O.K. here is a stupid question. I have been playing games for years but I have never used Xfire, Steam or Raptr and i was wondering what exactly do most of you use these for? Is it just the communication amongst other gamers? The deals $ you can get or is there something I am missing?

Just trying to figure out if I should join one of them or if its a waste of time. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I just use steam because it's a pretty good program overall and lets me talk and browse while still in game not to mention the fact that they have some pretty sweet deals so I buy quite a few games from there.

As for Xfire and raptr, I had both but really never found much use for them personally.

I don't bother with xfire or raptr, but I do use Steam, not so much for the social aspect, but just to get really good deals on games.  There are always decent sales going on and it's worthwhile to check often.  For instance I just bought Final Fantasy XI for $4.99 (it's usually $9.99). 

There is no reason NOT to use steam.  The chat overlay is great since you don't have to alt tab or anything.  But that is nothing compared to the deals on the site they have sometimes.  Midsummer and Christmas are just insane.  There is a THQ pack, prolly about 5 or so GOOD games, for 79 bucks.  Except you also get like 25 other games too.

steam : i use it to buy games.

xfire : i use it to track who is playing what games .  it also allows me to track the number of hours i have spend on a game so that i will know i need to GET A LIFE.  xfire can allows you to capture screenshot, video and even broadcast the games that you are playing! like a LIVE view.  pretty cool stuff. and not forget the in-game message.

Steam: Often good deals, and ok download speed. Cannot select which folder the games will install to, so if your steam disk is full, too bad for you. 

Direct2drive.com: Same as steam, and they have good deals. Sometimes better than Steam. You can select an install directory for each game (so you can spread them out over several harddisks). 

Raptr and xfire I know nothing about.

Raptr is an Xfire rip-off fail. Steam tries to emulate what Xfire did well, but fails at that too. It's only good for the ridiculously good sales they have, really. 

Xfire was bought out a while back, so it's not nearly as good as it was before, but the sound quality for its free VOIP is just about as good as Skype, but with the push-to-talk option. Xfire allows screenshot and video uploads as well as live broadcasting, and it works with Gmail Chat, MSN, Yahoo, and some others I don't use. Definitely the best choice out of the three, I've been using it for years.

Thanks for all the replies, I guess I will have to watch steam closer since they seem to have good deals. I usually use direct2drive but wouldnt hurt to watch both.

Thanks again!

D2D is way better, its what I use.

I wouldn't wipe my bung hole with steam, thats how much I dislike steam.

I've already given my opinions on another steam related thread.

Hey everyone,

Well, you may not have heard of it, but Overwolf could be just what you're looking for. It basically overlays an assortment of widgets (Skype, Facebook, Web browser etc.) and allows the user to control all of these widgets in-game, without having to leave full-screen mode.

Overwolf is still in beta, but the list of features grows bigger every day!

steam here aswell, its just convenient when Im playing, and usually you can get nice deals

Xfire what a total piece of garbage.  Man that thing is a resource hog and I have know folks who its crashed their entire comp while downloading wrong patches and stuff.  Xfire will log how long you play what game and put it in your tag line.  It will also monitor your system and download updates for any game os system and anything else it finds it wants too.  I refuse to have it on my comp.

Steam I had a steam account for years.   I go it when valve teamed up with them to run the counter strike servers, back when they first tried to take counterstike to the xbox. Seam allows you to purchase game online download and play them.

Raptor, hmmm new kid on the block just something i stared at one day and went no thanks and moved along.

I use Steam, I like that once I buy something on there(usually at a big discount during sales as was mentioned) I can redownload it whenever.

The chat and group elements are well done and nicely integrated in the background while playing the games.

And it's nice to get game updates and new drivers automatically though it as well.

I  use Steam for the digital software library and I use XFire for personal amusement.  The Raptr users that I know are Mac fans and people who can't type SOE or Microsoft without putting a dollar sign in it or adding a derogatory remark about them. Evil underdog lovers. They need death.

 I'm making that last part up. I don't know crap about Raptr.