Why haven't anet done more BMP stuff.

Xsiriss

Xsiriss

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2008

This way players get something,optional of course but at £5 it's not too much, and they get some actual funding.And due to the nature of GW it doesn't give anyone an edge or what ever...I think they definitely need to go down this route more as it works a charm for other companies.

For example Tripwire Interactive and Killing Floor,sure it's a small game and company but they have consistently updated the game evry month with fixes and are now branching into new content,whilst the new maps and weapons come free the new character skins (ie entirely optional content) comes at around $2. Because it's so dam cheap most players buy it,bingo monnies for a few more pixels.

Why do you think they stopped at the BMP?

Fril Estelin

Fril Estelin

So Serious...

Join Date: Jan 2007

London

Nerfs Are [WHAK]

E/

They decided to focus effort and resources on GW2. The GW1 Live Team is quite small and can only improve GW1, not add content.

Plus the BMP was also a means for players to get free inscribable weapons (and some cool skins), so no need for a new one.

Arduin

Arduin

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

The Netherlands

Limburgse Jagers [LJ]

R/

I suppose because it takes a lot of Dev power to make a BMP-like pack, and players are able to play through it in a few hours. As in, too much work for too little content.

lilDeath

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2006

Treehouse #1

W/

Time? Money? Resources? GW2?

Think that's it.

Xsiriss

Xsiriss

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2008

Now that they have a lot of weapon looks and obviously aren't too bothered about clipping issues they can easily reskin stuff,just look at eotn. As to the means of getting them,they can jsut use stuff that's already in the game, liek after completing a certain number of waves in the missions such as Zos Shivros or even the fighting arenas.It's really not hard if its based upon already in game graphics/programming.

The whole point would be to make money so that's not an issue...They have a seperate team for GW2 and the BMP came out ages ago now,they could have done more says 2-4 months after it.

pamelf

pamelf

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Australia

Lost Templars [LoTe]

Me/Mo

Does anyone even still play the BMP? All that effort put onto something that no one plays anymore....

Aljasha

Aljasha

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2009

i like the bmp. the missions are nice and it shows how the devs would design a single player mission.

i would pay for second bmp but anet don't have the manpower to work on something similar to the bmp. i heard ~450 people are working on assassin's creed, which is a not confirmed head count, however it is definitaley more than anet's 170ish staff. the genres of both games are different, but the aspiration of a populated and vivid world (with consequences for the player's actions) is the same.

hence, i wouldn't expect any major content update but gw2 to the gw franchise.

Calaval

Calaval

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2005

Forever Knights

E/

A bmp in GW2 might be nice, perhaps playing out events & characters from the Fall of Ascalon.

Karate Jesus

Karate Jesus

Forge Runner

Join Date: Apr 2008

Texas

Reign of Judgment [RoJ]

Me/

A while back I remember someone suggesting that they make a new BMP, except instead of living out the events of heroes lives we would play as the villans. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. It would be interesting to play as Shiro, the Lich, Palawa Joko, or Varesh and see how they rose to power or something like that.

I know they don't have the resources or the motivation to make another BMP, but if they did.....I'd buy it.

Mordakai

Mordakai

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Aug 2005

Kyhlo

W/

IF ArenaNet decides to make another BMP, it should be more repeatable than the "historical" one. Something like Sorrow's Furnace.... (although to be honest I never did the Golem Quests that came out, what, a year ago? They didn't seem to be worth the reward.)

But, if anything, I suspect GW2 will see more stuff like BMPs, and less "Chapters", since you can make quick money with a BMP and not have to rebalance the game due to new skills, classes and races.

Iotan

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Feb 2006

Time Is Running [OUT]

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by pamelf View Post
Does anyone even still play the BMP? All that effort put onto something that no one plays anymore....
It's not about whether people will play it often, it's whether people will buy it. I think there's a very good probability that people would purchase a new BMP for $5-10 even if it only has a few missions, therefore making it worth the time put in to develop it. And remember, this transaction would probably be through the online store, meaning all the money goes to ANet.

Fril Estelin

Fril Estelin

So Serious...

Join Date: Jan 2007

London

Nerfs Are [WHAK]

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Iotan View Post
I think there's a very good probability that people would purchase a new BMP for $5-10 even if it only has a few missions, therefore making it worth the time put in to develop it.
A few thousands people buying a $10 game would not pay for a fulltime team of 10 people working for about 6 months (which is roughly what Linsey mentioned would be needed for a new realm, so it's only a lower estimate).

I'm sure Anet has analysed the numbers behind the BMP and have balanced the pro of making a new one against having the Live Team just updating GW1 and more people working on GW2.

Evasion Twenty

Evasion Twenty

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jul 2009

Outside

Balthazars Chosen [BC]

R/P

You want them to delay GuildWars2 even longer? I'm quite sure the team doesn't have enough employees and funding to get it done. Even if it would be quite nice.

Daesu

Daesu

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Oct 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mordakai View Post
IF ArenaNet decides to make another BMP, it should be more repeatable than the "historical" one. Something like Sorrow's Furnace.... (although to be honest I never did the Golem Quests that came out, what, a year ago? They didn't seem to be worth the reward.)
Agree. The BMP doesn't seem to be worth the reward for the time spent, which is why people are not really playing it nowadays. I can get more by using that time to farm.

I wouldn't buy another BMP unless they up the reward into something alot more worth while.

Gigashadow

Gigashadow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Bellevue, WA

W/

The BMP was great, even if you didn't get it for free as part of preorder, and paid $5-$10 or whatever it ended up costing. Fun storylines, plus a ton of great weapon skins. I really enjoyed it, and it was cheap entertainment for how little it cost.

Apollo Smile

Apollo Smile

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jan 2008

[LORE]

E/Mo

I would happily pay 10-15 bucks for another bonus mission pack. They were done great and are fun to go through.

Arduin

Arduin

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

The Netherlands

Limburgse Jagers [LJ]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xsiriss View Post
Now that they have a lot of weapon looks and obviously aren't too bothered about clipping issues they can easily reskin stuff,just look at eotn. As to the means of getting them,they can jsut use stuff that's already in the game, liek after completing a certain number of waves in the missions such as Zos Shivros or even the fighting arenas.It's really not hard if its based upon already in game graphics/programming.

The whole point would be to make money so that's not an issue...They have a seperate team for GW2 and the BMP came out ages ago now,they could have done more says 2-4 months after it.
Like I ever would spend a dime on that . I can reskin my weapons for free using texmod. And using missions that are already in game gets old fast.

refer

refer

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jan 2009

US

I thought you meant BMP screenshots. JPEGs for the epic fail! You buy that nice graphics card but then take reduced quality screenshots which can't show it off. Like recording music with depth and then using a limiter to take part in the loudness war.

Bonus Mission Pack? Maybe they are running out of ideas creatively.

pinguinius

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arduinna View Post
players are able to play through it in a few hours. As in, too much work for too little content.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamelf View Post
Does anyone even still play the BMP? All that effort put onto something that no one plays anymore....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daesu View Post
The BMP doesn't seem to be worth the reward for the time spent, which is why people are not really playing it nowadays.
Publishers, NCSoft in this case, could give less than a shit how long you use their product, as long as you buy it. Perhaps the people who actually spent time making it would like you to play it, but your personal feelings are not the reason why they haven't made any more, which is the point of this topic. Not "hurr durr i like the bmp, do you?"

The reason, as others said, lies likely in resource allocation and the dubious financial benefit of developing more content for GW1.

Hugh Manatee

Hugh Manatee

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2007

Nice But Deadly[nice]

N/

I liked the BMP and if I ever need a weapon I usually head there first to see if there's anything good looking, and there usually is, the tengu stuff is sexy, the undead stuff is badass, the charr stuff is vicious and the mursaat stuff is freaky good, and the missions themselves were fun(especially togo's and Turai's). Now that I have a ton of weapons though I do do the missions less, but I like having the option. If they added a new BMP it shouldn't be for weapons, maybe materials, or straight out cash or faction, maybe items for sweet or party titles.

It'd be nice to get new content, maybe a Sorrows like area in NF or Factions, but they just don't have the resources for it.

Solas

Solas

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2006

Ireland

Currently LF Active HA Guild, Glad 2, Comm.3, R2

E/

Focusing on GW2 really.
slo I wouldn't be a fan of them charging for things like skins or weapons through the store.
Content that could give them,yes as long as it was at least a mini expansion.

Angelica

Angelica

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jan 2006

Aussie land

Me/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by pamelf View Post
Does anyone even still play the BMP? All that effort put onto something that no one plays anymore....
Right! I did not even completed it.
Plus I like to point out that this is a MMORPG if you people wish to play a solo game get a different game.
I'm sick of solo quests in GW, my opinion of course!

Arduin

Arduin

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

The Netherlands

Limburgse Jagers [LJ]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Angelica View Post
Plus I like to point out that this is a MMORPG if you people wish to play a solo game get a different game.
I'm sick of solo quests in GW, my opinion of course!
If you want to play an MMORPG I'd suggest playing a game with a party size of 8+

pamelf

pamelf

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Australia

Lost Templars [LoTe]

Me/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by pinguinius View Post
Publishers, NCSoft in this case, could give less than a shit how long you use their product, as long as you buy it. Perhaps the people who actually spent time making it would like you to play it, but your personal feelings are not the reason why they haven't made any more, which is the point of this topic. Not "hurr durr i like the bmp, do you?"

The reason, as others said, lies likely in resource allocation and the dubious financial benefit of developing more content for GW1.
You have a point, but given that the last BMP has hardly been played actually attests to the popularity of such an addition. Do you think that players would spend $5-10 on a product which past experience has taught was NOT worth the money and had 0 replayability? I think that the response to the original BMP would cloud NCSoft's decision on funding Anet to create another.

Yes all they want is for us to buy the product, but I personally would not buy such a product after the last BMP. If there are other people who feel like me, which I'm almost certain there are, it would be a complete waste of money for Anet to develop.

Lonesamurai

Lonesamurai

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Apr 2006

Cheltenham, Glos, UK

Wolf Pack Samurai [WPS]

R/A

how do you know how much its been played or not? as its single player content, you can't tell if people have played the BMP missions unless they are using the weapons

pamelf

pamelf

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Australia

Lost Templars [LoTe]

Me/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lonesamurai View Post
unless they are using the weapons
I hardly even see them on heroes anymore...

Lishy

Lishy

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by Apollo Smile View Post
I would happily pay 10-15 bucks for another bonus mission pack. They were done great and are fun to go through.
This.


But as much as I want a 2nd BMP, I don't think anet has the resources.

zwei2stein

zwei2stein

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Jun 2006

Europe

The German Order [GER]

N/

Quote:
Originally Posted by pamelf View Post
I hardly even see them on heroes anymore...
That does not means that people did not do BMP. It's not like they must be covered in BMP weapons, have to farm it 24/7 and have "<3 BMP" cape design.

I mean: He does one mission once. That means that out of 10 characters one gets weapon. On that character one can choose to give that weapon to hero, and if he keeps it for personal use, chances are he is using build that is incompatible with usage of that weapon. Especially if they were already set for life as far as weapons are concerned.

So there is like 0.5% chance that you can see someones BMP weapon even if you party with him. Chances are, if you actually asked them whether they have BMP weapons, you'd be surprised.

---

Anyhow, I have not seen anyone wiedling shiros sword. That means noone ever bothers to finish factions. And certainly, noone has ever done any uw in past two years because its that long sicne i saw someone using stormbow. And don't get me started on nigtfall ... that fail of campaing was not played by anyone, ever. I can say that because i have not seen anyone wielding Fiery Gladius, ever. Not even their Koss heroes have it.

Fril Estelin

Fril Estelin

So Serious...

Join Date: Jan 2007

London

Nerfs Are [WHAK]

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by zwei2stein View Post
So there is like 0.5% chance that you can see someones BMP weapon even if you party with him.

<snip>

And certainly, noone has ever done any uw in past two years because its that long sicne i saw someone using stormbow.
Man, you need to party with me as I use both! ;P

Daesu

Daesu

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Oct 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by zwei2stein View Post
That does not means that people did not do BMP. It's not like they must be covered in BMP weapons, have to farm it 24/7 and have "<3 BMP" cape design.

I mean: He does one mission once. That means that out of 10 characters one gets weapon. On that character one can choose to give that weapon to hero, and if he keeps it for personal use, chances are he is using build that is incompatible with usage of that weapon. Especially if they were already set for life as far as weapons are concerned.

So there is like 0.5% chance that you can see someones BMP weapon even if you party with him. Chances are, if you actually asked them whether they have BMP weapons, you'd be surprised.
Although I agree with you that not seeing them on heroes does not necessarily mean nobody is playing them, the BMP is pretty much a one time deal. Once you get the weapons you need, there is no point going through them again.

I dont think the time spent on the BMP missions are worth it considering how easy it is to get rare weapons nowadays. But since the BMP rewards are customized, whenever you see someone with BMP weapons at least it shows that the guy has a certain amount of achievement, no matter how small it is. No build variations, no heroes, no skillful friends/guildies to help you, no consummables, not even your uber weapons or armor, just pure gamer skills on your own.

I have all the BMP weapons spreaded across all my characters and I wield them more proudly than I would, with a rare skinned weapon that can be farmed/bought.

Cacheelma

Cacheelma

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

The Ascalon Union

Me/Mo

More BMP so they can fool us into thinking that it's a one-time exclusive deal again?

No thanks. Besides, they need another product (last time they used GWEN) to fool us into buying to get the new BMP. GW2 may be that product. If it were to come out, that is.

pamelf

pamelf

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Australia

Lost Templars [LoTe]

Me/Mo

Oh I know not seeing them on heroes etc doesn't PROVE no one plays the BMP. My point is simply that when the BMP first came out we saw those weapons EVERYWHERE. Every hero had them, people were using them left right and centre. The fact that we hardly ever see them around any more, to me at least, attests to the fact that people aren't really as interested in it as they were when it came out.

As said above, it was a one time deal, and it was fun, and I don't think I regret the money for the first time round, but frankly I still don't believe that people would pay to do it again. They just weren't THAT interesting.

Why don't we set up a poll to see if there is actual interest? I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I for one would never pay money for anything like the BMP again.

CyberNigma

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jan 2006

San Antonio, TX

W/R

I would like to see more stuff like that. I bought GW and want to keep seeing more. I haven't paid anything for GW2 so really don't care whether it gets delayed, canceled, produced on time, etc.. I play Guild Wars - the game I bought. If GW2 was a free upgrade or expansion/chapter and not a reinvention I might have a reason to be interested in it, but as of right now I know almost nothing about it aside from what's been slowly released. Saying that I don't want GW improvements to interfere with GW2 just because it carries the same name and is run by the same company would be like being an EQ player worrying that new enhancements might slow down EQ2 development.

I realize ANet said they are reinventing Guild Wars as Guild Wars 2 and that GW is effectively dead (unlike EQ/EQ2). It doesn't mean that all of the interest I had in Guild Wars just moves to Guild Wars 2. GW2 isn't necessarily the follow-on to many of us that so many people believe.

If ANet decides to re-visit GW after GW2 is released, awesome. If ANet decides to cancel GW2 and re-visit GW, awseome. If ANet decides to delay GW2 in order to release new paid content in GW - awesome. I'm a GW player, not an NCSoft investor.

However, if ANet decided to drop Guild Wars after two chapters and an expansion, what really makes anyone think that GW2 will be any different. I don't really feel like investing all that time into another game by a company with a record (1-0) of abandoning their game concept just because it gets too hard.

So, yeah - I'd like to see new BMPs or expansions, even if it's just a little bit.

Daesu

Daesu

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Oct 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by CyberNigma View Post
I would like to see more stuff like that. I bought GW and want to keep seeing more. I haven't paid anything for GW2 so really don't care whether it gets delayed, canceled, produced on time, etc.. I play Guild Wars - the game I bought. If GW2 was a free upgrade or expansion/chapter and not a reinvention I might have a reason to be interested in it, but as of right now I know almost nothing about it aside from what's been slowly released. Saying that I don't want GW improvements to interfere with GW2 just because it carries the same name and is run by the same company would be like being an EQ player worrying that new enhancements might slow down EQ2 development.
That is the problem with a free-to-play game that doesn't have enough funding to support one game while working on the next one. Plus the fact that people here tend to be against micro transactions and ANet is too much of a carebear to sell in-game advantages in their online store. What happens then? This is the result. While they are busy with GW2, GW1 would be quite abandoned and dont expect any significant content updates because the artists are all tied up in GW2. Sounds like cost cutting at the expense of GW1 customers. We all pay the price of GW2 development, one way or another.

Imaginos

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jun 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xsiriss View Post
This way players get something,optional of course but at £5 it's not too much, and they get some actual funding.And due to the nature of GW it doesn't give anyone an edge or what ever...I think they definitely need to go down this route more as it works a charm for other companies.

For example Tripwire Interactive and Killing Floor,sure it's a small game and company but they have consistently updated the game evry month with fixes and are now branching into new content,whilst the new maps and weapons come free the new character skins (ie entirely optional content) comes at around $2. Because it's so dam cheap most players buy it,bingo monnies for a few more pixels.

Why do you think they stopped at the BMP?
anet doesn't charge less then 10 bucks usd. people are less willing to just toss 10 bucks away then 2 bucks.

the last update with "micro payments" didn't give you much for your money. if those same updates had cost 2-3 bucks then I bet far more people would have bought them.

As far as the BMP goes, I do them when I need another weapon and don't want to pay for a fancy skin and don't want the usual crap that drops constantly.

I don't put the bmp weapons on my heroes because doing those missions more then a few times, as with any mission gets real old real fast. Also some of the bmp skins are only half assed done in my opinion like the murssat weapons not having any animations on them at all, unlike the droppable murssat hammer or the storm artifact....that reeks of laziness. I've yet to do the gwen bmp mission because most every charr item is ugly.

Xanthe Dashka

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2009

BMP was epic fail.

jackers1234

jackers1234

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2006

My House

N/A

Mo/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xanthe Dashka View Post
BMP was epic fail.
this.

it was fun for all of 10 minutes, then totally forgotten about.

Cargan

Cargan

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2007

Scotland

[ESP]

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by pamelf View Post
Oh I know not seeing them on heroes etc doesn't PROVE no one plays the BMP. My point is simply that when the BMP first came out we saw those weapons EVERYWHERE. Every hero had them, people were using them left right and centre. The fact that we hardly ever see them around any more, to me at least, attests to the fact that people aren't really as interested in it as they were when it came out.

As said above, it was a one time deal, and it was fun, and I don't think I regret the money for the first time round, but frankly I still don't believe that people would pay to do it again. They just weren't THAT interesting.

Why don't we set up a poll to see if there is actual interest? I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I for one would never pay money for anything like the BMP again.
I totally agree with this. The BMP was mostly just an incentive to purchase GW:EN through the ingame store and promote its use. I think after it was introduce to the game I spent maybe 3 hours max playing the missions then never returning to them. Any BMP weapons I may have had at the time have now been deleted or left on heroes that I have not used since then.

I'm really glad I never spent money on the BMP itself or I'd have been very disappointed. I think I got a couple of character slots or something and got it as a bonus.

Aeon221

Aeon221

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jan 2006

[TEW]

N/

If you assume that, with salaries, tax, etc, the cost of production for something the size of the BMP is about $750k (which feels high, at three quarters of a million bucks, but whatever), that's only 75k sales at 10$.

The potential base of consumers is in the millions, based on sales, so that should be an easy target to hit.

I've never understood why Anet didn't put together a small premium content team for GW1, and leave skill updates and holidays as the free content.

Daesu

Daesu

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Oct 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aeon221 View Post
If you assume that, with salaries, tax, etc, the cost of production for something the size of the BMP is about $750k (which feels high, at three quarters of a million bucks, but whatever), that's only 75k sales at 10$.
It is probably more than that. If it takes a year to produce then one person's salary is roughly averaged to about $200k per year which includes benefits and all. Then there are other miscellaneous costs. If they dont earn much from it, then it is just not worth it to produce, plus it was given out free to drive up the sales of EOTN too.

I think the reward sucks, so I wouldn't buy it if I have to pay for it. ANet is too much of a carebear to sell time-based rewards that can be gained from farming, in their online stores. It is much more lucrative to spend the time farming than to play BMP.