130405-the-dominion-feels-unfinished

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So, I want to preface this... I love the Dominion as a faction. The races are cool, I think it has a lot of room for a compelling story.
 
But...it feels incomplete. Especially after having played Exile Side. In fact, it's almost like the game was designed for Exile Side, and then the Dominion faction was added later in development.
 
Some examples...
 
Captial City: Thayd, as a capital city, is incredibly rich in detail. It has large portions of its layout dedicated to various facets of the Exile's culture, and numerous racial districts that showcase the unique style of each sub-faction. It's also filled to the brim with NPCs, which gives it a lived in, chaotic feel.
 
Illium feels orderly (which is good), but also empty and homogeneous (Which is bad). It's to the point where finding Illium Citizens for the "Spread the Word" challenge is actually difficult, and many of the neat details (like the Museum, or the NPC Leaders) that are out in the open in Thayd have to be hidden in instances in Illium, because there's just not room. 
 
Thayd feels like a capital city. Illium feels like a set. It works better as an organized hub, but it doesn't feel lived in at all.
 
Story: For the Exiles, the Dominion is a constant, ever present threat to their wellbeing. They talk about "Dommies" like one might talk about The Bugs in starship troopers. Often, Dominion NPCs do hideously evil things (like poison Vind in Thayd) for no discernible reason, other than to be evil. 
 
For the Dominion, the Exiles are... another enemy group. They have a major presence in the first half of Auroria (one of the better written conflict stories) but are mostly a non-entity. They didn't even really appear in the tutorial until the FTP Revamp. 
 
It feels like the Dominion was originally designed to be uniformly evil, and then was changed at the last moment to fit into a "neither faction is good or evil" story... and the Dominion does a good job of appearing neutral in their own storyline, but they still appear cartoonishly evil in the Exile storyline. Exiles don't seem cartoonishly evil in the Dominion Storyline at all! In fact, they seem like scrappy rebels, just like they do in their own. 
 
Races: Every Exile Race has a clearly defined aesthetic and background. Exile Human NPCs also have several unique meshes representing non-standard body types.
 
Mechari share their aesthetic, almost completely, with Cassians. This makes sense from a lore standpoint, but fails to help them stand out... hell, they don't even have their own theme music, and the player characters are voiceless.
 
Not to mention? All Cassians use the player model. The only non-standard model is the Luminai one, and you see... three of them throughout the game, maybe? Four?
 
Design: Dominion Zones feel fairly normal compared to Exile ones. Algoroc is a gravity defying boomtown. Celestion is a beautiful, overgrown forest. Galeras is home to the focus of air. There's a sense of mystery there.
 
Deradune, Ellevar, and Auroria are all fairly normal settlements; a savannah, a rainy moor, and some idyllic farmland. The weirdest thing about Auroria is Kel Voreth, which you don't get to until near the end of the zone. The other two zones really lack that big "WOW NEXUS IS WEIRD" moments. 
 
Similarly... and this may have changed, but... I've noticed that Exile Content seems a bit more mechanically complex. Scientist Missions give bonus abilities. Challenges are mechanically more complex. There's a secret stash in Celestion that involves shrinking and going down a Jabbit Hole. I think the one in Deradune is just hidden in an alcove somewhere.
 
...The point I'm trying to make here is... I feel like the Dominion isn't given as much attention. I feel like it's underdeveloped, and that Wildstar isn't as strong a game as it could be.
 
Because... and let's be honest here. Making stuff for two factions is hard. In fact, factions are kind of dumb in general. They restrict the story, force the development team to make extra content, divide the player base... but we're stuck with them, so... I really think that some of this... lopsidedness should be addressed. 	
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			Indeed, it is the inherent problem with factions. One always gets more attention than the other.	
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			Well, maybe Carbine was planning to make Wildstar, or "InFlux Online", as something like Alpha Centauri and Borderlands. Or it was meant to be Exiles only but two factions seem like a good idea since the Exiles-only would make PVP into "where heroes fights other heroes instead of villains". Pappy, Carbine, we demand to see this forum thread!	
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I think attention is shifting back to the Dominion side for F2P. Going just off the Arkship tutorial, the Dominion's version was leagues ahead of the Exile one while also shifting perspective on the Dominion. Mundo wasn't killing off the neurally altered citizens, the Dominion wasn't sending those citizens to fight hard-light holograms untrained, in fact you face escaped Exile prisoners which also suggests the Dominion won't be having a take no prisoners style anymore. 
 
Overall the new tutorials are missing tale key tips, which means people can walk past the ones near the end without realizing it. They are missing a path challenge or two, which might not be so bad. Unfortunately, there is no interaction with Belle Walker or Artemis Zin, Mundo's part lacks the same Chua feel, the Vigilant Church is no where to be seen, Blindeye Brightland walks right past his wife's cryo-pod to be grumpy with you, no Exile bar which was actually pretty neat for getting a feel of the faction, somehow Chua are onboard the ship BEFORE the Dominion attacks, the Dominion somehow invades the command room without being shown as boarding it (was a problem before f2p though). 
 
I also feel that lore-wise it's a catastrophe, however much of these things can be moved to the faction capital cities and placed in the hands of new players to discover themselves. Much like the auto tour is now.
			
				
	Edited August 25, 2015 by The Caretaker	
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			you what ? you what.....the dommie scum get all the good stuff	
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			I think once they get more time to dedicate to things after F2P, they should do like FFXIV did where cities are growing and changing after every patch. That was something small that the developers there didn't have to do, but it made the game experience better for me seeing the main city grow as the story went and my character developed. 	
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			Been waiting for Mechari character voices since beta at the start of last year. 	
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I think attention is shifting back to the Dominion side for F2P. Going just off the Arkship tutorial, the Dominion's version was leagues ahead of the Exile one while also shifting perspective on the Dominion. Mundo wasn't killing off the neurally altered citizens, the Dominion wasn't sending those citizens to fight hard-light holograms untrained, in fact you face escaped Exile prisoners which also suggests the Dominion won't be having a take no prisoners style anymore. 
 
Overall the new tutorials are missing tale key tips, which means people can walk past the ones near the end without realizing it. They are missing a path challenge or two, which might not be so bad. Unfortunately, there is no interaction with Belle Walker or Artemis Zin, Mundo's part lacks the same Chua feel, the Vigilant Church is no where to be seen, Blindeye Brightland walks right past his wife's cryo-pod to be grumpy with you, no Exile bar which was actually pretty neat for getting a feel of the faction, somehow Chua are onboard the ship BEFORE the Dominion attacks, the Dominion somehow invades the command room without being shown as boarding it (was a problem before f2p though). 
 
I also feel that lore-wise it's a catastrophe, however much of these things can be moved to the faction capital cities and placed in the hands of new players to discover themselves. Much like the auto tour is now.
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I don't know but being grump would make sense when living decades in lawless frontier with little to no support to fix their ships.
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I want to point out that the Luminai model is actually the same as the Mordesh model, except they all have white hair, pale skin and always wear the same outfit. This is very obvious when you see Governor Aluviel in Auroria talking; or when you see that one Luminai walking in Deradune. They use the same animations.
 
I also disagree with the idea that Thayd feels like a capital city. It's a dump with no clear sign of where the Exile population lives. Presumably in some tunnels somewhere? Tents? Who knows! The only racial district is actually the Aurin one. The Mordesh district is actually outside of the city and is a levelling area, so I'm not sure we can count it in. Furthermore, there's no granok district (probably because Thermrock's very close).
The reason most people prefer it over Illium is because it's more efficient when you consider it from the player's viewpoint: every service is close to the others. The Auction House is one jump away from the crafting area, which is a short walk away from the transport ships, which are two steps away from the Contracts, which is a ramp away from the taxi.
Meanwhile, Illium services are spread out and require travel time that, when compared with Thayd, feels considerable.
 
Lastly, quest-wise, both factions become interchangeable after level 23 in Whitevale, where they not only start to copy-paste quests from each other, but they also share the enterity of a lot of them.
In conclusion it's obvious they either ran out of time to differentiate them or they wanted to make sure both levelling experiences were well balanced...and they balanced them to the point of making the differences meaningless.
			
				
	Edited August 26, 2015 by Ildur	
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{| class="blockquote"
I want to point out that the Luminai model is actually the same as the Mordesh model, except they all have white hair, pale skin and always wear the same outfit. This is very obvious when you see Governor Aluviel in Auroria talking; or when you see that one Luminai walking in Deradune. They use the same animations.
 
I also disagree with the idea that Thayd feels like a capital city. It's a dump with no clear sign of where the Exile population lives. Presumably in some tunnels somewhere? Tents? Who knows! The only racial district is actually the Aurin one. The Mordesh district is actually outside of the city and is a levelling area, so I'm not sure we can count it in. Furthermore, there's no granok district (probably because Thermrock's very close).
The reason most people prefer it over Illium is because it's more efficient when you consider it from the player's viewpoint: every service is close to the others. The Auction House is one jump away from the crafting area, which is a short walk away from the transport ships, which are two steps away from the Contracts, which is a ramp away from the taxi.
Meanwhile, Illium services are spread out and require travel time that, when compared with Thayd, feels considerable.
 
Lastly, quest-wise, both factions become interchangeable after level 23 in Whitevale, where they not only start to copy-paste quests from each other, but they also share the enterity of a lot of them.
In conclusion it's obvious they either ran out of time to differentiate them or they wanted to make sure both levelling experiences were well balanced...and they balanced them to the point of making the differences meaningless.
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			In regards to the title....welcome to Wildstar :P.    We are in "beta" after all :)	
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It is very true, I barely touched the Exile side despite having a sub for a few months (just did the tutorial zone and just got into Celestion(sp?)
 
I was met with MUCH greater level of production values and thematic focus. Its actually kinda depressing when I think about it.
 
Why? Because I only play Dominion.
 
I could list so many problems I've ran into with the Dominion as concept and Aesthetic.
 
1. Illium is quite literally the Vanilla cone of capital cities. Not only can one mistake those giant white buildings for walls, its so god dang empty. The Spaceport is the main culprit here I believe as it takes up like half of the city with its sheer nothingness. When I first went into this city I was disappointed.
 
2. The Music in the capital city and surrounding themes that you hear while playing as the Dominion are the weakest songs in the game. None of them reference the main theme of Wildstar and it makes me sad.
 
3. There is only one good Dominion art asset and that is the Military Uniform associated with the Dominion. Not only does it embody the ideal aesthetic of a galaxy spanning empire (Flashy, bold, impractical, multiple materials) but also takes advantage of the in game graphics tech by the sheer fact that some of its features GLOW.
 
The Dominion Side does feel incomplete, but also suffers from a bad case of being boring visually and thematically. 	
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			 I would really like to see some revamping of these cities to make them feel more sci fi. I feel like im in medieval days in illum and thayed reminds me of a flea market that just recently got hit by a tornado. im hoping for some cyberpunk influence in the future...in other words i want to see some stereo typical sci fi cities..I know story wise this is the beginning of colonizing nexus. But at least we can slowly see it turn into something.	
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			I definitely would like to see the Dominion retooled to have more personality and depth in their story. At the very least, make the characters more memorable. Having leveled through both factions, you learn more about the prominent exile characters and become more attached to them than you do the Dominion. The most effort the Dominion received was probably Artemis Zin and her assistant, Kevo, but that's not saying much. I mean there's lots of potential, especially for characters like Corrigan Doon and Toric Antevian.	
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I definitely would like to see the Dominion retooled to have more personality and depth in their story. At the very least, make the characters more memorable. Having leveled through both factions, you learn more about the prominent exile characters and become more attached to them than you do the Dominion. The most effort the Dominion received was probably Artemis Zin and her assistant, Kevo, but that's not saying much. I mean there's lots of potential, especially for characters like Corrigan Doon and Toric Antevian.
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I am on the opposite side with this. Actually for me, Artemis Zin is -far- more memorable than her Exile counterpart Belle Walker.
 
So why more players pick the Exiles?
 
One the biggest critisism I have heard about the two factions is that the Dominion lacks a strong male race archetype (think heroic-melee-brute). While the Exile side has the male Granoks (and the male Mordesh also work) the Dominion lacks in their male archetypes. Draken try to fill that role but they pass off as more stealthy and sinister and the Mechari invoke more of a terminator archetype than brute swordman.
 
The Dominion is matriarchal by default and I love that exactly as it is. Still it does need (imho) an option and a place for the player who wants to play a raw-power-brute-bada** guy.	
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Belle Walker is the counter part of Artemis zin?
I always thought it was this other explorer guy from the Exile, who looks like Indiana Jones.	
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Belle Walker is the counter part of Artemis zin?
I always thought it was this other explorer guy from the Exile, who looks like Indiana Jones.
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Probably,
But the Dominion quests for the Eldan Cube put Zin against Dorian, not Belle.
As Dominion we never get to see Belle as far as I remember.	
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Probably,
But the Dominion quests for the Eldan Cube put Zin against Dorian, not Belle.
As Dominion we never get to see Belle as far as I remember.
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As an Exile in general and an Aurin in particular, I can honestly say that I have worked my butt off to finish the Dominion.
 
Oh, what? Ok, then, carry on...	
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			To me, the whole game feels unfinished, especially after seeing what's on the test server. I can only hope it gets better by the time the big drop to F2P actually comes.	
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I want to point out that the Luminai model is actually the same as the Mordesh model, except they all have white hair, pale skin and always wear the same outfit. This is very obvious when you see Governor Aluviel in Auroria talking; or when you see that one Luminai walking in Deradune. They use the same animations.
 
I also disagree with the idea that Thayd feels like a capital city. It's a dump with no clear sign of where the Exile population lives. Presumably in some tunnels somewhere? Tents? Who knows! The only racial district is actually the Aurin one. The Mordesh district is actually outside of the city and is a levelling area, so I'm not sure we can count it in. Furthermore, there's no granok district (probably because Thermrock's very close).
The reason most people prefer it over Illium is because it's more efficient when you consider it from the player's viewpoint: every service is close to the others. The Auction House is one jump away from the crafting area, which is a short walk away from the transport ships, which are two steps away from the Contracts, which is a ramp away from the taxi.
Meanwhile, Illium services are spread out and require travel time that, when compared with Thayd, feels considerable.
 
Lastly, quest-wise, both factions become interchangeable after level 23 in Whitevale, where they not only start to copy-paste quests from each other, but they also share the enterity of a lot of them.
In conclusion it's obvious they either ran out of time to differentiate them or they wanted to make sure both levelling experiences were well balanced...and they balanced them to the point of making the differences meaningless.
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I think Thayd is perfectly what I want, a futuristic rag-tag capital that looks like something out of Mad Max. Illium is too neat for my tastes.
 
I also think the lack of voice acting has contributed to the detached feel from the world.
 
Shade's Eve is a step in the right direction, the NPC's are all voiced.
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			I love the art for the dominion.  What I can't stand is the religious overtones.  I was trying to play dominion but then I ran into the quest where you have to spread the news about the vigilant church and that was it for me.  I don't spread my religion IRL and I'm certainly not doing it in a game.  It's back to the exiles.
			
				
	Edited August 31, 2015 by Alaricsevgirl	
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