It is true that player interaction is necessary in order for Interactive Fiction to successfully deliver its plot, but the interaction enacted does not allow the absolute control suggested by the term “interactive”. Though interaction is essential within IF, gameplay restrictions become evident as characters are unable to follow any arbitrary command of players, as they are abiding by the commands established by the authors. Within Galatea, Emily Short's players find themselves in an art gallery, interacting with an animate statue created by the great artist Pygmalion. Again, players have no other option than to stay and converse with Galatea because Short has centered her story within this specific space. Interactivity is present when players begin to discover personal information about the once inanimate carving by interrogating it, but these interrogations have their limitations, as many times Galatea simply refuses to answer many questions posed by players. It could be argued that Short purposely plotted those selected questions to be kept anonymous in order to preserve the essence and mystery that is Galatea, or perhaps the author found a way to psychologically manipulate players into thinking their input is guiding the conversation, when in reality the conversation had been established prior to player interaction. By prompting specific answers, Interactive Fiction pieces assume that the player will consequently ask a related question to the previous statement given by the online character. In Galatea, the introduction prepares the player by stating, “On the pedestal is Galatea.” By typing, “ask about the pedestal,” players are able to begin a comprehensible conversation. When the system does not recognize a command, users receive the error message, “that’s not a verb I recognize,” or “you have no opinions on the subject”, making the decision for players without their consent. It could be debated that Interactive Fiction purposely assigns error messages to specific commands typed by the player in an attempt to control the conversation in a way that the player remains under the impression they have full control of the conversation, while their entire interaction is actually scripted, not spontaneous.

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