Guild Wars Bonus Mission Pack (BMP) – Available To All

13 thoughts on “Guild Wars Bonus Mission Pack (BMP) – Available To All”

1. Yes! I missed the sale of the BMP at Halloween. Now I can buy it! Good thing I signed your petition. I think I should thank you for your work on this matter. Because of you I can by the BMP.

   Thank You!

2. I, on the other hand, am less than thrilled about this.

   First of all, it should be pointed out that “missing the BMP at Halloween” means that you ignored it for four months. The promotion started in June and only concluded at the end of October.

   The verbiage used in the BMP offer description included terms such as “Limited Time Offer” and strongly implied that there would be no other way to obtain it at a later date. Based upon this (mis)information, I decided to purchase the GW:EN expansions (wife plays too) at Full Price, with No boxes/manuals, from the online store even though I could have gotten the boxed versions at a Substantial Discount from a local retailer ($40 vs. $25, times two).

   The promotion was initially billed as a “THANK YOU to customers of the online store”. Since in retrospect I can tell you that believing the ArenaNet marketing ploy actually cost me $10 more than if I had waited, I would now characterize it as a big “SCREW YOU to customers of the online store.”

   The gutless backtracking by ArenaNet/NCsoft only rewards the people who had no faith in ANET and who thought that the BMP would be garbage. Those of us who knew that the BMP would be worthwhile got it by any means necessary while the promotion was still in effect. Many people even purchased extra character slots that they had no need for, just to qualify.

   I have learned my lesson. I will never again believe any ANET/NCsoft promotion, because whatever the so-called “rules” of the promotion may be, the faithless whiners and credit-card-lacking luddites will eventually prevail, with some petition.

   /EXHALE

3. I’m so happy it’s comming on store shelves as well! That means I can go down to Gamestop or something and buy it! Thank you so much for the petition Photics, and thank you ArenaNet for making it available on store shelves as well as online.

4. Dear Baaz Al Chiba,

   I have to say that I feel for you, I did the same thing, and do feel a little betrayed too. Nevertheless I keep the faith that ArenaNet isn’t that cruel to actually go ahead and bum our faith in them that way. After all, many people wanted to get a chance to get the bonus pack. I do however strongly suspect that ArenaNet will give people that bought the bonuspack during the event something extra, as a sorry for making a mistake.

   After all, they have never forgotten their loyal fans. 🙂

5. I feel conned by a cheap marketing trick after buying online to get the bmp. I won’t be buying gw2.

6. If you go back in time, where did ArenaNet say anything about the Bonus Mission Pack being exclusive? I wasn’t surprised that ArenaNet decided to make the BMP available again. One of the core values of Guild Wars was not needing a credit card to play. That was clearly stated. A lot of players were getting shut out completely… because they did not have a credit card. I bought the Bonus Mission Pack through the online promotion. I don’t feel the least bit angry that the BMP is now available again.

7. I did not say that ANET called the BMP “exclusive”. What I said was that they “strongly implied” that the BMP would only be available through the promotion. By clicking on the link to the archived page which Photics has above so helpfully provided, one can see that the first sentence in the BMP promotion description is:

   “For a limited time, when you spend $29 USD (€26/£17) or more in the Official Guild Wars (online) Store, you will get a Guild Wars Bonus Mission Pack for free!”

   Though this is undoubtedly, perhaps even intentionally, ambiguous, I would wager that a majority of sentient English-speaking adults would construe it to mean that the BMP is only available at all for a Limited Time. To reach the conclusion that the BMP is only Free for a limited time and will be sold separately later, one must really want it to mean that because it is not the natural implication, in my opinion.

   Since that is not definitive, please allow me to quote Gaile from last July. In response to a question as the whether or not the BMP will ever be sold separately, Gaile says:

   “While we understand you are willing to purchase the mission pack separately, that may not meet the objectives of this program.”

   Gaile again, also from last July:

   “… there are currently no plans to offer alternatives for the acquisition of the Bonus Mission Pack. It is a bonus intended for the in-game store. I have discussed this with sales and marketing and have let them know that players would very much like an alternative opportunity to purchase this through the in-game store. However, at this time, there’s nothing to relay about any possible future options of this sort, with regret.”

   To me, these statements seem to imply quite strongly that if you want the BMP, you had better get in on the promotion.

   I agree that since the BMP was only available through the online store, then the store needed to up to the task, which it wasn’t. PayPal was not an option, and it should have been.

   I also understand the “no credit cards” sentiment, but would it not be more accurate to say that the Guild Wars core value is actually “no monthly fees”? And honestly, here in the twenty-first century when even a child or a person with wrecked credit can open a bank account and get a debit card which functions like a credit card, the refusal to use “plastic money” becomes a personal philosophical choice, the consequences of which one has to live with.

   In the end, having the BMP available to all does not affect me one way or the other. The ten dollars that I lost is a small price to pay for falling for one of the basic sales techniques, which is “Fear of Loss”.

   I do feel bad for Gaile though, whose credibility was retroactively damaged by her superiors, much like that of Colin Powell or any press secretary of the Bush administration. And, believe or not, I pity ANET since their next “Limited Time” promotion will probably be a failure, because who will believe them?

   Not I.

8. First off, great post. It’s stuff like this that makes running a fansite fun! Your reply was intelligent and it creates great discussion. It’s controversy like this that gets the community involved.

   Although, I disagree. Gaile clearly leaves the door open. From the quotes that you posted, her story was consistant. She doesn’t say, “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” She uses words like “may” and “at this time”. It took something important to change the status quo…

   … maybe it was the Photics petition. 😀

   Gaile lunged at me. No really… she was quite harsh with me at first. Her issue was that the BMP would not and should not be given away for free. That’s the key of the promotion, getting the BMP gratis. She mentioned the technical issues.

   I guess this is an issue of expectations. If I buy a computer, I expect that it’s going to be cheaper six months later. When I unlocked the Bonus Mission Packs via the Guild Wars Online Store, I expected that there would eventually be another way to purchase the extra content. The community would demand it.

   Early adopters run a risk. Maybe they’ll spend too much money. Maybe they’ll run into technical issues. Yet, early adopters enjoy the prestige of being first. I don’t think ArenaNet was deceptive. I do think that this was a learning experience for them.

9. Baaz Al Chiba, proves a good point, but it’s kinda unfair, to me that the Idea of the BMP promotion came out when I had all the games and pre-ordered GW:EN, I feel like how the hell am I going to find $30 worth of things to buy in the Store when I don’t need anything from it.

10. Never the less do I think that ArenaNet should give their loyal customers that bought the mission pack, something extra. Otherwise many of us are going to feel cheated. If it would have stated “The mission pack will be available to everyone 4 months later” I don’t think many would have bothered getting it at that time.

11. But you see, Geordina, no one *bought* the BMP during the promotion. They were *given* the BMP with any purchase of Guild Wars products, anything at all. And they were given three months to decide, “Hmmm… do I want to buy a PvP Pack? Or a few character slots? Or do I want to just go ahead and order GW:EN online, get access the minute the servers go live, and get this nifty gift, as well?” Those who preordered GW:EN were welcome to change their preorder to another product or to simple store credit. Or at least in my considerable game-buying experience I don’t know of any store that locks you in and doesn’t allow a chance to the deposit. Now, we announced the BMP promotion, with it’s inherent bonuses — free BMP, and credit for the pre-order (thereby making it free, too) pretty early in the process. We feel that having done so, the options were out there and that those who wanted to do one or the other (purchase from the in-game store, purchase at retail) were able to act as they desired.

    Now, in case someone wanted to bring it up, it seems to me that a discussion of apparent pricing disparity is pretty irrelevant. Saying “But I could have gotten it for $10 less if I bought the retail product at XYZ Game Store” maybe be true, but then, if you did, now you can pay that $10 to buy the BMP through the new points of access! 🙂

    Maybe that would make an interesting poll, asking if people would have made a different choice given the way that the earlier BMP promotion and the current BMP sales evolved. I *believe* that most would have said, “Since I’m going to buy GW:EN anyway and since I would love to have the free BMP, I’ll order through the in-game store.” But hey, I could be mistaken!

    Mike, you’re right, I was a bit irritated with the petition because it seemed to be a plea to get more, and for free, and I know you greatly believe in our business model, so your proposal seemed radically outside what I believe you so solidly support. Yet, as I wrote later, I came to understand your position and you came to understand mine, and we’ve never been anything but honest with one another so I think that it was a worthwhile discussion.

    I might confess, with no offense intended, that I find it a little disheartening that those who got the free BMP last fall, who have had months of exclusive access, and who have already acquired the spiffy new items from the pack, might now suggest they get “something extra” for having been given a free gift. For please understand, those individuals *had* something extra, through months of early access and they got it at no cost! You’re right, again, in saying that early adopters can take a certain amount of risk. But it sure seems to me that in this case, they’ve been repaid for their faith in multiple ways: early access to content that was cooler than most expected, early acquisition of what many players feel are some of the best-looking items in the game, and all at no cost!

    In the end, the BMP promotion was most definitely a learning experience for all of us, from community to sales and marketing to development to, yes, players. And in the end, ArenaNet has heard the concerns, enjoyed the praise, and will learn from both. I think the product and the promotion were positive, and I know we’ll do even better in the future.

12. Seems like all I realy wanted was an answer to the questions as to why ArenaNet decided to act in this way. Looking at it that way, I can live with it.

13. Yay for the Togo killing machine! (I now love ritualists now that I know what they can do.)

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