As we have been studying in this course, the concept of authorship is an important fixutre in literary works. Unfortunately, in the case of interactive fiction, it is hard to truly and clearly define the author of the game. Is it the reader that has the ability to manipulate whatever situation in which he finds himself by pressing a few keys and commanding the character to do his bidding? Or is it the programmer who has carefully crafted the settings and limited the command choices in order to preserve the integrity of his vision for the characters and their environments?

In the first IF games, the emphasis was placed more on the adventure or the quest rather than character development. In that respect, the creator was the author because there wasn't a place for character development to occur. As time progressed, the focus turned from the environment and the quest more toward the character and their actions. The more advanced the game was, the more the lines blurred between author and player. The more the game is played, the more the player feels as if he were in control of the character's destiny. However, the webmaster still maintains the majority of the control. No matter how differently a player plays the game, there are still only a limited number of possible outcomes that are the creator leads the player to, and the end result of the character development is ultimately the same. In addition, from the position of a competition, the creator of the game is the one that gets the credit of authorship.