Dominion Censorship

[ragnarok]

Honestly, the main problem with figuring out what the people know about Mengsk is that Blizzard itself has never been consistent. During SC and BW, there's no reason to assume that the people know very much at all about things. They probably know about Kerrigan, but even that's questionable, as DuGalle only apparently learns of her existence at the tail end of the BW Terran missions. You'd think he'd have heard about it sooner if the people he was conquering knew enough about her. Presumably most of the knowledge about her would have come to light in the latter part of the Zerg missions, given that Mengsk had to legitimize his attack against her (see: last mission) to his people. In short, it's debatable what they know based on the original games alone.

Based on the novels, they should have known everything at the tail end of the first Terran missions, if Liberty's Crusade is to be called canon. Quite frankly, that book is offensively boring, not to mention absurd when you compare the book to Wings of Liberty. The whole point of the anti-Mengsk missions was to give the Dominion people information about how evil their leader was, but nothing they learn wasn't already in Liberty's recordings in Liberty's Crusade. Thus, it's not logically possible for both LC and WoL to be canon.

I didn't find Liberty's Crusade utter crap. Anyways the point here is there's always ways to bend the public to your will via the media. Mengsk probably said UNN was the only reliable network, but in reality used it as a means to hide his crimes. As for why the public followed, let's just say if you keep them in the dark long enough, they'll believe otherwise.

It's no different than the media being used today, though on a narrower scale.

[Nissa]

I'm aware of how the media is used by tyrants. That's why Mengsk's stupid antics in WoL were so offensive. Honestly, I just can't get behind a wimpy bad guy since reading The Gulag Archipelago.

Eh, you can cut Liberty's Crusade some slack if you like, but there's no reason to read it if you've played the first Terran missions in Starcraft.

[Hawki]

ased on the novels, they should have known everything at the tail end of the first Terran missions, if Liberty's Crusade is to be called canon. Quite frankly, that book is offensively boring, not to mention absurd when you compare the book to Wings of Liberty. The whole point of the anti-Mengsk missions was to give the Dominion people information about how evil their leader was, but nothing they learn wasn't already in Liberty's recordings in Liberty's Crusade. Thus, it's not logically possible for both LC and WoL to be canon.

No. Just no. You're assuming that Liberty's broadcasts can reach everyone, that everyone is going to believe them, that everyone is in the right state of mind to believe them, etc. If anything, the two works sync up nicely.

[Nissa]

No. Just no. You're assuming that Liberty's broadcasts can reach everyone, that everyone is going to believe them, that everyone is in the right state of mind to believe them, etc. If anything, the two works sync up nicely.

Uh....really? If Kerrigan can apparently hear them, then they certainly could have possibly reached any number of people. Maybe even Kel-Morians, Umojans, and Protoss. Given the number of planets and ships running around in the sector, and the fact that there's no reason to assume Liberty can't send his transmission more than once, the chances of vast numbers of people hearing about it and then passing it along to their friends is very high.

Besides, even if that weren't the case, how does that sync up? At best, it simply means nothing at all to SCII.

[ragnarok]

I'm aware of how the media is used by tyrants. That's why Mengsk's stupid antics in WoL were so offensive. Honestly, I just can't get behind a wimpy bad guy since reading The Gulag Archipelago.

Eh, you can cut Liberty's Crusade some slack if you like, but there's no reason to read it if you've played the first Terran missions in Starcraft.

I never read The Gulag Archipelago. Explain please.

[Nissa]

I never read The Gulag Archipelago. Explain please.

Oh, that? It's a nonfiction testimonial going into massive detail about Stalin's prison camps, from arrest, to trial, to sentencing and travel to prisons, to camps, escape, and finally, exile. The author, Solzhenitsyn, goes into detail about Stalin's lies and control of information. It's pretty freaky, and after reading all three volumes, I can't help but compare all bad guys to Stalin. Seriously, Mengsk's antics in SCII feel even more ridiculous once you see someone dominate a nation more effectively than him.

[ragnarok]

Oh, that? It's a nonfiction testimonial going into massive detail about Stalin's prison camps, from arrest, to trial, to sentencing and travel to prisons, to camps, escape, and finally, exile. The author, Solzhenitsyn, goes into detail about Stalin's lies and control of information. It's pretty freaky, and after reading all three volumes, I can't help but compare all bad guys to Stalin. Seriously, Mengsk's antics in SCII feel even more ridiculous once you see someone dominate a nation more effectively than him.

This is exactly why the western allies were in disbelief in 1945 when told by the German people that Hitler was so skilled at bending the whole of the German population to his will so easily. To the western allies, NO ONE has skills of that magnitude.

[Nissa]

But that's what Mengsk should have been. That's why I always hated that Kerrigan was retconned to have killed his parents. That makes him have a legitimate reason to want to hate her, when originally I assumed he was disposing of his allies like old paper towels. It made him scary when any of the people around him could be killed or abandoned whenever he felt like.

[Turalyon]

But that's what Mengsk should have been. That's why I always hated that Kerrigan was retconned to have killed his parents. That makes him have a legitimate reason to want to hate her, when originally I assumed he was disposing of his allies like old paper towels. It made him scary when any of the people around him could be killed or abandoned whenever he felt like.

Very much this. Mengsk seemed like a true sociopath in Sc1 in that his actions seemed devoid of moral obligation (whereas the retcon of him taking revenge is based on him having a moral obligation to abandon Kerrigan in response to her killing of his parents). This warped sensibility of his was what made him unique and different from the more morally and conscience affected Raynor and Kerrigan. It was this that gave Mengsk his teeth and a reason for being a formidable adversary.

But since they flanderised his pettiness and egomania in BW, he immediately stopped becoming a threat worth worrying about. It's why WoL and HotS feel kind of gimped when having Mengsk as the main adversary.

[ragnarok]

But since they flanderised his pettiness and egomania in BW, he immediately stopped becoming a threat worth worrying about. It's why WoL and HotS feel kind of gimped when having Mengsk as the main adversary.

And he wasn't even much of a main adversary, more like a obstacle that has to be removed because of his sheer naiveness to everything