History Main / NoStatAtrophy

* ''VideoGame/TheSims Online'' features stat decay. You can train your skills like you could in the offline version, but after your total amount of stats reach a certain amount, your untrained stats will begin to decay.

* ''VideoGame/PunchClub'' reduces your stats by a set amount each day based on how much experience you've earned in that particular stat. It is possible to lose levels due to stat decay, but certain perks can prevent you from dropping below a minimum level.

* In ''LostKingdoms II'', the main character has an affinity level for each of the seven elements of cards used. The maximum of said level was 8 but no matter how much you tried balancing card usage, only one element could attain (and keep) this level at any given time. [[JustifiedTrope Somewhat justified]], since several maxed-out affinities would be too {{gamebreak|er}}ing.

* MLB The Show, in the "Road to the Show" mode, if you don't work on something every two months, your ability will begin to decrease.
* Fight Night Round 3 not only had your training let your off-stats atrophy a little, but as your boxer aged, they'd decline faster. And faster. Retirement was suggesting itself ...

* In the latest edition of the TabletopGame/BattleTech RPG both physical and mental stats start to drop past middle age. Additionally the character will eventually receive the Glass Jaw (increased vulnerability to damage and fatigue) and the Slow Learner (increased exp cost for all skills) traits. [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Clan]] characters even take negatives to their Reputation to reflect the ageist sentiments within their society. All of these can be countered by spending experience but eventually characters will see a slip in their performance to the point that they die of old age when their BOD hits zero.

* ''Franchise/TokimekiMemorial'' has some of your stats decrease slightly almost every time you perform an activity (e.g. focusing on increasing your Art parameter will ding your Fitness over time), so you'll have to rotate between various activities to keep all of your stats high enough to pass the school exams and attract the boy/girl you want.

* In ''SidMeiersPirates'', all your stats (but swordfighting and dancing in particular) decay as your pirate ages. Choosing Medicine as your preferred skill at the start of the game reduces the effect somewhat.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'', going to jail will usually cause one or more skills to deteriorate from lack of use. Sometimes you also ''gain'' some skill in Lockpicking or Pickpocket.
** In Skyrim at least, it only causes you to lose your progress towards the next rank in a skill. You can't actually get worse.

* In ''{{GURPS}}'' your stats drop as you age and start dropping faster as you reach the limit of your species lifespan. If a stat reaches zero the character dies naturally, though in practice a stat below 5 can quickly be lethal even in domestic life.

* As far as aging goes, ''FinalFantasyTactics'' kept track of the ages of characters by how many calendar years had passed since the game began. If you spend a lot of time traveling and battling, the three-year-old Prince Orinas may be 20 by chapter 2, but he's still an infant as far as the story (and his appearance) is concerned.
** A similar situation in ''FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles''. You may have played the game to year 157, but your character's appearance- that of a 12-15 year-old- doesn't change at all.

* In ''EveOnline'' your skill points can decrease drastically upon death unless you've prepared a clone, which costs a tidy sum.

* ''UltimaOnline'' averts this, to the point that while the game was popular a number of people paid for people to play their characters while on vacations or business trips to avoid losing grand master status.

* Infuriatingly averted in ''HeartsOfIron 3'', where a particular area of research "theory" will decay ''as you are researching it.''

* VideoGame/DynastyWarriors: Online Has all your stats reset at the end of the battle. You need to pick up flasks, the arguable BoozeBasedBuff in the game, to return your strength to where it was at the end of the last battle. This is mostly used to balance fights.

* In the King Arthur Pendragon RPG the player knights do age as part of the game, with a yearly check after a certain age to see if a stat drops. Characters whose stat drops to 0 die - even if that stat is Appearance. Yes, you can die of ugliness.

* In ''LostKingdoms II'', the main character has an affinity level for each of the seven elements of cards used. The maximum of said level was 8 (I think, it's been a while since I played), but no matter how much you tried balancing card usage, only one element could attain (and keep) this level at any given time. [[JustifiedTrope Somewhat justified]], since several maxed-out affinities would be too {{gamebreak|er}}ing.

* In the ''MarioTennis'' and ''MarioGolf'' series, not leveling skills would make them gradually decrease.
* In the ''InazumaEleven'' series, every character has an individual total stat cap. After hitting that cap, any further stat training will cause another stat to drop by an equal amount as an AntiGrinding measure.

* In ''SagaFrontier2'', Wil Knights loses half of his stats due to old age in his granddaughter Ginny's scenarios, but they can be built back up via prodigious grinding.

* A variation: the Chao virtual pets in the ''SonicAdventureSeries'' have values and experience levels for each of their stats. Feeding them certain fruits and letting them play with animals ([[FunnyAnimal not including yourself]]) will raise their experience in some stats and lower them in other stats. However, the experience level of a stat cannot drop below what was necessary to previously level up that stat. This creates the interesting situation where it's actually not beneficial to be balanced in what items you give, instead spamming a whole lot of one item and then, once the stat in question levels up, spamming another.

* Played with in the {{MS Paint Adventures}} story ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth''. As this fake Adventure Game becomes increasingly more of a fake RPG, there are only three [[StatMeters main stats]] for the three main characters - [[MrImagination "imagination"]], [[MightyGlacier "vim"]] and "pulchritude". Each character starts out with one stat insanely high ("pulchritude" for Problem Sleuth, "vim" for Ace Dick and "imagination" for Pickle Inspector) and the others virtually empty. Throughout the "game", each time a character gains a level their stats go up - but ''only the one they're already proficient in''. Their other pitiful stats might go up by a point or two, stay even, or drop - at one point Pickle Inspector actually had ''negative'' vim.

* ''ShiraOkaSecondChances'' decreases points in skills that aren't necessary for the particular activity you're doing each week (i.e. if you choose to study art and literature, you may receive a slight decrease in your math skills until you choose math as your next activity), so it's important to try to switch up your activities every week to keep from falling behind.

* Played with in the {{MS Paint Adventures}} story ''ProblemSleuth''. As this fake Adventure Game becomes increasingly more of a fake RPG, there are only three [[StatMeters main stats]] for the three main characters - [[MrImagination "imagination"]], [[MightyGlacier "vim"]] and "pulchritude". Each character starts out with one stat insanely high ("pulchritude" for Problem Sleuth, "vim" for Ace Dick and "imagination" for Pickle Inspector) and the others virtually empty. Throughout the "game", each time a character gains a level their stats go up - but ''only the one they're already proficient in''. Their other pitiful stats might go up by a point or two, stay even, or drop - at one point Pickle Inspector actually had ''negative'' vim.

* DynastyWarriors: Online Has all your stats reset at the end of the battle. You need to pick up flasks, the arguable BoozeBasedBuff in the game, to return your strength to where it was at the end of the last battle. This is mostly used to balance fights.

* Some tabletop RPG systems, such as ''DungeonsAndDragons'': Characters can age, decreasing their physical stats while increasing their mental ones, and there are many spells and monster abilities that can permanently drain statistics or even levels.

* In ''{{Nethack}}'' stats can be exercised and abused, causing them to rise and fall accordingly. For example, starving makes you feel weak, eventually causing your strength to deplete. However, losses due to abuse are considered the same thing as stat drains from monsters, and can therefore be "cured" in certain ways.
** Memorizing a spell from a spellbook imparts it to memory for a fixed amount of time, after which is must be re-memorized. In the spin-off ''Slash'EM'', however, reading a spellbook commits it to memory for a much shorter amount of time, but every time you cast the spell boosts how long it will stay memorized, so a spell you use all the time will only need to be memorized once, while spells that are rarely used will quickly fade from memory.

* In the latest edition of the BattleTech RPG both physical and mental stats start to drop past middle age. Additionally the character will eventually receive the Glass Jaw (increased vulnerability to damage and fatigue) and the Slow Learner (increased exp cost for all skills) traits. [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Clan]] characters even take negatives to their Reputation to reflect the ageist sentiments within their society. All of these can be countered by spending experience but eventually characters will see a slip in their performance to the point that they die of old age when their BOD hits zero.

* In [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]] if you are put in jail, and serve your sentence without escaping, some of your stats will drop.

* Played with in the {{MS Paint Adventures}} story ''ProblemSleuth''. As this fake Adventure Game becomes increasingly more of a fake RPG, there are only three [[StatMeters main stats]] for the three main characters - [[MrImagination "imagination"]], [[MeatShield "vim"]] and "pulchritude". Each character starts out with one stat insanely high ("pulchritude" for Problem Sleuth, "vim" for Ace Dick and "imagination" for Pickle Inspector) and the others virtually empty. Throughout the "game", each time a character gains a level their stats go up - but ''only the one they're already proficient in''. Their other pitiful stats might go up by a point or two, stay even, or drop - at one point Pickle Inspector actually had ''negative'' vim.

* This trope is mostly played straight in ''EchoBazaar'', with the exception of the Admired quality, which will drop over time.
* Infuriatingly averted in HeartsOfIron 3, where a particular area of research "theory" will decay ''as you are researching it.''