BackOff ("BO"; pronounced "beau") is a dialogue and story overhaul for Mass Effect 3 that focuses on

relationship mechanics between Shepard and potential Love Interests (LIs). With this goal in mind it
seeks to improve:
Dialogue Wheels. BO returns flexibility to the dialogue wheel, similar to ME1 and ME2. "Agree"
should not mean: "I want to date you", when "Disagree" is the only other option. Removal of the
center-right, neutral wheel option in ME3 resulted in paragon players often getting "ninjamanced"
by LIs. BO implements many new dialogue wheel options and alters the text and choice locations
so implications are clearer prior to the choice.

Conversations. BO adds variation to paths when possible, creating a greater difference between
friend and romanced Shepard. It also improves conversation and scene flow, and restores cut
content when possible.

Characterization. In certain cases, BO removes content that feels out of character or detracts
from a scene. It also tweaks email tone, and implements new romance-specific email variants for
certain LIs, when warranted.
Autoflirting. BO puts flirting for FemShep back into the player's control, by allowing them to
initiate the behavior.
Imported ME2 LIs. When both ME1 and ME2 LIs are present, ME3 gives priority especially on
Mars to the ME1 LI. This mechanic has been tempered, and the player given a bit more control
as to how the story plays out. ME2 LIs are no longer demoted to "cheatees".
Bugs. BO fixes hundreds of bugs with subtitles, conversation pathing, camera work, animations,
lighting, and much more.
To implement these basic changes in mechanics, BackOff has edited content for the characters below.
Each is accompanied by a very brief summary of their changes.
AETHYTA, more accurately perceives Shepard's relationship with Liara.
ASHLEY, remembers ME2 romances. BroShep has two new opportunities to "rekindle", which
affects their interactions pre-coup. Her hospital convos have been significantly improved in flow
and appearance.
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 JACOB, has had a total relationship overhaul. His characterization has been altered to be more in
line with his ME2 self. The relationship hasn't been restored, but FemShep now has agency. Bad
breakups have consequences, faithful rekindlers may see a light at the end of the tunnel. Includes

Citadel DLC.
JAMES, clamps down on flirting, unless FemShep says otherwise; he's a bit more modest.
JAVIK, will remember Kelly, Jacob, and Samara, when trying to seduce FemShep.
JOKER, has been informed of Jacob's reaffirmation of character. FemShep will remember a
romance with Thane prevents her from hooking up with Joker.
KAIDAN, has had an attitude adjustment on Mars, in Huerta, and on the Presidium. FemShep has
more agency and rediscovered her backbone. Gay romances now have more relationship-building
opportunities prior to the date.
KELLY, discovers she should always be in ME3. She can now be professional, flirty, or committed.
When committed, she expects the same of Shepard; she's now a real love interest. She also has
less "appearance amnesia", and a slightly more adept stylist.
LIARA, is much less aggressive, and only gets one "date" unless romanced. She respects ME2
romances, unless fully rekindled on the Normandy in LotSB. Once rekindled/romanced, she no
longer has relationship amnesia.
SAM, remembers she's a subordinate like James, and lets FemShep flirt first. She shares more
details of herself the closer they get. No Citadel DLC content.
SAMARA, behaves slightly differently depending on ME2 history. She will also consider Shepard's
recent rekindles with Jacob and Kelly.
STEVE, is less ambiguous about his interactions with Shepard. Like other LIs, he will now respect
Shepard's existing romantic relationship.
THANE, is not edited directly by BackOff, but BO and ThaneMOD will work together to influence
FemShep's relationship mechanics.
Due to the larger number of issues, FemShep LIs were given priority for BO v1.0. Garrus was not edited,
since there are so few complaints about his romance. Ashley was added due to sharing a large number
of convos with Kaidan; Steve was added, since he had so few changes.
BO has suffered from a significant amount of "feature creep" during development. Edits for certain
characters are more extensive than others due to this and natural growth in skill as I became more
adept at modding.
Note: LIs not edited directly will still be affected by plot changes to some of the above characters. For
example, a Shepard with an ME2 Garrus romance will no longer experience certain dialogue with
Aethyta regarding Liara. These edits are to Aethyta, but they affect Garrus's relationship content by way
of Liara's.

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BackOff is a DLC mod, which makes installation and use very simple. Before installing, be sure to read
the first two pages of this document to be sure you understand what BackOff will do to your game. For
more detailed information about mechanic and character changes, see the BackOff v1.0 Release
Notes PDF in your download.

1. Install the DLC Patcher.

BackOff requires use of Warrantyvoider's DLL Patcher for ME3 DLC. This has been included for ease of
installation, but many users will already have this installed. If you are currently using DLC mods, then
you already have the patcher and can skip to step 2 below.
If you aren't running any other DLC mods, then copy and paste the two DLL files from the DLC Patcher
folder in your BackOff download into ..\Origin Games\Mass Effect\Binaries\Win32. Allow the overwrite
when asked.

2. Install BackOff.
"Install" is really a bit of a misnomer. Just copy and paste the DLC_CON_BACKOFF folder from your
download into ..\Mass Effect 3\BIOGame\DLC. Easy.

3. Install BackOff's Patches.

BackOff comes in two parts: the main BackOff mod (from step 2, above) and BOPatches, an additional
DLC mod made solely to make BackOff compatible with various BioWare DLC and DLC mods. You
should use BOPatches if you have any of the following installed:

Citadel DLC

Citadel Epilogue Mod (CEM)

JohnP's Alternate MEHEM (JAM)

Leviathan DLC

Omega DLC

ThaneMOD v2.0A/B/C

If you don't need BOPatches, move onto Step 4. If you've determined you do need to use BOPatches,
do the following:

Copy and paste the DLC_CON_BOPATCHES folder from your BOPatches download into
..\Mass Effect 3\BIOGame\DLC.

You aren't done yet. You must manually populate the contents of BOPatches, so the correct files are
present for your game. Right now, it's mostly empty.
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To do this, examine your BOPatches download. In it you will see the following subfolders:
1. CEM Patch... is for CEM users.
2. CitDLC Patch... is for those who have Citadel DLC and do not use CEM.
3. LevOmgDLC Patch... is for Leviathan/Omega DLC users who don't have Citadel DLC.
4. JAM Patch... is for JAM users.
5. TMv2ABC Patch... is for ThaneMODv2.0A/B/C users. Module D/E users don't need this patch.
Use of ThaneMODv1.0 with BackOff is not supported; upgrade to v2.0.
Patches 1-3 are mutually-exclusive; you should only be using one.
Open the patch subfolder that match your game install. Copy all files present and paste them into
..\Mass Effect 3\BIOGame\DLC\DLC_CON_BOPATCHES\CookedPCConsole. Repeat this for all necessary
patches.

3. AutoTOC with ME3Explorer.

Before you can play your game, BOPatches users must AutoTOC via ME3Explorer. Failing to do this will
result in the game failing to launch, or freezing/loading infinitely if it does launch. Don't know how to
AutoTOC? Read here. Haven't used ME3Explorer before? Download here.

4. Patch your other mods.

Other DLC mods that edit the same files as BackOff are incompatible unless specifically made
compatible. Use the BackOff Resource Spreadsheet as a guide to help you determine which of your
other mods might need patching. Note: the Mod Compatibility spreadsheet is not meant to be an
exhaustive reference, but contains helpful details about the most popular mods.

New playthroughs. BackOff absolutely must be played as part of a new playthrough. It changes
hundreds of plot checks during the game and sets new plot bools and integers. It will not work
on an existing playthrough.

Bugs. Bugs may be reported on Nexus or the ThaneMOD forum. Before reporting, consult the
BO v1.0 Release Notes to help clarify whether the issue is a bug or a misunderstanding about
mechanics. Feel free to make a post to get clarification.

Customization. BackOff is somewhat modular. Edits to certain characters can be removed by

deleting specific files from the mod. However, I strongly discourage this. It has significant
potential to break the mod and I will not provide technical support for players who go this

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route. For information about files and their contents, see the BackOff Resource Spreadsheet. Be
sure to read the first sheet with Info from the Author.

Optional Textures. There are some optional textures included for Ashley and Kelly's cabin
photos. These are alternatives to the pre-bundled textures and can be installed via Texplorer.

Devs. Mod creators working on compatibility with BackOff, or who simply want more
information about how the mod works can find a variety of helpful documents in the BackOff
Public Folder.

BackOff has its roots in the "anti-flirt" module of ThaneMOD, and is the result of seventeen months of
development by giftfish/n7Siha (known as "moho25" on Nexus). As I worked on this mod, I had a
large amount of help along the way, thus an enormous "thank you" to everyone listed below:

AVPen. For continued ideas, insights, and discussion even though we often disagree :)

BackOff Testers. Deager, Dineboo, Elvie, JohnP, Kinkojiro, and Nephtysmoon for tracking down
bugs and providing helpful feedback.

Barddoc1992. For ideas, feedback, engaging discussions, editing, & general moral support.
And, of course, for being a fellow Thanemancer and nerding out about our favorite drell :)

Deager. For help with testing, providing feedback, and CEM/LIME compatibility.

Heff. For making the incredibly useful ME3Logger, providing troubleshooting support, and for
fixing the Paramour script for Thane.

HJF4/Inquiring. For allowing use of the initial version of "James Antiflirt" in ThaneMOD, which
helped give rise to BackOff.

JohnP. For contributing the fixes for Steve's shuttle scene and more. Thanks for everything,
JohnP. Without your help, much of this would never have happened; my modding career would
have come to a stand-still long ago. Thank you for helping me learn hex (omfg) and how to mod
this crazy game. Thank you for over two and a half years of consistent feedback, discussion,
time, technical help, moral support and so much more. Thank you for your continued patience
on that stupid romance scene as I have dumped boatloads of time into creating BackOff. Thanks
for continuing to be there <3

Kinkojiro. For contributing Ashley POI in Liara's office, creating separate cabin photos(!!), setting
up Liara's new romance-specific Time Capsule convo, and tireless efforts to maintain GMM
compatibility. I can't ever thank you enough for all your time, technical help, discussions,
troubleshooting, moral support, and more. Nor can I thank you enough for patiently waiting for
BackOff as our work on ThaneMOD has taken a backseat. Modding is so much fun with you
around <3

ME3Explorer Team. For making ME3Explorer, the best modding tool for ME3.

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MrFob. For helping with ThaneMOD, which basically started my modding career, and continuing
to help me with all those pesky audio issues, lol.

Nephthysmoon. The best tester ever. Thanks for your countless hours testing, frapsing, and
uploading footage to help me test Citadel DLC edits for Jacob (I don't have the DLC). You
deserve a huge thanks from Jacobmancers. Many thanks for all your helpful input on Kaidan.

TankMaster. For creating your awesome Natives Editor. This mod would not have been possible
without it; it makes story changes possible.

ThaneMOD Fans. For your patience over the last year and a half as I worked on BackOff at
ThaneMOD's expense. I'll be getting back to our favorite drell soon. Promise.

A big note of appreciation to the creators of the various programs and utilities I used when making
making BackOff:

AFC Creator by MrFob

Audacity

Coalesced/Natives/TLK Editors by TankMaster

Fraps

Gibbed Save Editor

GIMP

HxD

Mass Effect 3

ME3Explorer

ME3Logger by Heff

Microsoft Excel/Word

Notepad ++

VideoStudio Pro

Wwise

BackOff is not associated with BioWare in any way. I make no money from this project. You use this
mod at your own risk; I am not responsible for any damage to your game or PC by use of this mod.
BackOff is hosted only on Nexusmods. If you've downloaded this file from elsewhere, the mod
was stolen and I cannot vouch for its integrity (or safety).

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