Would you have chosen a starting area where you could join the Empire?

[Jagick]

That would've been an extremely bad idea and created a dynamic in the playerbase that I haven't seen any other MMO handle especially nicely, so I'm going to say that not only would I have not done that, but I wouldn't have played the game if they did.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this but this sounds a lot like you're superimposing IRL politics onto a video game. It would be fine. Star Wars Galaxies let you join the Galactic Empire (a power notorious for mass genocide, eugenics, enslavement, and egregious mistreatment of all non-human races.) Roleplay servers tapped into these elements quite frequently and players got along just fine. Because it was a video game.

What's so bad about wanting to play (or roleplay as) the "bad guys?" It's fun and a refreshing change of pace from the sterile perfectly goodie two-shoes hero arcs. Or hell, it would be interesting playing AS the WoL hero despite being a believer in Garlemald. It would serve to humanize an otherwise very one dimensional faction. I find it hard to believe you'd have never played this game just because it was an option available to people.