Xfire Alternatives (Poll)

[Shazam]

Information about the alternatives listed above can be found in this topic: http://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?topic=9273.0

If your preferred chat client is not listed above, please let me know so I can add it.  Also, feel free to tell everyone why you like the alternative(s) that you voted for.  The more information we have, the better.

My goal is to see the bulk of the SWBF community using one of the above options in time for the ICW5.

[spoiler=My Opinion]I prefer Steam, but I understand that some people are not willing to spend money in order to have full functionality.[/spoiler]

[Led]

I'm going to thrown in my thoughts--I prefer Steam too (and I know there are advantages of the others).  Steam can upload screen shots (I have some in my account, but I can't remember how to do it).

If the money aspect is an issue for SWBFgamers members in good standing, I am willing to gift the minimum (I think it is $5) to people to help get full functionality on Steam, within a reasonable limit (like $50).

[Gold Man]

Voted Steam all the way.

[Viathan]

I'm going to thrown in my thoughts--I prefer Steam too (and I know there are advantages of the others).  Steam can upload screen shots (I have some in my account, but I can't remember how to do it).

If the money aspect is an issue for SWBFgamers members in good standing, I am willing to gift the minimum (I think it is $5) to people to help get full functionality on Steam, within a reasonable limit (like $50).

very generous 

But I think the most have already purchased a game on steam and 5$ or € or what ever you're using is not much 

(Voted Steam and Origin)

[Shazam]

I decided to download the programs in the poll and do some research. 
Here are a few other things to consider:

- EvolveHQ allows you to sync your Steam and Raptr accounts. 
- The EvolveHQ ingame overlay works with Battlefront.

- Origin doesn't allow you to sync with any other chat clients.
- I wasn't able to get Origin's ingame overlay to work for Battlefront.

- Overwolf allows you to sync your Steam and Raptr accounts. 
- I wasn't able to get Overwolf's ingame overlay to work for Battlefront.

- Raptr allows you to sync your Steam account. 
- Raptr's ingame overlay seems to work for Battlefront.

- I've been looking for a while, and it doesn't look like Steam allows you to sync any other chat clients. 
- I wasn't able to get Steam's ingame overlay to work for Battlefront.

- All of them allow you to add Battlefront to your games library manually.



I am not very familiar with any of those programs, so others may have had better luck getting accounts synced and/or getting the ingame overlays to work with Battlefront.  Just because I couldn't figure out how to get it working, doesn't mean it can't work.

[Ultimo]

- I wasn't able to get Steam's ingame overlay to work for Battlefront.

Steam has an odd association with programs, and any game that you add to it's library can usually get the Steam overlay running. A lot of the programs will have to be Full Screen for the overlay to work, however.
I've gotten the overlay working while playing Battlefront back in 2013-2014. I don't know if a Steam update has caused the overlay to respond less,  but normally it should work.

[aeria.]

What's interesting is that Steam more or less killed xfire. xfire was consistently a buggy mess. I hated when opening the overlay would sometimes turn your typing into gibberish. That plus every other game being integrated with steam... it was a long time coming.


rip xfire. Definitely do consider switching to steam if you can. A steam gift will NOT give you full access. You need to purchase a game or 5 dollar credit on your own. With that said, I have zero qualms helping people get 5 dollar copies of the steam game of your choice. It's the least I can do to give back


Led/I would need to log into your account. But it's not like you have anything to lose since the account is empty. Ideally you'll want to change the password back.

[Ultimo]

Here is the link to an article that should give you a decent idea of the limited functionality problem.
http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/steam-limits-functionality-of-users-that-do-not-spend-money.html

[Phobos]

Steam works with Pidgin which is a huge plus (except for chat rooms), but having to spend money to add friends is a huge minus. I've spent all I care to on Steam and would rather put that money towards the servers so it doesn't really matter if my account is "restricted" tbh. Steam works for chat but I will mostly be using Evolve due to its ingame overlay and other features such as hours logging. Also in case gamemaster ever goes down, Evolve is better than Tunngle for VLAN. I uninstalled Raptr and have yet to try Overwolf. So I voted for Evolve because it works best for SWBF1 specifically, and Steam because that has a larger community.

[Anyder]

What about Skype ? Many eu swbf1 players use it.

(I use Steam/TS3/Skype/Origin)

[Viathan]

What about Skype ? Many eu swbf1 players use it.

Yea, Skype is great. Even it hasn't an ingame overlay.
But you can build groups and Video / Voice chat and ofc text chat, file sharing and some other stuff.
But I think it's not as stable as Steam is with its ruled member positions such as Admin / mod or normal member.

(I use Steam/TS3/Skype/Origin)

Same here 

[Led]

Led/I would need to log into your account. But it's not like you have anything to lose since the account is empty. Ideally you'll want to change the password back.

I have purchased steam games.  I was offering to give people money to get their account activated.

[Ultimo]

Skype is nice, but compared to the other services listed, Skype will take a larger percentage of your CPU. For a lot of people, this might not be a problem if you have a gaming PC or built your own. Currently I'm running a prebuilt HP with old hardware, so mine struggles with Skype and Games. Often I have to close skype to play some (newer) releases like CS:GO.

Also, Group Video calls are not free. I believe you can actually have up to 5 people on video in one room before you have to have Skype premium and be the call host to have more people. If there are any clans out there that like their ability to video chat; you'll have to pay up

[eliad5241]

hello everyone. i just made a steam account and want it to be fully fanctional, but i cannot pay the money for it.
is there anyone you can help me with it 

[Ultimo]

I'd would love to pitch in, but I've unfortuanately got only $1.40 on my account.