to the team; it is an unlimited official team so membership in it does not count towards the 5 community limit and does not include hundreds of random people to your contact list.
Joonas
The Xfire 1.116 beta does not bring many visible changes since this time the work has been directed to the foundation of the client: the skinning engine is undergoing a major overhaul.
If you are one of the people who prefer using other skins than the official Shadow one, then it would be greatly appreciated to get you to test the beta and find out if your skin still works the same it has been in previous versions.
I have seen that lately the little part of Xfire community that has been creating custom skins for the Xfire client has pretty much vanished. I hope these changes that have effect on the skinning system will make it closer and easier for users to make their own skins so that this valuable user contribution type gets back on its feet.
According to the 1.116 Beta Notes also the live broadcast feature has once again received improvements. What those improvements specifically are, that's not told and I don't know them either. Rest assured, the engineering team is working on things based on the bug reports from users having problems with the system.
As always, to get your hands on the beta, go to the Official Xfire Beta Testing Team page. If you haven't already, use your chance to also join to the team; it is an unlimited official team so membership in it does not count towards the 5 community limit and does not include hundreds of random people to your contact list.
Joonas
The Xfire Games Store Has Launched!!!!!!...
2009-10-09 11:47 AM PDT
Now with more exclamation points!
If you haven't been living under a rock, then you MUST be aware that Xfire just launched a Games Store.
You knew that right? Of course you did, you smart gamer, you.
But just to inform those poor souls who didn't, Xfire has launched a Game Store!
That's right, all of the FPS, RTS, RPG, Action-Adventure favorites right at your downloading fingertips. It's still in Alpha stage, so we encourage your opinion!
Want to be up on all of the latest release dates, discounts, and offers? Join the Official Xfire Store Community and stay informed! http://www.xfire.com/communities/officialstore/
Ready to buy games? Here's how!
1. Go to www.xfirestore.com
2. Use the same login as Xfire.com to login to the store.
3. Make sure the email address that you see is your email address (This is very important)
4. Browse games by Genre - You can sort by price or title.
5. Find a game you want to buy
6. If you click the title, you can see screenshots, videos (if they're available) and more information about the game.
7. Click "Add to Cart" if you're buying more than one game or "Download" if you're just buying the one.
8. You will be taken to the check out screen that shows you your purchases.
9. Enter your credit card or secure Paypal information.
10. After purchasing the game you will be taken to a page providing download links and activation codes.
Now Simply Download and Play! The game is all yours!
Note: YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE XFIRE RUNNING TO PLAY YOUR GAMES. There is no forced software. After your games are installed, unless they have an online component you are not required to be online to play.
If you haven't been living under a rock, then you MUST be aware that Xfire just launched a Games Store.
You knew that right? Of course you did, you smart gamer, you.
But just to inform those poor souls who didn't, Xfire has launched a Game Store!
That's right, all of the FPS, RTS, RPG, Action-Adventure favorites right at your downloading fingertips. It's still in Alpha stage, so we encourage your opinion!
Want to be up on all of the latest release dates, discounts, and offers? Join the Official Xfire Store Community and stay informed! http://www.xfire.com/communities/officialstore/
Ready to buy games? Here's how!
1. Go to www.xfirestore.com
2. Use the same login as Xfire.com to login to the store.
3. Make sure the email address that you see is your email address (This is very important)
4. Browse games by Genre - You can sort by price or title.
5. Find a game you want to buy
6. If you click the title, you can see screenshots, videos (if they're available) and more information about the game.
7. Click "Add to Cart" if you're buying more than one game or "Download" if you're just buying the one.
8. You will be taken to the check out screen that shows you your purchases.
9. Enter your credit card or secure Paypal information.
10. After purchasing the game you will be taken to a page providing download links and activation codes.
Now Simply Download and Play! The game is all yours!
Note: YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE XFIRE RUNNING TO PLAY YOUR GAMES. There is no forced software. After your games are installed, unless they have an online component you are not required to be online to play.
GODJonez's Workshop - Xfire: Chat Option...
2009-10-02 12:06 PM PDT
Now that the new Xfire release has become an integral part of our daily life, it's time to continue the look at Xfire's options dialog. This time I'll show you the settings found from Chat tab:
The first section here is Messages which controls the general settings regarding sending and receiving messages.
The first option is Show time stamp in chat window. When this is enabled you can see the time next to each message you send and receive in Xfire. The effect of this setting is clearly seen in this little screenshot part I took of me chatting with myself:
The next option you can select is Create incoming chat windows minimized. This setting is effective when someone sends you a message and you do not already have a chat window open for that person. If this is not enabled, then the chat window will pop in front of you; if this is enabled, then the chat window will be created minimized and the only sign of a new message will be a flashing titlebar button (unless you have sounds enabled).
The third option is Enable chat logging which as it says, enabled all chat you do to be logged so that you can later view what you were discussing with other people. The chat logs are saved as text files under %appdata%\Xfire\chatlog but can probably easier be accessed by right clicking your friend's name and selecting "View chat log" from the context menu.
Remember that you cannot magically make chat logs available of chats you had when this option was not enabled. Unless you have a very slow hard drive or little free space, I would recommend enabling this option. You might need to see your former chats at some point. And you can always clear the chat logs yourself if the need arises.
The next part is Xfire In-Game. Here you can select whether the Xfire In-Game system is available at all or not. Typically you want to leave the Enable Xfire In-Game option enabled since the best part of Xfire is that you can use it while playing games. (not supported in all games)
You can also customize the...
The first section here is Messages which controls the general settings regarding sending and receiving messages.
The first option is Show time stamp in chat window. When this is enabled you can see the time next to each message you send and receive in Xfire. The effect of this setting is clearly seen in this little screenshot part I took of me chatting with myself:
The next option you can select is Create incoming chat windows minimized. This setting is effective when someone sends you a message and you do not already have a chat window open for that person. If this is not enabled, then the chat window will pop in front of you; if this is enabled, then the chat window will be created minimized and the only sign of a new message will be a flashing titlebar button (unless you have sounds enabled).
The third option is Enable chat logging which as it says, enabled all chat you do to be logged so that you can later view what you were discussing with other people. The chat logs are saved as text files under %appdata%\Xfire\chatlog but can probably easier be accessed by right clicking your friend's name and selecting "View chat log" from the context menu.
Remember that you cannot magically make chat logs available of chats you had when this option was not enabled. Unless you have a very slow hard drive or little free space, I would recommend enabling this option. You might need to see your former chats at some point. And you can always clear the chat logs yourself if the need arises.
The next part is Xfire In-Game. Here you can select whether the Xfire In-Game system is available at all or not. Typically you want to leave the Enable Xfire In-Game option enabled since the best part of Xfire is that you can use it while playing games. (not supported in all games)
You can also customize the...
Xfire Release 1.115
2009-09-29 11:11 AM PDT
As you could have anticipated from the beta post and the comment Hans wrote in post about lots of stuff, Xfire version 1.115 was coming and now it's here.
According to the Release notes for 1.115 the changes for this version are quite closely the things I mentioned last Friday when reminding of the availability of beta version.
As you can see above, one thing this new Xfire version brought was the ability to give a title to one's Live broadcast. When you press the broadcasting key binding, Xfire will display you the dialog you see above where you can type in the title you want. It defaults to the game name. As obvious as it is, there are two buttons, one to accept the title and start broadcasting, the other to cancel and not start streaming the video.
Fear not, that was not the only addition to the broadcast feature! Some performance improvements are also included and I saw some kind of hint that they are still working on some behind the stage -things regarding this feature. I think we'll see what will happen in future.
So the Xfire In-Game now has a dialog asking for broadcast title. It would be quite boring if that was the only new thing added there, now wouldn't it? Xfire thinks as much and therefore another, quite a demanded by the community, feature was added too: the ability to add friends while in game! Click here for a screenshot!
Not only can you send out friend invites, you can now also receive them in game and naturally can either accept or deny them. When I tested these features during the beta, I did notice some little bugs with it, though. The most severe one of them would probably be the fact that if you do not answer to the invite, as in you don't accept or deny it, then the invite will be automatically rejected when you stop playing. Of course these bugs were reported and I would expect them to be fixed soon, probably for the Xfire 1.116 version.
A game that was recently advertised on Steam and looks kind of unique but cool is also now supported by Xfire. I just wonder...
According to the Release notes for 1.115 the changes for this version are quite closely the things I mentioned last Friday when reminding of the availability of beta version.
As you can see above, one thing this new Xfire version brought was the ability to give a title to one's Live broadcast. When you press the broadcasting key binding, Xfire will display you the dialog you see above where you can type in the title you want. It defaults to the game name. As obvious as it is, there are two buttons, one to accept the title and start broadcasting, the other to cancel and not start streaming the video.
Fear not, that was not the only addition to the broadcast feature! Some performance improvements are also included and I saw some kind of hint that they are still working on some behind the stage -things regarding this feature. I think we'll see what will happen in future.
So the Xfire In-Game now has a dialog asking for broadcast title. It would be quite boring if that was the only new thing added there, now wouldn't it? Xfire thinks as much and therefore another, quite a demanded by the community, feature was added too: the ability to add friends while in game! Click here for a screenshot!
Not only can you send out friend invites, you can now also receive them in game and naturally can either accept or deny them. When I tested these features during the beta, I did notice some little bugs with it, though. The most severe one of them would probably be the fact that if you do not answer to the invite, as in you don't accept or deny it, then the invite will be automatically rejected when you stop playing. Of course these bugs were reported and I would expect them to be fixed soon, probably for the Xfire 1.116 version.
A game that was recently advertised on Steam and looks kind of unique but cool is also now supported by Xfire. I just wonder...
Lots of stuff going on!
2009-09-28 2:52 PM PDT
Considering the weather here (close to freezing), I'd say that summer is finally over. Unless you live in Australian, in which case it's probably starting soon. Even though the season where's it's ok to cruise around in a tank top, shorts and flip flops has ended, there are still things to enjoy about life.
Such as an autumn packed with awesome events here on Xfire. Right now, we have some pretty cool stuff happening, and in the months to come, there's a lot happening, take my word for it.
Here's just a quick presentation of what's going on right now.
September 28th
Xfire Release 1.115
New Xfire release, yay! As usual, we add some new stuff, fix some old bugs and implement support for more games in the Xfire client. This time, among other things, it would seem as if we are adding the pretty nifty little function of adding friends while you are in game. No more tabbing out to add your buddy, that is!
I'm getting this information from Joonas' beta post and as always, a beta is a beta. Hopefully, the stuff is included in it, but it might not be. I guess we'll know in a few hours.
R L S
September 23rd - September 30th
Alliance of Valiant Arms Closed Beta Test
Alliance of Valiant Arms.
Taste the name.
It could just as well be the most kick ass union of knights from the dark ages, as it could be your friendly neighborhood watch unit. Or both. Which would be awesome. Imagine a squadron of awesome knights from the Dark ages patrolling your neighborhood, trying to stop crime. I mean, who would dare mess with some really armored guys on huge horses?
What? This isn't about neighborhood watch groups or knights? It's a free online FPS? oh, I see.
It would seem that what we have here is an awesome Korean-developed First Person Shooter, complete with everything you need, like upgrades. And the most awesome thing is that they've taken the game from Korea, and are bringing it all the way to the US. Just like with Kimchi, the fermented vegetable stuff, you know....
Such as an autumn packed with awesome events here on Xfire. Right now, we have some pretty cool stuff happening, and in the months to come, there's a lot happening, take my word for it.
Here's just a quick presentation of what's going on right now.
September 28th
Xfire Release 1.115
New Xfire release, yay! As usual, we add some new stuff, fix some old bugs and implement support for more games in the Xfire client. This time, among other things, it would seem as if we are adding the pretty nifty little function of adding friends while you are in game. No more tabbing out to add your buddy, that is!
I'm getting this information from Joonas' beta post and as always, a beta is a beta. Hopefully, the stuff is included in it, but it might not be. I guess we'll know in a few hours.
R L S
September 23rd - September 30th
Alliance of Valiant Arms Closed Beta Test
Alliance of Valiant Arms.
Taste the name.
It could just as well be the most kick ass union of knights from the dark ages, as it could be your friendly neighborhood watch unit. Or both. Which would be awesome. Imagine a squadron of awesome knights from the Dark ages patrolling your neighborhood, trying to stop crime. I mean, who would dare mess with some really armored guys on huge horses?
What? This isn't about neighborhood watch groups or knights? It's a free online FPS? oh, I see.
It would seem that what we have here is an awesome Korean-developed First Person Shooter, complete with everything you need, like upgrades. And the most awesome thing is that they've taken the game from Korea, and are bringing it all the way to the US. Just like with Kimchi, the fermented vegetable stuff, you know....
Xfire Beta release 1.115
2009-09-25 12:33 PM PDT
Heeey everyone! Did you notice that Xfire has released the beta of version 1.115? Due to technical problems I couldn't post about it a few days ago when it was put to public, but now I did some backup systems for me to make sure I can always remind you of the new releases just after they are put to public.
Well, you can still download and try out the beta version, the real Xfire 1.115 will be activated early next week, so there's the whole weekend to try out all the new things, such as adding friends in-game!:
Other changes in this beta include
The official notes for this beta build is available at the Beta Testing Team forums.
The actual download to the beta updater is here: http://www.xfire.com/communities/xfbt/news/890418/
Remember that if you want to help Xfire out by testing the beta releases you should join the official Xfire Beta Testing Team: http://www.xfire.com/communities/xfbt/
Joonas
Well, you can still download and try out the beta version, the real Xfire 1.115 will be activated early next week, so there's the whole weekend to try out all the new things, such as adding friends in-game!:
Other changes in this beta include
- Ability to title live video broadcast
- Behind the scenes broadcast optimizations (again)
- Tweaks to skins
- AIM plugin status and character support changes
- In-game for some OpenGL games fixed.
The official notes for this beta build is available at the Beta Testing Team forums.
The actual download to the beta updater is here: http://www.xfire.com/communities/xfbt/news/890418/
Remember that if you want to help Xfire out by testing the beta releases you should join the official Xfire Beta Testing Team: http://www.xfire.com/communities/xfbt/
Joonas
GODJonez's Workshop - Xfire: General Opt...
2009-09-18 5:51 PM PDT
There have been 12 Xfire updates since I started writing these workshop posts (they were called Tips & Tricks back in January, before settling in with the current name, by the way). During these months the workshop posts have focused on many different areas of Xfire, but thanks to the many updates to the program, not all of the older posts are completely correct anymore. That's why I am going to give you a second tour through Xfire, starting today.
Moreover, Xfire has gotten lots of new users who might have only started reading the blog very recently (I do hope they read this blog!), so it makes sense to go back to the basics. So this flashback series starts with Xfire's Options, accessible from the Tools menu:
Today my post will focus on the General tab of the Options dialog. It is also the tab which will open first when you access options. The General Options look like this:
The first section there is Nicknames. In Xfire, each user has a unique username and every user can also set themselves a nickname. If you here select Show nicknames when available (default: ON), your friends list in the client will display the nicknames people have set instead of their usernames. You can also set your nickname there by typing it in to the text field My nickname. With new Xfire accounts the nickname is empty. If no nickname is set, then your username is assumed to be your nickname too.
Stored online as part of Xfire profile.
Hint: even if you have selected to show nicknames, you can still view usernames too by moving your mouse cursor on top of a nickname.
The next category is Offline Friends that has but one option: Show my offline friends (default: ON). This option controls whether you can see offline friends or not. If you have only a few friends, it could be handy to view all of them at all times, but once you have plenty of friends, the people who are not online only take up space and make the friends list cluttered, so you might want to turn this off.
Stored online as part of Xfire...
Moreover, Xfire has gotten lots of new users who might have only started reading the blog very recently (I do hope they read this blog!), so it makes sense to go back to the basics. So this flashback series starts with Xfire's Options, accessible from the Tools menu:
Today my post will focus on the General tab of the Options dialog. It is also the tab which will open first when you access options. The General Options look like this:
The first section there is Nicknames. In Xfire, each user has a unique username and every user can also set themselves a nickname. If you here select Show nicknames when available (default: ON), your friends list in the client will display the nicknames people have set instead of their usernames. You can also set your nickname there by typing it in to the text field My nickname. With new Xfire accounts the nickname is empty. If no nickname is set, then your username is assumed to be your nickname too.
Stored online as part of Xfire profile.
Hint: even if you have selected to show nicknames, you can still view usernames too by moving your mouse cursor on top of a nickname.
The next category is Offline Friends that has but one option: Show my offline friends (default: ON). This option controls whether you can see offline friends or not. If you have only a few friends, it could be handy to view all of them at all times, but once you have plenty of friends, the people who are not online only take up space and make the friends list cluttered, so you might want to turn this off.
Stored online as part of Xfire...
Xfire Charts - Dual edition
2009-09-17 11:40 AM PDT
Press View entry to see the entire chart, and my awesome comments!
- August 31st - September 6th
01. World of Warcraft
02. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Multiplayer
03. Call of Duty 2 Multiplayer
04. Counter-Strike: Source
05. Battlefield 2
06. Warcraft III - The Frozen Throne
07. Call of Duty: World at War Multiplayer (+1)
08. Guild Wars (-1)
09. Team Fortress 2 (+1)
10. Silkroad Online (-1)
11. Heroes of newerth (+1)
12. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (-1)
13. Combat Arms (+1)
14. Eve Online (-1)
15. Metin 2
16. Left 4 Dead
17. The Lord of the Rings Online
18. MapleStory
19. Runes of Magic (+4)
20. Counter-Strike 1.6
Hi everyone! I've just moved to a new apartment. Goodbye one bedroom, 27 sqm with a shared shower in the basement, hello three rooms, 60 sqm, real kitchen and shower in the apartment! Also. Hello order. Hello better hygiene. Hello girlfriend friendly environment. Hello dedicated work/game room. Hello balcony. Hello life.
Once I'm done getting all my stuff up, I'll be posting some pics of how I live, so that you can look at it with envy!
Sadly, I moved most of the furniture and stuff by myself, which meant hours of carrying stuff up and down stairs, and bucketloads of sweat. I also hade to drive it some 200 miles one way (have had to go three times so far). So, it's been a real bother. Sadly, that left the charts hanging. But, now here I am with a double dose for 'ya.
The first dose consists of some further Heroes of newerth ownage, with the game closing in on the Top 10. Apart from that, the week offered some FPS ownage, with Call of Duty: World at War Multiplayer, Team Fortress 2 and Combat Arms all doing fairly well.
Runes of Magic also shows up on the charts again, with a pretty cool four position jump.
Now, on to the second dose of the charts!
- September 7th - September 13th
01. World of Warcraft
02. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Multiplayer
03. Call of Duty 2 Multiplayer
04. Counter-Strike: Source
05. Battlefield 2
06. Warcra...
