Unique/Untradable vs Rare/Ex

I find unique/untradable to be quite a mouthful, especially for items that are both.

In FFXI, the relevant terms were rare/ex(clusive). It rolls off the tongue/fingers much more easily.

Not only are the U-terms more of a mouthful, they both start with the same letters, which for some reason slows me down more when I glance at an item.

I realize this is pretty much just an aesthetic difference, but I'd like to see the FFXI terms reinstated in FFXIV. Fewer syllables means it's easier to read, type, and comprehend.

I still call 'em rare/ex, most people understand what I mean. It's fairly amusing. :3

Yeah I still call them Ra/Ex due to old habits LOL.

I don't mind the new terms though, as for when it's both Unique and Untradable, I just say UU.
/lazy me

I agree, quite annoying. It's like they had to be overly unique and sophisticated with everything, even when it comes to changing names from FFXI to XIV. Even absurd things like the different races and things like rare/ex (which is much faster to type and sounds better). It's like the game deliberately wanted to alienate us.

Thank god chocobos are still chocobos.

For a new player to FFXIV who's never played FFXI before, "Rare"/"Ex" are hardly intuitive terms.

They were pretty non-descriptive terms, I agree. The word "Rare" doesn't invoke the thought "You can only hold one of these," and "Exclusive" takes a sort of mini-epiphany; "OH, exclusive TO ME." But after the simplicity of saying and remembering R/E (Pronounced: Rarex), trying to convert to U/U or, even worse, articulating which when only one is used, feels clumsy. I trip over it on occasion as well, but like the others, I've just gone back to saying Rarex, lol.

I'd be at a loss to recommend a solution. Clumsy or not, the words don't take too much adaption to get used to - they're just lacking in convenience.

I pretty much agree with Anonymoose. Rare/Ex doesn't really explain it as well as Unique/Untradeable do, but somehow Rare/Ex just sounds better. Maybe it's 'cause they're shorter? I'm not sure.

Personally, if I had to choose between the two, I would keep them the way they are. I prefer the U/U because it's much clearer as to what it's referring to.

FFXI + FFXIV are the only MMOs I've ever played; perhaps someone who has played other MMOs could chime in on what other MMOs use?

I agree with the OP. I don't know if SE would be willing to change it at this point, but it doesn't hurt to discuss. ;)

To me U/U is not as easy to understand as R/E, I tend to think Unique is "Exclusive" most of the time... The two starting with the same letters doesn't help.

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Originally Posted by Reliquia

I agree, quite annoying. It's like they had to be overly unique and sophisticated with everything, even when it comes to changing names from FFXI to XIV. Even absurd things like the different races and things like rare/ex (which is much faster to type and sounds better). It's like the game deliberately wanted to alienate us.

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Agreed, and since FFXI used Rar/Ex and in it's Rar/Ex in the jp FFXIV... Why change a term that's a lot of a players are used to and that can be used universally? We have to memorize something different from XI and the JP where the same could have been used.
Personally, I'd like the FFXI terminology and the FF legacy names to be unchanged, to better keep the references to the legacy and all. It would also be more user-friendly for XI players and international players.
But that's just my opinion, and I understand not everyone feels the same.

For the record, I also think that Rare/Ex just "sounds better," but in the interest of making an intuitive, easy to-understand game and user interface that's self-explanatory for new players, sometimes it is just better to simply call untradable items "untradable," even if it's not as "cool" or costs you cred points with the FFXI die-hards.

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Originally Posted by Llewelyn

I find unique/untradable to be quite a mouthful, especially for items that are both.

In FFXI, the relevant terms were rare/ex(clusive). It rolls off the tongue/fingers much more easily.

Not only are the U-terms more of a mouthful, they both start with the same letters, which for some reason slows me down more when I glance at an item.

I realize this is pretty much just an aesthetic difference, but I'd like to see the FFXI terms reinstated in FFXIV. Fewer syllables means it's easier to read, type, and comprehend.

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A-F'n-men dude...I don't know why the hell SE is so damn dead-set on PRETENDING this is nothing like XI. I think they're afraid that all the haters will rage-quit if SE acknowledge the similarities. Anyway, I agree with you completely. This is beyond ridiculous. There are so many terms that they brought from XI, and this one should be brought here as well.

If I'm not mistaken, in the JP client of XIV "Rare/Ex" is still used. I would need confirmation on that though. But as others have said, unique/untradeable makes more sense imo.