Another bad effect of bmp marketing

Definitely wait. We don't know what they're doing yet, but it's now more or less confirmed there will be another way to get the BMP, and it could be similar to the first method.

I think that has already been explained, but once again, you just completely missed the point. Collectors edition content is completely unique, why would it be made available again? They never have in the past, and it's unlikely they ever will. They always just give away a few special little things that have no effect on the actual game. With the bonus mission pack they were giving away completely new ingame content, which IMO was pretty obviously not going to stay unique to that one promotion.

If you're unhappy with it, then sorry. But you can't really complain to Anet here, the entire promotion was handled pretty badly, and either way a large portion of the community would have been unhappy.

It was a big assumption that Anet (or Gaile/whoever) never confirmed nor denied. They clearly didn't do it. Not responding with a yes/no/I don't know usually means "I don't know" - and it's likely that was the case. Many people take official "I don't know"'s as "Yes"'s, then when it isn't done, it's just as big of a mess.
Definitely a delicate matter, and like just about everything else, some people will always be pissed no matter what eventually happens.

Agreed - mine were late also but since I knew what was happening I chose to wait. Not a big deal, I wanted the contents of the CE box in Nightfall. I didn't fully understand what the Factions CE content was and didn't purchase it, never complained about that either.

I did, all research pointed toward exclusive/time limited - it is not until this very single thread (how long *after* it's release?) did we get this tidbit of info. Just as before I chose to to take the less easy rode because I wanted the content.

Many of us did - we are now getting it. A little late don't you think? If I had just run out and spent that money and hours later got the info that's one thing - but how long *after* the deadline has passed? Of course, this is also true if Anet decided to stay with what they hawked to us. Should have done your research and chosen to make the hardship or not. It was your choice that made you not get it. I, however, took all the available information on the subject and did what Anet wanted. Now I get to have spent extra and have Anet pretty much call me stupid for doing so.

This is true - at this point I don't expect to be agreed with, Gaile has made it plain I am simply un-informed and should have assumed they were using double-speak (and, as I said, if that is what they want to insist on then so be it). Since Gaile decided this would be her thread to post in I figured I would throw in my 2 cents worth and maybe be one of the voices that made them think on it. My point is that next time one of these comes out Anet will be deluged with topics wanting "clarification" and every little tiny detail and it all explicitly stated instead of going with what 99% of the people on the planet would read it as. Even then MANY MANY people will simply not believe it (I do note that when you can nail them down on a specific it rarely changes). If they choose to accept that then not anything I can do about it. I'll still purchase the game but I will no longer do so in anyway that is detrimental to myself because I thought they would do what they said - and I suspect I'm not alone. In later "promotions" I also was informing them if they go through with this then many (and most likely myself) will refer back to this as a "beware" type thing.

There were ways to get the BMP out to sale for the general public that didn't make most of us feel ripped off (some will feel ripped off no matter what), they have been going about it as far from those methods as possible. At this point I see them as having backing themselves into a corner, danged if they do danged if the don't and it is all their own fault.

More than likely, there will be another Promotion/be offered for purchase in store after more European payment options have been added, seeing as that part of the promotion qualifies under "Epic Fail".

I really don't see what the big deal is. If it get's offered again as a promotion, guess what, most peope have GWEN, meaning they'll HAVE to buy additional character slots if they want it (as opposed to being able to buy GWEN). Alternatively, we'll be able to buy it for 5-15$/€ (yay 1:1 conversion!), in which case we'll have GWEN (boxed) and the BMP for which we paid more and payment options that are 2 years late, as opposed to you having the BMP for free and earlier. Or having +3 Character slots (which I'd want to buy on top of that...), which at the very least can serve as mules for the insufficient storage.
So you're losing out how exactly?

As for "Evil marketing ploys", the answer has always been "There are currently no plans to make the BMP available again", which is basically evading the question completely. And other compagnies don't do this?

I am firmly of the belief that they will run the same promotion a second time for those who missed out. They won't offer it for sale, but i think they will run it again.

To the OP, maybe wait at least until the end of Jan for your character slots and see if there's any more news.

On the one hand I can understand why people feel they deserve a second chance to aquire the BMP, but its not the first and only time Anet has offered something one time and then never again.

If they bring back the BMP for those that missed it I would like a chance to aquire all of the presale bonus items that were never availible in north america.

I would like 2 more slots too so i can have one character of each proffession.

I have the bonus mission pack but i'm waiting in the hope that somewhere in the next 2 years of nothing new Anet may release a simalar promotion or allow people to obtain the preorder bonuses. Not that i need those bonuses but i think the price of just slots is a bit ott.

In my opinion Anet should re-rum the BMP offer BUT offer something for people who spend over the x amount and already have the BMP so the people that supported Anet don't get nothing from the promo

http://wiki.guildwars.com/index.php?...9&oldid=210767

I had to go back into the history of the page since it appears that it has recently disappeared off of the "final" version of the page.

QUOTE=AydenV2]Gaile, is the bonus mission pack going to be sold individually later on?[/QUOTE]

How come you couldn’t clarify it when the question was first brought up when the announcement was first made about the BMP…the wording is the same now as it was then….

http://gw.gamona.de/forum/attachment...4&d=1183932897

You in this chat log you talk about the BMP not being avaialbe at a later date and that there are no plans to do so…also speak about it being exclusive content.

On a side note... i don't really care that Anet wants to sell the stuff...what really bothers me is all the shady marketing techniques that was used to sucker us into purchasing 29.99 worth of product from the online store because that was the only way to get the BMP...

You are totally missing my point. I did not get the box for GW:EN so I could get the bmp and now people want it offered another way. That would be like anet offering the divine aura (from the Prophecies CE) for a couple of bucks.

People knew it was "full fledged missions" and if they wanted them that badly, they would have bought the expansion in the game store.

I fully expected anet to do what they said and not offer it any other kind of way. If this is how they are going to do business, they will never have anyone believe anything they say.


When they said, "The Bonus Pack will only be available to the exact account that fulfills this promotion in the in-game store"........

QFT

I fall in category 3, and have friends in category 1 & 4.

Those in cat.1 are really angry about this decision. To the point they won't participate into any other promotion.
They are the kind of people who buy CE editions, multiple accounts... some go to fanboy levels hard to believe (GW posters behind their desks at work and the like, and I'm talking about adults with family and children)
It is childish IMO, but it is their decision and their money to spend on future Anet stuff.
They feel that they participated in the promotion to have the equivalent of a GW:EN CE, and now their CE is being redistributed... so they feel "Why not divine aura?"... Well, bad for them.

Reading the wording of the promotion I can't blame them. Splitting the hair on the matter and playing around with words won't help.

Let's see:
Seller: "Buy my new lotion. My hair grow a lot."
Customer: "Ok, I'll buy".
Some time later
Customer: "Hey, my hair don't grow, your lotion is a fake."
Seller: "I never said my lotion would make hair grow."

I myself believed that the promotion was the ONLY way to acquire the BMP, but decided to not get it anyway, because I couldn't care less, and I'm happy with my choice.

Those in cat.4 are happy about this new course, because they claim they had no way to fulfill the requirements at the time. So they have access to the new content, altough the 4 missions are really really short, and I'm pretty sure all the fuss is about the shiny weapons.
This way Anet will have a lot more of happy customers. (I think that those who haven't got the BMP are more than those who have it)

I'm for opening the access to everything to everyone, the more options people have, the better.

What everyone forgets is the QUALITY of the BMP. Now it has became something to have, not because it is something so awesome, but solely for the sake of having it.
How much will the BMP cost? I wouldn't pay more than 2/3 euros for the whole BMP. It is less than an hour of gameplay, confronted to a whole campaign (26 euros and hundreds of hours of gameplay)... then you'll have people whining "I payed X money to get this crap? WTF!!!11!!1!ONE!1! ANET 5UKZ!!11!!!1!"

I just wonder what is the sense behind this promotion.
Now Anet has got Cat.#1 who are (were?) amongst the most loyal customers and will be pissed off, and will hardly participate into another Anet promotion, and has got Cat.#3 that will get the BMP and be like "Well, no need to spend money for promotions, we'll get what we want anyway"...
Why do promotions at all, then?

Oh I see. So this is just like when you said, "if you own factions, you can make an assassin in Nightfall" and then we couldn't.

Not realy......She didn't confirm anything.

I want the Factions CE dags and glowy dancers too, please.

What would make the people who didn't purchase [enough to get] the BMP special enough to have it offered again while nothing else is offered again? It's far too small of a thing to take the time to re-release again. I don't mean this as such a blunt insult, but I think she doesn't know what she's talking about again.

Mad King mini.

a second chance on BMP????? wasnt that promotion like 3 to months long???? couldnt save your pennies and have a friend hook up with debit card number, prepaid visa???
/notsigned
didnt take advantage during the time should of done it, just like the ce addition of prophieses for aura i lucked out ill deal

bingo same here

Re-releasing it wouldn't take a lot of time. Everything is in the game already. They would basically be selling an on/off switch for the BMP missions. And the BMP might be small, it's big enough to see ANet put a lot of time (and thus, money) in it, which they probably want back unless they're a non-profit organisation (which I doubt).

Part of the reason to re-release it would probably be the sales (or lack thereof) in Europe and other non-CC countries. Adding PayPal would go a long way (money transfer to PP - pay in online store). ANet/NCSoft also put time and money in improving the Online store by adding IVR and SMS (which looked like it would make it on time but failed...miserably), which will now be released in January-February. Payment options that would have allowed part of the European community to still get the BMP.
However, due to the fact it wasn't added in time by ANet/NCSoft, those players shouldn't be allowed to access the BMP? Explain why. What did the players do to not be allowed access?


As for CE's, try a few stores, maybe they have some left (a Belgian store still has Prophecies and Factions CE in their catalog, though only if ordered, so not sure if they still have a stock). I know there were a few Prophecies CE's left in store when I picked up a NF CE anyway...

Please close this thread that I OPENED to know about future/other promotion, not to discuss about the first bmp.
I'm tired to see /signed /notsigned

Redvex, i agree that you Opened the thread but it has become a community thread now and this should not be closed while there are still valid questions that are left unanswered. Your question was answered...Gaile said she didn't know...if there were going to be any future promotions or not...

i just bought eotn ,which meant gaining access to bmp

Only if you bought it in the time period stated.

/agree

There's an empty space on my shelf next to my other 3 GW boxes

The bottomline is, fine, they want to find a new way to sell the BMP. BUT they should consider first the people who made various sacrifices to get GW:EN at release (whether GW:EN being higher price, not getting a box, having to find a way to pay in online store, or the poor souls who were actually buying character slots just for the BMP)... that support shouldn't mean diddly.

I think the best thing is to give these early buyers something else as a bonus. OR sell CE stuff, to be fair.

Why would ppl want the box anyway? I even forget where I put mines, pile of dust I guess.

perhaps those who bought it within the original period should gain divine aura!

that way everyone can QQ even more and the whole of GW will implode.

then again...

Personally i'm sure they'll make it available by other means, more money allows more GW "things" and "stuff" to occur, and make GW2 even better than hopefully it will be already.

Btw Anet, i don't know how, but make the BMP even more well publicised. I still come across players that have never even heard of it. God knows how they missed it but somehow they managed.

This would just start the problem again though, "Hey that person got the bonus bonus mission pack! I want it, I wasn't told that even if I buy the pack this second time round I wouldn't get the new new stuff." And then the cycle repeats.

To be honest if the bonus pack is sold, I want to be sent the box that I gave up, however it would be a logistical nightmare to get the boxes out to the right people etc. so this will never happen.

The Chimeric Prism is much more shiny and awesome than the BMP weapons (imo) and there won't be a second chance at it because it was a promotion for the release of Prophecies so why should a promotion for the online store and the release of GW:EN be any different?

Everyone get exactly what they deserved as far as the BMP is concerned, those who fulfilled the promotion got the BMP those who wanted the box got the box in the full knowledge they would be missing out on the BMP. Those who couldn't be bothered to get a pre-paid card etc. didn't get the BMP they wanted but evidently didn't try as hard as they could to fulfill the promotion so they didn't deserve it and therefore didn't get it.

There's a difference between the BMP and the CE editions. First and most obvious, the CE also contains RL goodies, not just virtual ones, which -if sold in the OS- means shipping costs. The second is that the conditions for the CE's were the same for everyone. Get it at whatever store closest to you has it and pay in whatever way you want, be it cash, CC, debit, online order, whatever. While some stores in some countries did't have the CE, online orders could still get you one (though added shipping costs), or you could wait until they arrive (New Zealand and Australia had issues IIRC).
This is different from the BMP, where the only option is a CC and the OS. While the OS is available to all, a CC is not, and is a big enough issue to not be ignored or shrugged off by "get a CC card". Even pre-paid cards aren't available in every country, or hard to get.

Besides, the box really isn't much. The manual can be downloaded, the box cover can be found as well. Oh, and a map and a trial key. Both of which haven't left my box so far.

Granted, the fairest way would have been a SE edition of GWEN when it was released, which would have been the same as the normal edition except with an access code for the BMP, with an added cost of 5€ or something. Get BMP from store: pay extra. Buy GWEN from OS: get BMP for free.

Well... The bonus mission pack says Limited Time Only... Right? (correct me if I'm wrong)
The Tim Hortens Roll up the Rim to Win is also for a Limited Time Only... Yet they keep doing it every year...
/flamesheidon
Edit - I'm not saying they will release it again, I'm just stating this.

Early adopters pay the price. You wanted it then, you gave up your boxes.

And you didn't want it then, you gave up the BMP. Your point is moot.

Did you miss the part where Gaile pretty outwardly said that the BMP will be available?

Good. Then there's no need to argue about it anymore. Close beaten-horse thread plz kthnx ^_^

Again, here it is.

in a nut shell imho is that like the CE with devine aura, the Tengu mask in the prerelease pack of factions, and other things, people will complain when they see something they were not quick on getting, from what i have seen by the repost of what gaile said that there is no talks over rereleaseing BMP and i know that the advertisement was at the guild wars store, mentioned on wiki, hell i think even talked about here, to complain it wasnt fair is plain silly its done and if you dont have it deal
flaime way but fact is fact dead horse

Alright, guess I'll add my 2 cents. I've ordered GWEN from the online store so I already have access to the BMP's. With that out of the way, it wouldn't effect me one bit if it were offered again. Even if it were offered the same way, just without the time limit of you having to purchase it from so and so dates.

People that bought GWEN in the online store saying they'd want their boxes if people were allowed to get their BMP are just being cynical. They could just as easily have purchased the game in a real store and purchased something else in the online store to have met the requirements. Fine, you want it to be fair? How about people that spend another $30 on GW's products will get the box and manual for EotN. That would be the equivalent if the BMP promotion were offered in the same way again. Now how many people would actually jump at the chance for spending another $30 for the box? Not many I'd wager, but who knows.

It's not as if someone getting the BMP now would be getting it for free. They still have to pay for it. Is it really taking away from someone's gaming pleasure if the ability to get the BMP were available again? Big woop, they weren't one of the early adopters. Who cares?

As for the people that will bring up the arguement, what about past promotions? If people are getting a 2nd chance for this than why not for other things offered such as pre-order benefits or festival hats? Those were specific instances. This promotion had an arbitrary time limit, which could just as easily been offered at anytime. Heck, no time limit would probable have been the way to go.

Again, I already have access to the BMP. So it doesn't effect me one bit. Anyone who already has it and is really bothered that someone else may or may not be able to get it in the same or possibly in a new/easier/harder fasion have a very parsimonious veiw. Seriously, you already have it. Be happy and atleast just be contempt that if it doesn't effect your gaming, then it can't really be ALL that bad.

no offense but you really need to read the previous posts...
its basicly Limited Time to get BMP under the Promotion free.

it never states BMP is limited..just the promotion.
people have been confused(including myself) the difference between BMP and Promotion.
took me awhile to understand it, and no twisting of words...says exactly what it is intended as a Promotion.


and people need to stop comparing CE with BMP they are completely different.

I endorse this thread. And the calm and reasoned voice behind it.

Please understand -- there is no attempt here to twist words or lie or conceal the truth. We have had an outpouring of requests for the BMP to be sold -- including those who absolutely were not able to purchase, no matter how much they were willing to do so. They lacked the simple ability to use the In-Game or PlayNC Store, which is something we're trying very hard to correct.

In the end, it is my job to relay concerns from the community to the development team, and to share dev team information with the players. I would not be a responsible community representative if I did not share the request of multitudes of players with the business folks, and the business folks will ultimately make the decision about offering the BMP for sale. I am messaging in good faith; they will make the decision that they make in good faith. And, in the end, I guess some percentage of people will be unhappy with whatever decision they make -- that seems sort of inevitable. However, I stand solidly by the fact that no matter what decision is made, some percentage will be made happy by the decision, too.

When there are diametrically opposite points of view, someone ultimately has to make a decision. I do truly trust that that decision will be in the overall best interests of the Guild Wars community, the game, and the company.

I am not concerned about whether the offer the BMP again either as promotion or stand alone For me it won't make any difference as I am still not linking my main account to PlayNC.

However, I would strongly suggest one thing - watch the wording next time. On the final reminder page that came out a few days before the end of the promotion it clearly stated that ANY purchase of 30.00 from PlayNC would qualify for the promotion. That, in fact, was not true. What is really amazing is even now, two months later, it stills says ANY product worth $29.99 from the PlayNC store. http://www.guildwars.com/products/ex...ck/default.php

If you are going to be picky about wording, Gaile, then either change that phrase or start crediting those of us who bought other products from PlayNC during the promotion time with the BMP.

I'll buy that - too bad this is after how many posts telling me I'm unable to understand that you never actually used the word "exclusive".

So, should I disregard what you said before or not as this is a totally different reason? Effectively should I, next time, go through it with a fine tooth comb and ask everything that may be "misunderstood" or assume that you will correct something when the whole community thinks something? Of course, this also means that you intended (at least to some extent) the thing to be "exclusive" as that was what nearly the entire community thought.

I'll buy that because of PlayNC store issues you want to offer it again, heck while not really happy about it I'll even buy due to it's popularity that you feel you have to have it as a permanent reward for spending 29 dollars (in fact, that probably should have been the case to begin with). But I do not buy the legalistic (of the bad kind) type of word wrangling given so far, I have a strong suspicion that you wouldn't accept that in you life either (very few people do).

It's like reading a large sign at a grocery store "Special, for one day only, t-bone steak 9.99 per pound" and later find out that "special" means it was put on the board. Some places do that, it is not a lie (they never claimed that was a reduced price), however it *is* misleading and is why they do it. I, and most people, generally feel kinda ripped off when they find this out and, if they continue shopping there (it is usually not enough to make you quit) you pretty much do not trust any of their adds or what they tell you.

Are you going to be a company that starts doing that (you never have before and is a large part of why these threads go for so long) or are you going to be one that when they say "special, for one day only" it means what 99% of people on the planet expect that to mean?

Please keep in mind the Gaile is a representative of the company, and not the webmaster or policy maker. As such, she is only able to be a sympathetic ear to us and a go-between from us to the developers. I don't think attacking or picking apart what she says is going to help our case.

I do agree that the wording for the BMP offer is quite vague, and it should be looked into, but these questions could have also been brought up before the trial came and went. If you had written verification that buying *some other* PlayNC product for $30 would get you the BMP, then you have a leg to stand on, otherwise, never assume too much...

I think that there has been a lot of focus on the emotive and "legal" aspects of the topic, but just doing some musing myself on what the upcoming decision means for the business model that ANET was (or is) trying to encourage.

From all accounts, the on line store direction has been about keeping costs of production / distribution down to a minimum. They offered a bonus promotion to get people to take up / comply with that model. I am sure that weighing into the upcoming re-release decision are thoughts on :

1) What percentage made the swap and what did that do to the ANET bottom line?

2) How many would abandon the online store if the BMP were offered again (ie return to wanting a box and waiting for the next propmotion to be reversed by weight of popular opinion)

3) Given that people now have some idea of the value of ANET promotions, if they don't re-release, what percentage might they shift over to the online store next time they have a new promo / release (ie people seeing that not getting onboard is a choice with consequences).

Now I can say I am in category 1, and I would more than likely migrate back to category 2 if I felt that things could be reversed with a darn good ruckus and bleating.

Gaile is right - the decision will make some happy and others not. I think there will be a large proportion of players with in interest in that, so either way some significant number is going to be pleased and another similar number will be peeved. There is no doubt that ANET can make some extra money out of a re-release of the BMP, but they are going to have to be careful not to kill their push towards online distribution.

Its going to be interesting to see where this goes. I have the BMP and am not totally opposed to a re-release - both sides have merit to their arguments. I think though that if ANET wants to maintain (or indeed accelerate) a push towards the online store then they will more than likely need to price it high enough that people who swapped away fro the box see that they got sufficient value. I am thinking of a promo something like a minimum 20 dollars spent through the online store allows you the rights to buy the BMP for another 15 dollars. Lets face it - the rest of us had to spend a minimum 30 dollars in the store for it and not all of us did that just by buying GWEN.

Well - thats my 2 cents anyway