For a character to be a villain they need only engage in villainous acts. Deliberate acts of genocide qualifies as such and the only reason the game pretends otherwise is because the protagonists stand to benefit from the arrangement. However, if someone else with the same motivation were to target the Sundered with the exact same end result then by their own admission they would oppose it and consider it to be a villainous act.

It's also up to the player themselves to decide who is a villain and who is a hero. Especially when dealing with heavy issues - certainly, I find myself reluctant to believe that the typical MMO player or video game developer has the correct stance on exceedingly complex moral issues.

Though this thread is very long for a reason and many people have clearly outlined why they felt that the writing around Venat simply wasn't up to scratch and failed to make much sense/induce sympathy.