* The same gear does not necessary convert into the same materia. Although certain trends may be observed in the transformation, adventurers can expect materia of varying types and potency to be created from the same item.
That just seems down right annoying to me.
Why not make it so that certain items will always result in certain materia?

Someone please tell me this isn't what I'm reading and provide a translation that tells me what SE really means by this. Do they really want materia to be random or are they saying the same gear *type* does not always convert into the same materia?

If that really is the case I hope the spiritbond process doesn't take an extensive amount of time.
Imagine grinding in armor for hours on end, and then lose that armor converting it to materia just to end up with a low grade Lightning materia for your melee.