CLOK Dominion and COGG Dominion - any discrepancies to work out?

[Rias]

There were some comments on #GAME about how the Dominion felt different in CLOK, more evil for the sake of evil, and that they may have been more violent than seems fitting for the Dominion as seen in COGG. My response turned into a novel so I'm posting this here on the BBS rather than on chat. Granted my recollection of the Dominion in CLOK is from many years ago, and I'm old, so my memories may have gotten jumbled and skewed. I also largely tuned out of CLOK for its last few years, so things may have happened that I'm not aware of.

The only violence (not to be confused with aggressiveness) I recall them committing was in response to those who attacked their Protectorates, their waystations, or their people. (Or on a more individual level, those who broke major laws within their jurisdiction (and maybe a little outside their jurisdiction too, but that's probably just Resistance propaganda).) They were aggressive in their takeover of nearby settlements, but they didn't go in and attack them, they installed garrisons of soldiers in the name of protecting said settlements from the dangers of the Lost Lands. Of course there was the ulterior motive of "now we've got a garrison in your little settlement so you can't exactly turn down our 'offer' of joining our Dominion." They were at frequent violent odds with the Resistance, but that's to be expected, and it continues here in COGG even if mostly off-screen thus far.

(In response to a comment about one of their rumors being boasting about their latest takeovers.) Boasting about their expanding empire seems on point for some hoity toity citizens in the capital of the rising regional power. The Dominion is very much dedicated to their perception of the greater good and the prosperity of their people and their lands (which would ideally be all of the Lost Lands, if they can pull it off), but it's always been a very authoritarian and aggressive faction. "We'll bring order, peace, and prosperity to the people of these chaotic lands whether they want it or not. Some may not realize what we're doing is what needs to be done, but we will do it anyway for the greater good of the people of the Lost Lands."

If you read their helpfile here on COGG (which hasn't changed since 2019 save for a typo correction) it does describe the faction as "forcibly uniting" the people, being criticized for their aggressive and highly authoritarian methods, and controversial frequent use of sorcery for enforcement methods and employing nethrim for various tasks and labor. Some of this "feel" may have died down lately in Mistral Lake because the seat of power and the surroundings have been secured for some years now and the people there are relatively acclimatized to the Dominion Way. "The front" has moved elsewhere, out of sight and out of mind of many of the citizens.

I'm glad that the perception of the Dominion in COGG is for many people a favorable one. They're meant to be controversial in their methods, but also make you consider that their actions and methods may in fact be exactly what the Lost Lands needs right now. They're uniting the people and bringing peace and order - primarily by force - to an increasing area of the Lost Lands, while all the independent little settlements and factions (Shadgard among them) are basically just holed up and just existing as best they can with what they've got on their own while the Lost Lands continue to rage and fester around them (this is a generalization to make a point, exceptions aplenty exist). That the Dominion has a lot of supporters in the playerbase is great to see because they were never supposed to be the "objectively bad guys", not even in CLOK. The whole point of their introduction was to create some controversy about their methods while also making it difficult to argue with their results. And I just loved the idea that someone finally said, "You know what, we're tired of trying to play nice with everyone and watching them opt to live in danger and die out, we're going to make the Lost Lands a better place and we're doing it our way and we'll crush anyone who tries to stop us because this place and these people are doomed unless someone forces everyone to stop bickering and just work together and get this done."

I can't think of anything the Dominion did in CLOK that doesn't reconcile with the Dominion it's become in COGG, but again, jumbled memory. If anyone can think of any particular issues or incidents that need to be addressed, please let me know in this thread and we'll figure it out!

[darkangel]

I don't have any issues per se, but I absolutely enjoy the concept of necessity vs ideal. and such a thing I feel so far has been wonderfully portrayed by the dominion.
one speculation I have though is how far it's willing to go to advance it's perception of the greater good? at any point will we see that philosophy unintentionally or otherwise taken too far?

[Rias]

one speculation I have though is how far it's willing to go to advance it's perception of the greater good? at any point will we see that philosophy unintentionally or otherwise taken too far?

The Dominion is ripe for that sort of situation to crop up from time to time, but I also want to be sure we don't hit the Dominion too hard with the Villain Bat.