As I was traipsing through our homework of Zork and Galatea, I found myself wondering, just how far can I push the envelope here? Since this is "limitless" narrative, and the feedback of the narrative (Zork especially) seems to be bordline witty, what would happen? Well, I made it all the way to the house, through the trapdoor, killed the troll and made it to the cliffs before I just couldn't seem to get any further. I typed "kill myself" with a chuckle, thinking the familiar "I didn't recognize this sentence" or "I do not know the word 'myself'" would pop up. Boy was I surprised! It said something along the lines of "If you insist, you take the sword and off yourself", then I died. :O

I took a different approach to Galatea. I found myself trying anything that could conceivably bring some action to the story. It seemed set on being boring! It even discounted my "Attack her" command with "No I push that thought out of my mind" etc.. Shucks I was hoping for an epic fight scene between a statue and an art critic....at least Zork let me kill a troll. That brought me to question my own expectation of narrative with pushing the envelope, nudging us towards the extremes to ensure maximum action. Why do we feel the need to introduce elements like swords, fighting and gore to make the story worthwhile? Why did I get frustrated with the long, theatrical dialogue of Galatea and go right for trying to introduce some simple narrative and elaborate violence? Well simply put, it makes it more interesting. By consistently offering the worst case scenario, or the output of a violent end, it keeps me a lot more engaged than merely interacting with a statue.

I preferred Zork overall, it seemed to offer a lot more possibility. It also addressed me directly (jump-whee! jump-having fun? jump- congratulations now you can pass the second grade), whereas Galatea seemed to be more distant. And I must admit I found the interaction with the computer in Zork to be pretty funny. At one point I tried breaking a door down with a sword, and when I tried with my hands the computer answered "Trying to break down a door with your hands?" or when I typed "Talk to me" it said something along the lines of "Talking to yourself can be a sign of mental incapacity". In the kitchen when I drank the water bottle and ate the lunch, the computer answered "Thank you that was very refreshing I was thirsty." I was a lot more drawn to the more "intimate" interaction in Zork by far. Galatea was honestly a bit frustrating.