Domina: Why Politics Shouldn't Be Part of Patch Notes

I was having a nice day; I'd overslept (though, I enjoyed it), ate some nice breakfast, and even had some potentially good news for my personal life. And then, I checked the GameGrin staff Discord channel and stumbled upon an absolute mess.

The message on the Discord depicted a picture of a game named Domina, an Early Access title that I had on my wishlist because it's a gladiator management sim, and anyone that knows anything about me knows I absolutely adore games set in more medieval-esque eras. So, of course, you'd expect this picture to bring about a form of excitement. But no.

I was shocked, astounded. Seemingly overnight, Domina reviews had gone from Very Positive to Mostly Negative, and I needed to know why. It didn't take long. I didn't have to search at all because attached to the image was a bit of text that explained everything: Domina had taken content previously available on its Early Access and gated it behind a paywall, selling it as DLC.

Okay, big yikes, but that wasn't the last of it. A quick peek at the update released on the 8th of March showed a bit of text that I was also not particularly fond of, a subtitle named "TAKE OFF THE FCKN MASKS". In it, Dolphin Barn Incorporated decided to put a statement talking directly to people wearing masks, speaking about how women like confidence, and don't like dudes who cover their face in fear. No, I'm not kidding.

"TAKE OFF THE FCKN MASKS - Next time you're at the grocery store, try showing a woman your face. Be confident, unafraid of the LIES -- you might get a girlfriend. Women like confidence. Women don't like dudes who cover their faces in fear. What are you afraid of? Getting laid? Grow up." - Dolphin Barn Incorporated

After seeing all of this, I jumped into the Steam reviews in search of the executioner, the one that would be leading the charge against Dolphin Barn Incorporated, and I stumbled upon the Steam user with the highest rated review on the Steam page: Running Blind.

On the 10th of February, Running Blind posted a review claiming that content that was once available to them had been taken away. On it, four days later, Dolphin Barn Incorporated answered with the following message, "This is a lie. Which content was removed, to be sold as DLC, exactly?"

As Running Blind is hardly the only person to claim that content was removed and added as DLC, I decided I'd delve deep into Dolphin Barn Incorporated and see just what kind of information I could find. After all, it seemed like everything the company did thus far was unprofessional, but there was no way that this was the only instance.

I was right.

The first thing I found wasn't controversial, as much as it was just unprofessional — something I have no personal problem with. On the update "DOMINA BETA V1.3.2", Dolphin Barn Incorporated makes a jab at itself with the definition of "Joke" being added at the bottom of the update, with the last one saying "n. A one-man dev team making a multiplayer game"; finding this only further fuelled my desire to go through every update.

Of course, my wishes and dreams came true, and only one post later, too. On "DOMINA V1.3 BETA" (which, by the way, can we choose a format? Either the version goes first, or the BETA, but we can't be changing all of the time), in which Domina receives a tactical multiplayer mode, I found another instance.

In this one, Dolphin Barn Incorporated mention John McAfee's suicide; I didn't know much about it, so I went to learn about the conspiracy theory regarding this. I learned about the "cult" known as "QAnon" and how this all connects to both the ex-president Donald Trump and John McAfee; that said, I won't be explaining the "QAnon" in order to keep this focused on Dolphin Barn Incorporated.

After the John McAfee mention, on "DOMINA v1.2.90" there is the new addition of "sanitize text" with what I perceived to be a mocking attempt at those who don't want to see f-words, c-words, and other kinds of c-words; nothing too major, not worthy of focus.

After this one, however, I found my favourite one in "DOMINA V.1.2.89 BETA".

A rather large piece of text describing how there are still "weak men that won't fight" is present, with mentions of OnlyFans and PornHub throughout it, and the words "succubus tiddy", which I never thought I'd ever see in a news release for a game nor write in an article.

After this latest one, it seemingly stopped; no more updates with strange text nor pro-QAnon messages. However, I did find an interesting bit of text in "DOMINA v1.2.53 BETA". In it, Dolphin Barn Incorporated mentions that those who own Domina already "ALSO OWN ALL of the available DLC if you subscribe to the BETA".

It made me wonder if perhaps the problem of missing DLC came from the BETA branch going away and all players losing access to DLC they were supposed to own.

So, that's it? First, a mistake that the developer forgot about giving away all of the DLC for free and then poorly received jokes spell the ending of Domina's life? The truth is, I don't know. 

Consistently, most of the Dolphin Barn Incorporated updates include unprofessional writing (things such as FML, and overall casual approaches), something the company can't be faulted for. That said, the erratic jokes that borderline controversial topics feel misplaced and unwarranted at best.

My approach with this article? On the one hand, I fear punishing these actions too much as perhaps they are mistaken jokes and I don't want companies and developers to be serious all of the time; we all love gaming and it isn't particularly a "serious" hobby. On the other, controversial topics (including anti-vax and anti-mask stances) should be kept outside of public spaces, including patch notes; whether these were jokes or not, I don't know, and frankly, I don't care. Developers and publishers should not push their political viewpoints onto customers.

Dolphin Barn Incorporated’s patch notes tend to be a rollercoaster of emotions. With casual and playful self-deprecation (like the aforementioned “Joke” definition), it’s hard to tell whether all of this is joking, or an attempt to push political propaganda. I am not sure whether all of these are intended as jokes or not, and I cannot tell you how to feel about it, all I want is to give more in-depth information present in these patch notes so you can make a well-informed decision.

Lastly, it’s worth noting that the developer’s Twitter account goes by “Nicholas John Leonhard Gorissen (1522)”; on it are several tweets about political matters (some about the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, including one in which he mentions he’d like to face him in combat), and a tweet that seemed particularly charming.

Are you truly a man if you have to tell people you prefer to be called "he/him" ? pic.twitter.com/BUenrR4IUe

— Nicholas John Leonhard Gorissen (1522) (@tehbignic) February 25, 2022

 

Along with this, the developer’s YouTube channel (which includes trailers for Domina) has a video named “Bread and Circuses 2020” that is a compilation of what seems to be right-wing protestors attacking (usually driving over) liberal and left-wing activists to classical music, which seems to be trying to add a comedic light to it.