So Long and Thanks For All the Gear: Difference between revisions

 

'''SPOILERS AHEAD.''' Read at your own risk.

 

 

* ''[[Beyond Good & Evil (video game)|Beyond Good and Evil]]'' has PA-1's, [[Heart Container|heart containers]] you can swap between yourself and your partners. {{spoiler|When Pey'j is kidnapped}}, he takes all of his PA-1's with him, though he has a chance of dropping one... and only one. The rest vanish into the ether, leaving you vulnerable and short in the [[Life Meter]] department. You'll get it back only near the end of the game, and might as well hoard them for yourself since they won't be around for too long.

 

 

* This happens a lot in ''[[Maniac Mansion]]''. If a character dies with something important in their pocket, you may not be able to get the item again (this happened in the NES version). If they die with something super important, like the old rusty key, and nobody else can access it, someone is going to sit in the dungeon forever.

** On the other hand, some versions place a package on the kid's grave that contains all the items they were hauling around. Considering the lengths you have to go to in order to get the kids killed, it's not nearly as much a problem as it sounds even in versions without packages.

 

 

* ''[[Deus Ex]]'' gently pulls this stunt a couple times; twice, JC will be asked in dialogue to hand the best sidearm he's holding to an [[Non-Player Character|NPC]] in order to trigger marginally improved plot outcomes. These [[Non-Player Character|NPCs]] will have no interest in returning said weapons when they're done with them; this is made worse by the fact that most players will have used rare upgrades on these guns. Fortunately, this can be averted while achieving these plotlines' "good" endings by dropping the "good" weapons on the ground and grabbing an unmodified gun for the [[Non-Player Character|NPCs]] from the level.

* Both ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' games have this if a player in an online game leaves. Survivor AI cannot use defibrillators or any bomb type items, but if a player who has the said items leaves the game, their bot will carry the items but cannot use them. Since the game does not allow dropping items or giving items to other players outside of pills/shots, you won't be able to take a bot's stuck items unless they get killed, where the items will then fall loose for anyone to pick up.

 

 

* In ''[[Dynasty Warriors]] 6: Empires'', you can spend a big chunk of in-game money and resources upgrading one of your officer's weapons, only to have them defect during a battle. Lu Bu is particularly prone to this (although the real Lu Bu did have [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]], so it has to be expected).

 

 

* Averted in ''[[Warcraft III]]'', where the various hero characters could carry and use items, and would keep them between missions. If, at any point, a hero left, all their items would be on the ground at the start of the next mission. The only exceptions were at the end of each campaign (obviously): if the items weren't there, that character was coming back.

** Potentially inverted in ''Chaos Rising'', when {{spoiler|the traitor in your ranks (assuming he wasn't Martellus) politely drops all the armor, weapons, and gear of yours that he was carrying.}} Unfortunately, though you may get all the items back, instead you lose {{spoiler|the only character who could have used the items with any kind of proficiency (e.g. Avitus' heavy weapons, Cyrus' bombs)}}.

 

 

* In ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' (the former [[Trope Namer]]) Aerith's [[It Was His Sled|sudden death]] makes you lose all her equipment. Thank God the creators weren't cruel enough to take away all her materia, too... The fact that her equipment is not returned is especially irritating because there is a unique piece of armour (the Edincoat) in the dungeon just before you lose her that you will quite likely equip on her, since she is a [[White Magician Girl]] who is, for that dungeon, a [[Required Party Member]]. Luckily the weapon situation is no problem at all because Aerith is the only one that can equip Staffs in the first place.

* At the end of [[Beyond Divinity]], the Death Knight who has been your unwilling companion through the whole game turns out to be Damien himself and fights you. If he's got all of your good stuff, he can be nearly impossible to beat. If you remove all of his stuff just before the final boss fight right before the big reveal and manage to keep him alive, he's incredibly easy to beat.

 

* Toyed with and reversed somewhat in ''X2: The Threat''. During one early mission you are loaned a personnel transport ship armed with some decent equipment—including some expensive shields. After the mission is finished you are given an old cargo transport, but its hull integrity will be greatly reduced if you decided to sell off the shields in the other ship for personnel gain.

 

 

* Happens about two thirds of the way through ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3'', wherein Snake recovers all of his equipment after a [[No-Gear Level]] sequence, except for all of his previously captured animals and collected food (including the pricelessly valuable Tsuchinoko, if you were lucky enough to find it - fortunately you can catch it again just after getting your gear back). Humorously, you can call EVA about this, and she will confess that she rifled through your pack for instant noodles, but the rest of Snake's pack was emptied by Ocelot because "[[Ho Yay|he wanted to eat the same things Snake did]]".

 

 

* ''[[The Thing (video game)|The Thing]]'' does this practically every level. This game isn't an RPG but is filled with [[Guest Star Party Member]]s. It's a [[Survival Horror]] game, so ammunition and weaponry are limited. Your party members seem to desert you after each load screen for a new level and take the weapons with them. They apparently think that they have a better chance without the guy who gave them their guns.

*** Players may be severely hampered later on if they equipped Claire with the more powerful weapons like the grenade launcher for the battle with Nosferatu. Which you're [[Sniping Mission|supposed to use the sniper rifle for]].

 

* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' subverts this; [[Guest Star Party Member]]s leave their equipment. Due to a [[Good Bad Bug]], you can even take advantage of this fact when {{spoiler|Gafgarion}} pulls a [[Face Heel Turn]]; steal {{spoiler|his}} equipment, and you'll get the stolen copy PLUS the copy he leaves behind for leaving your team! Too bad if a character meets [[Final Death]], though...

* Subverted in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics A2]]''. {{spoiler|When Adelle leaves the clan, she doesn't take with her any of the items you had equipped to her. Eventually she re-joins the clan, so it doesn't matter anyway.}}

** A stupid one happens in ''[[Super Robot Wars Alpha]] 3'' - if you chose to start with Touya's route, you get to play out the beginning of the second half of ''[[GaoGaiGar]]''. Sadly, because of this, when [[GaoGaiGar]] gets wrecked, it (and Guy) go through a [[Ten-Minute Retirement]] and all of [[GaoGaiGar]]'s upgrades are rendered moot.

 

* Can happen in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' or any other MMORPG which uses guild vaults. Griefers will get themselves invited to a guild, convince their new guildmates to allow them to grab some gear out of the vault, and then leave the guild with their newfound stuff. Fortunately this activity is usually against the game's EULA and [[GMs]] can often help you recover your goods.

* The above kind of behavior is NOT against the rules in [[EVE Online]], and is a particularly infamous and widespread profession, making vetting new members and restricting access a lot more of a big deal. If your corporation gets swindled out of your items, tough luck, you should have been more careful about placing your trust in people. Your only option is to swear revenge.

 

* A rare '''non''' video game example, this is [[Lampshaded]] in a side omake by Natsuki Takaya in a ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' volume.

 

* This can happen in most role playing games. Whether you're buying the NPC decker some new gear to help you in [[Shadowrun]], giving a magical sword to a companion in [[Dungeons & Dragons]], or working your money and black market ties to get your trusty ghoul bodyguard an SMG and some shooting classes in [[Vampire: The Masquerade]], there's a chance that character will leave the game. They may die with the gear beyond salvage, be bought out or turned by your enemies, become a [[Damsel in Distress]], have been [[The Mole]] all along, or just decide they've had it with you being a [[Jerkass]] (as so many players are.) When that NPC was entrusted with essential equipment, this can become a great complication for a fun night of gaming (either saving the NPC, winning them back, or at least getting back the goods) or a reason to grumble at the player who angered the party's allies until they just stormed off.