I was disappointed by the most recent article on Backstage.  I'm a fan of the series, and think it's one of the better features on this site, but the most recent article read more like an advertisement for Brody's games than anything else.  It's a sharp contrast to "The Walls Have Eyes", which discussed privacy issues that the general audience could benefit from being exposed to.

I understand that as an essayist you often have to draw on personal experience to make the abstract concrete.  However, Brody suffocates his avowed topic with digressions that are only applicable to his own game, all the while pausing to heap praise on his creations.  I'm all for advertising, but I'd appreciate if it was kept to the appropriate forums.

I agree. It does seem to be a rather long advertisement for his game Moreover, I'm not sure that it really offers anything new - as what constitutes proper role-playing has been debated endlessly on these forums.

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I believe I've said from the outset with the Backstage column that I would be drawing a lot from my own experiences.

The most recent column, "Bringing It Down A Notch," was intended as an examination of motives and ideals, of dream versus reality, and trying to balance the two. In retrospect, it could always benefit from a paragraph saying, in summary: If you plan to run your own game, consider your audience and develop around that.

Backstage is just that: A look behind-the-scenes at being a game operator. I will often relate it via my own experiences.

That said: I'll certainly endeavor to present it better next time around. Thanks for reading!