Frenemies and Frappés: A Coffee Date with the Proto-Joker
emilybuckshot
Former Telltale Staff
Hey everyone! I published a dev blog about designing the cafe scene with John Doe in Batman: The Enemy Within episode 3- Fractured Mask. Thought you guys might enjoy it 
https://telltale.com/news/2017/12/joker-s-best-buddy-in-batman-the-enemy-within/
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Just read the article. I can’t particularly remember John telling me why he decided to get the laptop for me. He said we were friends, but that was already established before this. Otherwise I can’t remember him giving me a reason.
...Unless you’re talking about John saying that our talk got him fired up to find his true self?
Seems like my heart's about to be ripped right out of my chest and stomped on. I don't want that and I'm not ready.
Really enjoyed reading that and finding out the thoughts you had designing the scene. So good!
I love what you guys have done with John Doe. He's so easily loveable! And I'm reallyy enjoying see his and Bruce's friendship develop. I personally encouraged John to be himself, rather than put up a front to get the exact reaction you want from people.
John Doe's dynamic with Bruce is easily one of the best things of the season. It's really cool how you guys have handled The Joker in your universe. It's something completely new and with lots of possibilities.
I do hope whoever designs episodes 4 and 5 will give us something at least equally this good, if not better. I can feel the passion for this project literally burning through my screen as I read this article and I'm really impressed by John Doe. Here's hoping to an even more impressive Joker.
Welp I trust John about 100% less now, lol.
I love what you guys have done with John so far. He's likeable yet unnerving, innocent yet sinister. PLEASE let each player get a version of the Joker that feels unique to their playthrough.
"...Unless you’re talking about John saying that our talk got him fired up to find his true self?"
I am, yes.
Thank you for the clarification!
Our interactions with John Doe and the relationship meter ( with John Doe and the other cast ) truly elevated this season. I adored date night with John. It'd be a really creepy revisit if we received a 'date night' with Joker down the line lol.
This was an awesome read. As an aspiring writer I love seeing the little details behind the product.
Thanks for sharing this. Behind the scenes articles are always an interesting read.
Agreed. I love reading about all the work that goes into stuff like this. I can tell you and your colleagues are all passionate about this and it makes it a treat to play!
This was great!! Its nice getting the thoughts of the people who actually designed it. Especially in scenes such as this, the ones that really stand out and by far are one of the best things about the game! I'm very, very excited to see where all the important interactions with John lead.
That was a really interesting read! For a more serious Batman game, I'm surprised you guys were able to add some genuinely good comedic moments for the Joker that didn't feel out of place.
As the blog pointed out, I too was also caught off guard by how good that line about Joker comparing Harley to the "stability" of the lights in Arkham Asylum was. It was more unsettling than I expected, and these teases about that scene being more important than we might expect later on in the Season has me excited.
Keep up the good work!
Really interesting to read. There's a lot of good work and effort put into that one scene alone, with the interesting branching and differing of conversation topics. I like that, having what you say lead someone to talk about that specific thing.
So.. the blog post:
Oh yeah, you nailed that down pat. It'll be cool to see where those Joker façades lead.
YOU NEED TO WORK TOGETHER AGAIN
Oh you tease.
Seriously, you guys are nailing it with wanting people to guide John, but making them feel so uneasy all the time. Every episode I eagerly await the next John scene because this character is so original and fresh from the others! It breaks my heart to know that this may not last, but I hope you'll do this character arc justice in the end.
Good luck on the next episodes!
Great read, thank you. Team John, ladies and gents!
That was a great read, thanks so much for this. I always love learning about the behind the scenes stuff that goes into making these games and I wish we had more of that with Telltale's other projects.
My favorite moment in the game
I love Sloppy Joe Fridays!
Bruce's interpretations of Harley are hilarious, especially when John compliments him and he bats his eyes and looks proud of himself.
Bruce's interpretations of Harley are hilarious, especially when John compliments him and he bats his eyes and looks proud of himself.
For what it's worth, Caroline (mostlypoptarts) is trying to encourage this to be a thing more often, around the period shortly before or after an episode launch. They've done a few of these in the past for Minecraft Story Mode Season 2 and Guardians as well.
So, yeah, if you guys like these blog posts, definitely be sure to give your feedback and let staff like Caroline know.
Mods are working with staff to find ways to (hopefully) encourage more staff visits on the forums too.
They definitely put some work into that coffee-date. Both the ''be genuine'' and ''pull her strings'' option are my favorite scenes of the game. I can't express how fascinating Bruce and John dynamic is to me.
There's something enticing about how Bruce suddenly becomes so talkative in the ''pull her strings'' option, while he is awkward but proud of his imitation in the ''be genuine'' one.
Batman can give John one of his weapon ( a batarang ), and Bruce can give John his ( manipulation ). That's insane how Bruce can drop his nice playboy act around him. The ''pull her strings'' option was for me a ''genuine Bruce'', or one of the possible genuine Bruce at least since not everybody consider Bruce as a mask who's lying, deceiving, or at least omiting everyday.
What I mean is... Bruce just gave away his strategy and it's not something he can possibly lie about... He seemed almost proud, amused and passionate about it. Many youtubers were like ''damn... Bruce is so evil in this scene'', when I was interested in that honest and comfortable Bruce. Most of the time when he is anything else but socially awkward it's either because he is flirting or because he is lying. It wasn't the case here at all, and I liked that. I can't even imagine him doing that with Selina...
That scene was brillant in many ways.
Moreover, I can't figure out what John truly thinks, it seems like he has an underlying motive, while he is also very transparent in how he feels. When he explains why he loves Harley and how he came to fall for her I find it quite convincing, but at the same time some of his actions indicates he has a preference for Bruce ( and Batman ). Every interraction feel like I am playing with a time bomb and yet I can't help but care for him to the point I have been quite reckless just to please and support him, he is simply adorable. Like Cats says he is ''unnerving'' and ''charming'' at the same time.
That's a pretty interesting interpretation of it. I was also thinking how the eventual transformation from John Doe into the Joker could potentially parallel Bruce and Batman.