Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Beginner's guide to DARTSLIVE member card

A brief beginner's guide to using the DARTSLIVE member card and its online features.


When you look at a DARTSLIVE board, one of the most distinguishing feature of the board (apart from the LED-backlit target) are the four slots found at the front of the board.

Most new players do not know or even notice these slots until they see other darters slotting in cards with fancy designs into them. Well, these cards are DARTSLIVE member cards which are basically RFID cards storing your personalised name, rating and other basic info about your darts experience. These cards can be used both on DARTSLIVE dart boards or the TOUCHLIVE video game machine. They both share the same network, so you can set your personalised nickname on a TOUCHLIVE machine and then play darts with your nick name shown on the darts board.

Variety of DARTSLIVE member cards

With the card, you can also login (either via a smartphone app or website) to DARTSLIVE website and do many more things online. Here are some of them :
  • Check your previous dart game results and records
  • Check where you are in your country's ranking charts
  • Change your name, nickname and award messages that are displayed during a darts game
  • Change the theme that is shown in the background during a darts game
  • Exchange information with your friends on the website and many more
Sounds interesting ? It is, as it opens up a whole new side of darts - the personalisation and social side.

How do we get our hands on a DARTSLIVE card ?

You can purchase the DARTSLIVE card from any of the DARTSLIVE shops. Some can also be purchased online but it is usually not worth the cost of shipping it to you unless the card is of a limited design or a special edition card. 

You can own and use multiple cards at the same time for various purposes such as competition, casual play, league etc etc. However, I would suggest having just one main card for game play. It is a lot easier to manage your rating as the card store your previous game play and you can track your rating accurately as you play in various shops or events.

OK, I got my new DARTSLIVE card, what's next ?

Go to the website www.dartslive.com and click the NEW REGISTRATION button on the left hand side.

Follow the instructions on the page and fill in the information, including the 16 digit card ID found on the back of your DARTSLIVE card and then a 4-digit PIN number of your own liking. Click on the REGISTER button when done. You may now login to your card page using this 16-digit card ID and the 4-digit password number, either on a browser or a smartphone app.

If you get an error message saying the card ID have already been registered, that means someone have already registered the card. In this case, you will need to click on the "LOGIN" button from the website and login using the 16-digit id and the 4-digit PIN number. If you don't have the PIN number, then you will need to return the card to the shop where you purchase from and get another new card.

The card is registered now! How do I login to DARTSLIVE member page/app?

Now that you have registered your card, you can now login to the website and customised your name and other information. After logging in, on the main page, click on the button labeled "Settings" (see below picture). Note, your screen may differ from the picture below slightly depending on the size of the screen.

Alternatively, you can download the DARTSLIVE app available for iPhone or Android phones and perform the same functions described below.

Dartslive Member page

The Settings page is where you can make changes to your name (CARD NAME) or nickname (CATCH PHRASE) that is shown on the screen when you play a darts game or a TOUCHLIVE game.In case you are wondering what is the difference between the two, the Card Name is the name shown when you slot the card in, the Catch Phrase is shown during your turn in a game play.

That's it. Those are the bare minimum you need to set to start using the card. You can start playing with the card now.

What are the other features that I can customise?

After logging into the Card member page, you can access many information about your darts games and customise your game screen. Here are some of the highlights :

1. Card data
Your basic card information is shown here in the top page. Your card name, catch phrase along with your current rating is shown here.

2. Play Data statistics
It shows your game play statistics and awards or features hit.

  • Your current rating (rounded down to a whole number) and the reference rating (exact decimal point) and your flight. Dartslive flight ranges from C, CC, B, BB, A, AA and SA
  • 01, Cricket and Count-up stats
  • Type of Awards and features and the count hit for the past 2 months
  • Recent play data
  • Track your monthly darts performance movement in the past 12 months, along with a chart. There are 4 types of performance measurement to choose from - rating, 01 games average, cricket games average and Count Up score.

3. Theme Menu
Click on the Theme button to access the list of themes that is available for selection on this card. You can read more about themes in this article on How to collect themes. You can view all themes currently owned and "register" your favourite themes so that you can select them easily without having to scan through all your themes.

You can also purchase new Themes in this menu page. The new themes available for purchase are changed every month and you use DARTSLIVE points to purchase the themes. Points are earned at the end of a game ( you will see a message - "You won 10pts").  I will discuss about the DARTSLIVE points in a future article.

4. Group menu
The Group menu offers features such as messaging within a group. You can also view the rankings among your Group members covering games like 01, cricket, count-up, etc.  "In group theme list" shows the themes in used by all your group members, while "Monthly Group League" sets up a mini league between group members and shows the points won when they play against each other.

To add your friend to the group, you need to play a game with him/her. Once done, click on the "Click here to invite to this group" button and select your friend to add.

5. Home Shop
You can register your favourite shop as your Home shop to check your home shop information such as in-shop players ranking and in-house league score.

6. My Awards
You can register awards messages with your own personalised messages. Awards messages are words that appear scrolling on the screen when you hit an award such as Hat trick or 3 in a bed. This is done in the user settings page.

7. User Settings
You can change the name of your card, your PIN to a more secure number, check your card information or copy your stats to a another new card in this page. Also, in this page, take note of the "Payment Settings". It will show how many days remaining for this service, after which it will expire and you will no longer be able to login to the page.


There is an expiry date for this service?

Yes. Depending on where you initially get the card, by default it could be 15 days or 30 days. You can check the expiry days left under "Payment Settings" found in the "Settings" page. After expiry, you can no longer login to the page. However your game statistics are still kept and your rating is still calculated. You can still play games using the card and it will still show your name and theme. You are just not able to make any changes to your themes or access other information that is stored with the card. Note, some events such as the SUPER LEAGUE require the card to be active during league sign-up.

A 90-day DARTSLIVE Pass
To get an extension to the service, you will need to obtain the DARTSLIVE PASS (D-Pass) card at any DARTSLIVE shop. The D-Pass card is a members extension card to extend your membership. Depending on your location around the world, there may or may not be a fee charged for this D-Pass card. If there is a fee charged, it typically cost about the equivalent of a few games per month.

Once you have the D-Pass card, login to your page and click on the "Membership Extension" link.  Follow the messages on the screen and key in the serial number found on the back of the D-Pass when prompted and your service will be extended for another 90 days.

One D-Pass card only works for one extension of a Dartslive card only. If you have multiple Dartslive cards, you will need to obtain multiple D-Pass as well. Note, the "extension" function cannot be used if there are still more than 30 days left to the expiry.

<<Update Footnote (Feb 2014):  Dartslive app is now a "freemium" app, some function of the app is available for free for all users and there is another section where it requires a monthly payment of US$5 to access. The 90Days D-Pass card concept has been abandoned with the introduction of the Premium membership. >>



15 comments:

  1. I see some players having symbols in their names, such as: ☆ ★ 】
    Do you know how can I add these symbols to my name? Typing directly with my phone keyboard doesn't work, also tried copying these symbols from Dartslive ranking of players then pasting but it doesn't work. The app/website just doesn't accept these symbols when I do it. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, which location can i get the card from? any specific location in singapore? Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Anonymous, you can get the cards from iDarts Senso (Md Sultan Rd) or iDarts Halo (Bugis+) in Singapore

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi there I live near swansea (wales) does anyone know where I can get a dartslive card from please many thanks.. steve

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, you should check out any of the bigger dartslive shops in UK on this page : http://search.uk.dartslive.com/list/?p=0

      Alternatively, you can also buy from online darts accessories shops

      Delete
  5. Hi, i'm a premium member and i would like to add several cards into my card slot. But i received a message saying the card has been registered. How do i add the registered card into my card slot. Thanks. (:

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe you need to "delete" your personal data before adding the "used" card. Go to the accounts settings page and delete from there.

      Delete
  6. is there anyway to transfer my stats from a lost card to a new card

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, login to your Dartslive app of the old card and go to the Settings page, Member Settings and click on the Card ID (Transfer Card data) option.

      Delete
  7. Where online can I purchase the dartslive members card?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'll have to google around for any online darts accessories shops. It would be easier to get it from a darts shop near you otherwise try some of the japanese darts accessories online shop.

      Delete
  8. I have several cards that I have lost that I am still being charged for. I don't know the numbers so I can't enter the info. Is there any way to contact them and turn off cards associated with my credit card info? Please help. This is costing a pretty penny. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you login to the account via the Dartslive smartphone app or PC ? The numbers are normally saved in the smartphone app. If you don't know the numbers, you can try to login using the email address that you have set for the card accounts. If it all fails , try writing in for some support help :

      contact.dartslive.com/form/?page_id=88

      Delete
  9. HI, my card was stolen with my wallet. the thief then played my card and made 20 double bulls as i joke i belive. I went ahead and purchased a new card and simply started over. How do i delete the old card so that the theif can no longer use it ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should get a new card and transfer data to the new card. This requires you to login to the online account of the old card and activate the transfer by inputting the new card ID. Once done, the old card will no longer be usable.

      Delete