GRead (pronounced greed)

I feel as though I should explain the name of my blog.

Its a simple combination of Game + Read = GRead. I suppose it should have had more of the word game than the word read because I will be talking about board and video games more than books but I'll stick with GRead ... or possibly Gread.

GRead ... not G(gee)-Read but pronounced greed which is a perfect Segway into my explaining the second meaning of this blog's name. Greed, the perfect mentality for almost any video game. Scour the corners, collect as much gold as you can, loot houses to the point of dilapidation, search bodies, sell, steal, and pickpocket your way through a game. I disagree with the Robin Hood-ian slogan "steal from the rich and give to the poor", in a video game steal from everyone and give to those who will keep you prospering (pay off guards, buy ammunition, armour, and upgrades).

In Bethesda's Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion I remember searching a bundle by a sleeping peasant and finding jewels inside. In Gearbox and 2K's Borderlands even cardboard boxes and piles of skag droppings have money, ammo, or eridium in them just waiting to be uncovered.

In other games the loot isn't lying around, it's achieved in side quests, bringing you to places all over the map. In addition to the lucrative and experience raising nature of side quests they also increase your exploration of the map, taking you to places you didn't even know existed and heightening your gaming experience. I have found this to be the case in Red Dead Redemption and Skyrim.

I finished my Skyrim play through with over 100,000 gold and my house was filled with weaponry, potions, jewels, armour, artifacts, and jewelry that was so expense that to sell it was nearly impossible, the shopkeepers had the funds to buy one or two items (if that). In Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and Diablo III my friend R and I swept the map so much, searching everything that my other buddy M started to get frustrated ... we let him get angry and didn't stop searching every nook and cranny.

Its worth it, it lets you buy the upgrades and find the weaponry you want, and it makes you get more involved in a game. Work to gain money. Follow side quests. Loot. Steal.

and stay greedy,

M.