I Like Sloane

---

@Kondaru wrote:

@jpcerutti1

How is Sloane any better or worse than Reyes as an asset? They will both continue to operate Kadara exactly the same.

That is the thing - they will not. Reyes will not collect extortion fees, will not throw people out od Kadara Port to badlands stripped of all their possession, will not sanction beating people just for being poor, will not require Initiative to pay him, will not sell drugs (or at least there is no proof or suggestion that he will), will not sentence people to death to entertain minorities...

Sure, You can *assume* that Reyes will do bad things to common people on Kadara, but there is absolutely nothing in-game that would allow You to validate the assumption. At the same time You do *know* how cruel, petty, dishonest, and delusional drug lord Sloane is.

She also trusts me.

Very poor reading of people - at least as far as my Ryder is concerned...   :-)

She made me her second for the duel.

Nope. She was not expecting the duel, and she has never actually asked Ryder to be her second. She just wanted Ryder to go with her to *the meeting*, and to hold her back during *the meeting* (technically - that would be until "the duel" starts) - which is a bit different.

And once again: she is truly a poor leader if she trusts a random stranger more than she trusts self-selected elite troops.    :-(

She is the one who is willing to meet with the opposition knowing full well it is a trap.

I was really WTF when I saw the dialogue for the first time. It's like she was drugged or crazy to go without any preparation and adding my Ryder to the equation. Seriously, my Ryder had even more reasons to shot her in her back than Reyes had...

I don't know, perhaps it was a death wish or something?

She is the one who hasn't tried to stomp out the collective from the start.

Which makes even less sense, and proves how poor leader she was. She is OK with another gang killing and capturing her people, stealing stuff from her, and even advertising openly in her capital. Does it even makes ANY sense to You?

Reyes' word is worth no more than the value of the CO2 within it.

That is Your opinion. You're absolutely entitled to it, but there is actually no proof that Reyes lied to You once. At least  I do not recall any situation where he intentionally betrayed Your trust EXCEPT with not being open about who he is. And in his position I would certainly not start every conversation with "Hi, I am Reyes, do You know that I am Charlatan?"

Your choice is how do you want to play the Kadara game? Do you want to do so unwittingly and be used or do you want to know?

Uh... But I am helping Reyes willingly and consciously. I know who he is when I am making my choice, I do understand what the consequences are, and I do not expect him to be saint or my new ally-for-life. At the same time I do know that Sloane is enemy to me and to majority of people on Kadara. Even if Reyes believes that he played my Ryder (and I really think that Reyes is too smart to believe so), my Ryder is absolutely OK with pretending to be played. I prefer Reyes over Sloane, my choice is clear.

If you want anything to change there you are choosing between someone who will tell you what they want/you want to hear and (may or may not change) and someone who will tell you like it is (and then may or may not change).

You expect a bully, sadist, satrap, murdered, drug lord, AND a fool who BLINDLY hates me and my people... to change? Well, perhaps You have noticed something in Sloane that I had not. I am not to tell that this is impossible, but well... I find it *hardly* possible.

Once again: I see no reason why Reyes should change into a tyrant or enemy to the Initiative. It is absolutely possible, and I will certainly need to be careful with Reyes, but currently there is no reason for Ryder and Reyes to be enemies. There are many more reasons for them to be allies.

...plus I have *seen* that Kadara is much better under Reyes than under Sloane.   :-)

There's where I'm at - Reyes thinks it is some kind of game and likes to play it to feel like he is "somebody". Sloane is playing to survive.

That is the thing: she is playing for her hand-picked cronies to survive at the cost of all the others. And actually there is not even this survival part for her and her followers anymore - she just wants to grow rich by bleeding others to death and offering nothing in exchange (like there are some Ketts remaining on the planet? WHO CARES? Collective is killing my elite Outcasts? WHO CARES? Exiles are dying in the badlands? WHO CARES? I can sell drugs to my subjects? YES, PLEASE).

Reyes just wants to achieve something, and thus he protects the planet from all its enemies, like Sloane or Roekaar. You know, it is like sheriff of Nottingham (Sloane) vs. Robin Hood (Reyes). Is it wrong that Robin enjoyed making fool out of the sheriff?   ;-)

---

Errol Flynn or Kevin Costner?

You can find a datapad that lets you know the beatings will continue until morale improves on Reyes' watch - but they should remain in the shadows. I could stack the deck against him with adjectives but it doesn't change the cards he deals. He plays the same game Sloane does... just sneakier. Sloane's no angel... she just plays it straight.

She doesn't expect a duel, she expects a flat out ambush. She asks me to accompany because she finds me 'honorable'. That is saddling me with unasked for expectation - but if there's any fault to be found with letting the sniper take the shot it's not on her. Not just why Sloane but why Reyes too!?!? Why not just quietly take the shot and we talk over a dead Sloane? What is Reyes' motive for the theatrics? Raw sadism? Showing off in front of me? I would think Robin Hood above such things.

If the defense is he never lies to *me*, neither does Sloane. He does mislead me, use me, and, at least in my playthroughs, place that same poor choice of character reading of me Sloane does in play at his dinner theatre performance. 🙂

I might even forgive him but some of his lines are so *incredibly* cheesy I just groan. I don't know if I could take a second game of those.