Steam Blog - Valve
You've probably got some favorite games that you play a lot and know pretty well. Or maybe you've mastered playing as a certain class or character in Team Fortress 2 or Call of Duty. Or maybe you're just really good at finding all the hidden secrets in the latest Elder Scrolls game. How do you put that knowledge to use and help fellow gamers? Create a game guide on Steam!

Today we're rolling out Game Guides as a beta to members of the Steam Community Beta. With Game Guides, you can create a guide to help fellow gamers and share your expertise in whatever game you like. To get access to the beta, please join the Steam Community Beta Group.

Creating a Guide:
Once you've joined the beta group noted above, simply go to the Game Hub for any game you play on Steam and look for the "Guides" tab.



Under that tab, you'll find a button to create a guide. You'll be able to upload and insert images or use screenshots that are already in your Steam cloud. You can insert YouTube videos and you can add friends to help you write the guide. When you're done, just publish your guide and it will be accessible to the community.

Feedback? Questions?
We've set up a sub-forum for discussing guides and giving feedback within the Community Beta group here.

Please let us know what you think and if you encounter any bugs.
Party of Sin - Valve
Party of Sin is Now Available on Steam and is 10% off to celebrate it's launch!

Ever had that itching desire to break out of hell and into the highest reaches of heaven? Take control of the Seven Deadly Sins in a coopetitive puzzle-platformer for 1-4 players.

Master a large, dynamic team of anti-heroes -- the Seven Deadly Sins -- as you forge your destiny on a quest to troll humanity. Envy, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony are all multi-dimensional with special powers useful in many situations.

*Offer ends December 20th, at 10AM Pacific Time

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad with Rising Storm - Valve
Play Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad for FREE starting now through Sunday at 1PM Pacific Time. Plus, save 75% during until Monday at 10am Pacific during the Weekend Deal!

Heroes of Stalingrad focuses on the Battle of Stalingrad and the surrounding operations, both German and Russian, from July 1942 to February 1943. The game allows the player to experience one of the most brutal battles in all of human history. Delivering unrivalled accuracy and attention to detail, along with gritty, vicious combat in multiplayer and single-player modes the game will feature everything from quick, brutal firefights to more intricate and challenging tactical modes.

If you already have Steam installed, click here to install or play Red Orchestra 2. If you don't have Steam, you can download it here.

Crusader Kings II - Valve
All new content for Crusader Kings II is Now Available on Steam!

-Russian Portraits
-Russian Unit Pack
-Songs of the Rus

The Dark Ages might be drawing to a close, but Europe is still in turmoil. Petty lords vie against beleaguered kings who struggle to assert control over their fragmented realms. The Pope calls for a Crusade to protect the Christians in the Holy Land even as he refuses to relinquish control over the investiture of bishops - and their riches. Now is the time for greatness. Expand your demesne and secure the future of your dynasty. Fill your coffers, appoint vassals, root out traitors and heretics, introduce laws and interact with hundreds of nobles, each with their own agenda.

Borderlands 2 - Valve
PC 1.3.0

- Fixed the "use" description text on the HUD getting cut off prematurely when binding "use" to certain keys.
- Fixed a bug that could cause the critical hit bonus to inconsistently be included on the item card of weapons that modify this stat like Miss Moxxi's Bad Touch.
- Fixed a bug causing decals to not be displayed when the framerate was set to 30FPS Capped.
- Fixed a bug causing head customizations from the Mr. Torgue DLC to not unlock properly for Sirens and Mechromancers.
- Fixed a bug where profiles would refuse to save when they were already corrupted on startup.
- Fixed a bug where profile restoration code would sometimes trigger inappropriately.

Crysis 2 - Maximum Edition - Valve
Save 75% on Crysis 2 - Maximum Edition as part of this week's Weekend Deal*!

Aliens are decimating New York City, only you have the technology to survive. Adapt in real time using the unique Nanosuit 2 Stealth, Armor and Power abilities, then tackle the alien menace in ways a regular soldier could only dream of. Crysis 2 redefines the visual benchmark for console and PC platforms in the urban jungle of NYC. Be The Weapon.

*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time
Announcement - Valve
Today's Deal: Save 75% off Grotesque Tactics Bundle!

Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

Counter-Strike 2 - Valve
Release Notes for 12/12/2012

[ GAMEPLAY ]
 -Merged elements of Volcano's DE_NUKE_VE map into standard DE_NUKE.
 -In the main menus, replaced mapgroup carousel with a map picker. Players can now select which maps they want to match-make into.
 -Maps in map picker show expected wait time.

[ MISC ]
 -Improved performance in CPU-bound cases.
 -Fixed missing ladder sound when moving at full speed on ladders.
 -Added support for muting microphone in play with friends lobby.
 -Fixed cases where spectator UI wouldn't appear during GOTV demo playback.
 -Fix for crash caused by extinguished fire.
 -ESC key now closes Server Browser dialog.
 -Made CHudMenu have input priority over Scaleform.
 -Reduced default vgui font size for resolutions >1600.
 -Whitelisted mp_match_restart_delay.
 -Limiting physics timestep to 64 to eliminate high tickrate physics bugs, such as bouncing guns.
 -Server no longer creates physics objects for players to reduce server cpu load. To re-enable, set cs_enable_player_physics_box to '1'.
Spiral Knights - Valve

Winterfest Has Arrived!

As snow begins to fall on Haven once more the Strangers and snipes have begun to celebrate Winterfest! This year the holiday festivities include a new Coliseum map, a special Prestige Mission, exclusive prizes and more!


Mission: Save Winterfest!

Impostoclaus has come to town but unfortunately not every child will be receiving a present from him. In the gremlin outcast town of Emberlight, a faction of fiendish, green-furred gremlins called 'grinchlins' have begun an attack on Emberlight. These grinchlins seek to rob the orphans of Emberlight of their presents and even destroy Impostoclaus!


It's up to you to accept the new Prestige Mission, 'Save Winterfest!' and help Impostoclaus deliver presents through a monster infested back alley of Emberlight. Knights have only a limited time to run presents to safety, avoiding monsters who mean to steal the presents as well as defending Impostoclaus from grinchlin attacks!


'Save Winterfest!' is a unique Prestige Mission as it can be completed as often as you like while available. Delivering presents successfully rewards the party with Winter Wish tokens.


New Lockdown Map: Avenue

Battle over a snow-swept cityscape where the snow is not just for shoveling, but great for throwing at other knights!

Features:

- A 3 CP map where the combat is fast and frigid - watch out for those snowballs!

- Open up even faster routes to your CP via a back door button

- The Slush Puppy in the central square guards plenty of snowballs, but it won't be happy if you try to take them!


Winterfest Rewards

Participation in the 'Save Winterfest!' Prestige Mission and Coliseum events will earn you Winterfest rewards in the Haven Town Square. Visit Impostoclaus and his little helper, Randolph to cash in Krogmo Coins and Winter Wishes for the following:

- Frosty Prize Box featuring Frosty costume armors and accessories

- Various Santy Hats

- Snowballs you can throw anywhere

And more!


The Hunter's Lodge and Boss Trophies

Guild Halls with both 3F expansions can now install the Hunter's Lodge. The Hunter's Lodge is a monster hunting lodge curated by the great hunter, Armero. It contains a guild alchemy machine containing monster trophy recipes. Guild alchemy machines use resources from the Guild Treasury and deposit results into the Guild Treasury.


Boss trophies require special materials available from Brinks in the Haven Bazaar for boss tokens. Materials include:

- Snarbostuffing

- Jelly Glue

- Schemer Scrap

- Dark Ember


Boss trophies list:

- Frumious Fang

- Replica Natural Snarbolax

- Replica Shadowy Snarbolax

- Jelly Gem

- Royal Jelly Crown

- Replica Royal Jelly

- Roarmulus Blueprints

- Small Replica Roarmulus Twin

- Large Replica Roarmulus Twin

- Almirian Seal

- Lord Vanaduke's Mask

- Lord Vanaduke's Finery


Guild Hall Doors

Guild Hall rooms can now have doors that restrict access to guild members of specific ranks. Doors can be installed via the room console. Like rooms, they must be re-installed if they are ever removed.

Doors include:

- Member Door

- Veteran Door

- Officer Door

- Guild Master Door


UI Changes

- Hall of Heroes has new loading screen art.

- Loading screen and end of level report headers have had their art adjusted.

- Acquisition of Arsenal items now plays an interface effect.

- Guild Records can now be filtered by knight name.


Bugfixes

- When directed to a specific mission in the Mission Interface, players will no longer be directed to a closed mission if an open version of the same mission is available.



Secret World Legends - Valve
Pay Once and Play Forever in a new update to The Secret World. The game no longer requires a separate subscription to play!

Hidden within our own modern-day world is a secret world. A world where every myth, legend, and conspiracy theory is true. And now, dark forces are on the move and secrets that should have remained forever buried have finally been uncovered. The world is about to discover that the terrors that have plagued our nightmares are all very real.

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