Guild Wars 2

Seeing as you didn’t know that ‘unique’ don’t go together, and the fact that you used Laurels to get your rings. I’m assuming you don’t care about Agony Resistance, hence….

Rising Dusk.2408:

On the flip-side, if you don’t care about Agony Resistance, you can infuse one of the rings and, with them now being different rings, wear them both.

I am a noob.. ^^ I thought “Unique” was just used as a term to describe that it has a unique name and a unique icon. Just something “special”.
I played the original gw and there unique meant something different than it does now in gw2. The unique items had a unique name and (often) a unique appearance..

Israel.7056:

Pennry.9215:

Israel.7056:

bcd.4352:

You had no idea what the word “unique” meant? Dictionaries are usually awesome tools for understanding words.

I had no idea what that meant in GW2 terms no. A standard dictionary wouldn’t have told me what I needed to know.

So when seeing this strange new marking, it never occurred to you to look it up before making the purchase?

Since this mistaken purchase was entirely your fault and no fault of the product, your refund is 4 silver and 95 copper after restocking fees. Thank you, have a nice day.

You don’t get to make that ruling but I understand that some people will see it that way.

I didn’t make that ruling, ArenaNet did. There’s massive loss on all vendor purchases.

Don’t let the righteous posters get you down, OP. If you haven’t played a game with that kind of term, it can be very confusing. Seems like it ought to have an “only may be worn” or something in red on the item description.

I appreciate the OP posting this, or I’d have made the same mistake.

CryxTryx.9208:

Syeria.4812:

As has been mentioned, “Unique” is a standard term in many many RPG type games that indicates this behavior.

It might not be explained as well as it should be, but there don’t seem to be any serious ideas for how to improve it that exhibit both efficacy and ease of use.

The fact that it is a standard term means nothing to someone who has not played other games using it.

As stated it does not behave in such a way that the dictionary definition of unique would have you expect it to.

It was also pointed out that Guild Wars I did not treat the unique status this way.

So it is far from obvious or self explanatory. Why are so many people unable to look at this from anything but their own view point?

I’ve played many rpg’s and MMO’s, I know what a unique item is. I know I can’t equip more then two, I also know that is not made obvious by the in game tool tip and that 30 laurels is a devastating cost at which to learn this lesson.

There have been solutions stated. There is already a ‘buy’ confirmation window. Simply state in the confirmation window. “You are about to purchase a ‘unique’ item. You can not equip more then one unique item of the same name.” [Buy] / [Cancel].

This is a very easy solution that would simply involve changing the text in an already exiting pop up warning.

Alternatively you can offer a buy back option, even if it is only 10 minutes. Enough time for the player to attempt the equip the item and realize they can not. These seems like it could take a bit more work, and I don’t think it would work as well, especially if the player is buying multiple unique items for an ult and will not equip them till later. A longer timer would allow players to purchase the items, do a dungeon run and sell them back..though I’m not sure why you would do that.

You can also have a player be unable to buy a second of the same unique item of the same name if he currently has one in his inventory or equip. Again more work but should solve the problem. This would not affect a player being able to get the item from the loot table.

Many solutions have been offered.

I don’t understand why players who are in the know are defending against putting a solution in place. Does it hurt you so much to see a safe guard in place just because you don’t need it yourself?

What you don’t understand is how actual problem solving works.

People have identified something they think is a problem. However, screaming “unique doesn’t mean that!” doesn’t help anyone with anything. It has absolutely no benefit. The fact of the matter is that “unique” is a standard industry term. No one really cares whether you think it’s an accurate name or not, or if you’re even aware of it at all. That doesn’t change the fact that it is a standard industry term. As I mentioned earlier, I made the same mistake as the OP (albeit with pristine fractal relics and not laurels) simply because I didn’t notice the item was designated “unique.” Changing the term to something more descriptive doesn’t help if people don’t read the description close enough to see it. Furthermore, changing the term would go against industry standards, and is liable to cause more issues rather than reduce them.

The fact of the matter is no one has offered a single viable alternative to the current method which exhibits efficacy and ease of use. Adding yet another warning screen that no one actually reads anyway and simply clicks through will not have any effect. It will not reduce the frequency of this mistake by any meaningful amount, and is roughly equivalent to doing absolutely nothing at all. You could actually have some sort of audio and text, unskippable instruction offered when players buy the item, but that’s extremely inconvenient, fairly expensive to implement (due to voice actor guild requirements and localization costs), and highly annoying to users.

Identifying problems is great. Developers especially frequently need things like this brought to their attention. However, ultimately some things just can’t be fixed, and all the whining and crying and gnashing of teeth in the world won’t change a single thing. The issue here is that there’s really (so far as anyone has come up with here) no good solution to this issue. As such, we fall back to industry standard in the hope that the people who have to learn the hard lesson here in GW2 won’t repeat the same mistake in the next game they play down the road.

I did this the other day as well. Although I spent pristine relics so mine are more easily attainable than laurels. As a casual player it has taken quite some time to get 10 of those. (Since FOTM came out actually…)

I had no luck with customer service. I was essentially told. “I’d do something for you if I could. But I can’t, so sorry.” But… kitten happens.

I had a guildie yell at me saying it’s common sense. But nothing in this game that I can think of off the top of my head leads me to believe that offensive/defense are separate. It’s not like I have to have an offensive/defense option for regular jewlery. Why would I automatically assume that “This item is unique therefore I can only have one offensive and one defensive.” What I did assume based off of other MMO’s that “This is unique as it’s not easily obtainable.” or as someone else said that maybe it can be unique because only one of it exits. There isn’t even this kind of specific offensive/defensive requirement with legendary equipment.

My common sense assumption will not be the same as your common sense assumption. At the end of the day it’s an assumption. I could have looked it up, and I should have. That’s why I’ll just suck it up and go grind 10 more relics.

BUT this is great awareness for other players.

I didn’t know this too! I would have purchase two of the same like you..

Just to be clear, you can’t use two Ring of Red Death?

feuna.1749:

I didn’t know this too! I would have purchase two of the same like you..

Just to be clear, you can’t use two Ring of Red Death?

Correct, unless one is infused and one is not.
There are two rings for each stat distribution, so get a RRoD and a Crystalline Band ( I think that’s what it’s called)

Seriously though… unique … It’s quite self explanatory. It’s unique, you can’t have another.

Give him a break people. Some games allow you to wear multiple items that are the same and have “unique” in the description. I can think of one immediately that I used to play.

Why are they unique, no other trinkets are before them why did Ascended go this way? we cannot sell trade or salvage them and now they can only be used once, do these limitations ever stop?

Hurr durr, me know “unique” means, kitten ima pro!

Hey OP, don’t feed the trolls and thx for the post. I’m planning to get ascended items and for different reasons, I was planing to get different items with the same stats so this is not really a problem but anyways, thanks to you, I now know this little “feature” (yep, Anet sux when giving explanations, maybe they think we all are super-pro-fanboys unworthy of better explanations).

There are some people here who, besides not wanting to understand the OT’s point of view, are being very rude.

I also want to add that I also only found out about this outside of the game, and thank god I did NOT make the same mistake. This can be a very frustrating issue, and yes, it’s a game design issue, not the player’s fault.

Seriously though… unique … It’s quite self explanatory. It’s unique, you can’t have another.

Actually, you can have many of them. In the inventory. So it’s not self explanatory, but very vague instead. There are many ways to interpret what “unique” would mean in this context, even GW1 used that word in a different way, so being self explanatory would mean that, in addition to showing the word “unique”, giving a very precise explanation of what it really meant. And a clear warning. :P

Israel.7056:

Qori.9671:

it’s a unique item in the items description.

Yes but I had no idea what that meant until today. I would’ve rather learned it another way.

I’ve been playing MMOs for a long time, and this is a very unfortunate side effect. They make a lot of assumptions when they put out games like that, that we just ‘know’ everything.

I know what it means, but a lot of people just don’t. It’s unfortunate.

What’s more unfortunate is this many months in, there is no system of returning items for refunds. I’m sure it’s more due to the cost of the humans that would have to police the system and not the mechanics of said system. I’m sure they could come up with a reasonable sell back for 100% system that couldn’t be abused (‘renting’ armor for special events and selling it back, for example), but, well, there you go.

I had my own little issue with Ascended items when I accidentally bought an Offensive amulet instead of a Utility one. They wouldn’t let me refund it. Not a huge deal, I was just going to put a magic find in it some day, but I’m going to leave it empty in the event there’s a way to bring up my old ticket again if they ever implement something down the road.

I feel for you, and hope you get it resolved.

you gotta read item descriptions, man. Unique in ANY game usually only means one can be worn at a time.

if you infuse it, that’s a whole different story.

Charming Rogue.8071:

Seeing as you didn’t know that ‘unique’ don’t go together, and the fact that you used Laurels to get your rings. I’m assuming you don’t care about Agony Resistance, hence….

I’ve learned that to infuse one of them I will have to run FOTM up to something like lvl 20. I’m at like…..2.

Syeria.4812:

The fact of the matter is that “unique” is a standard industry term. No one really cares whether you think it’s an accurate name or not, or if you’re even aware of it at all. That doesn’t change the fact that it is a standard industry term.

Yet many on this thread have played other mmos without coming across it.

Syeria.4812:

The fact of the matter is no one has offered a single viable alternative to the current method which exhibits efficacy and ease of use.

Yes there has been, adding a specific warning to the buy screen. It doesn’t require a separate screen. Its simple.

@Syeria

You’re almost right about this being an industry standard term, except that this game is a sequel and unique already had a definition in the Guild Wars universe. If a game company is going to take a word already being used in game, and change it to another definition, some education should occur. After all, people who played that other game and not a lot of other MMOs have been taught what unique means in games by Anet.

A unique weapon in Guild Wars 1 was a weapon dropped by a specific boss. It was the only place in the game you could get it. That or buy it from a player that go it from killing that boss. A staff like Final Rest, which only comes from one event, would be considered unique in Guild Wars 1 language.

Saying that no one cares that a sequel of a game has changed an existing definition without notifying the fan base of the first game…well it’s just not really a good idea.

It might be different if Anet didn’t already have a definition of unique floating around for years before this game went into production.

Stone of Jordan’s are also “Unique”. I didn’t make this mistake luckily but I can see how people would make the mistake. Hopefully Anet will refund it for you.

Meaning no disrespect to any specific individual(s), even if there was a detailed, unambiguous explanation of what unique meant in the game, some people would not read it. A sell-back within x time (30 minutes sounds OK to me) would protect those people from themselves.

bcd.4352:

Israel.7056:

Qori.9671:

it’s a unique item in the items description.

Yes but I had no idea what that meant until today.

You had no idea what the word “unique” meant? Dictionaries are usually awesome tools for understanding words.

Follow your own advice. A dictionary would tell the OP that there aren’t two of those to buy.

Tolmos.8395:

Chase.8415:

Again, this is a fantastic feature of Guild Wars and I do not wish it to be limited or disabled due to a user error.

How in the world is making an item unique “a fantastic feature of Guild Wars”? I surely read what you typed wrong, because I can’t imagine that is what you mean.

On the contrary, I didn’t type it wrong. You simply could not comprehend exactly what I was stating.

The “fantastic” feature of Guild Wars is the ability to send rings (that are unique or otherwise) obtained from your main to another character in your account.

Restricting items to be “character unique” would disable the feature of being able to obtain items on one character and transfer it to your alt.

THIS IS WHY you can get a unique item more than once, as opposed to other games that will not let you. The reason why the other games do not even let you obtain a unique item twice is because they do not have the feature to transfer “BoP” items from one character to another within the same account.

Pic or it did not happen.
If you spend all your points at once you should look up info its like buying a car or a house you got to look things up making sure your getting what you want. In buying 2 of the same item you got 2 of the same item now if you can use them or not is more up to you.

One of the longest played games in history is Diablo 2. In that game you could equip two unique rings, or as a Barbarian, two unique one hand weapons. “Unique” in this case meant rarity, not equippable or not with another of the same type.

Whether or not the onus is on ANet or the player is besides the point. This game has been out for many months now, and STILL tooltips, descriptions and documentation are extremely vague, in some cases intentionally. Players should not have to comb through wikis, online third party databases and strategy guides for basic gameplay information, and that is squarely on ANet’s side of responsibility.

Instead of saying “Unique” why not have a line in the tooltip that clearly says “May only equip one per character.” Bam, problem solved via clear, concise language. While they’re at it, fix all skill tooltips so that instead of, for example Signet of Earth saying “Improves Toughness” have it say Improves “Toughness by xxx” where xxx is the actual level appropriate amount! Seems obvious really.

Getting an item in a game should not require comparative shopping via Kelly Blue Book or the equivalent of hiring a home inspector to do a comprehensive walkthrough of a $200k home prior to signing a 40 page mortgage contract.

yeah…. Unique is pretty self-explanatory…

Oh thanks OP for the heads up. I didn’t know about that.

Shame Anet, real shame on you. Give him back his laurels or change the ring to a proper one.
Please fix the problem, place a better description/warning or whatever.

@khailen, hopefully anet will refund you? you must live in a really cool world.

may i add that the part telling you the story of the earring is EASIER to see than unique? seems a bit intentionally to me.
also, its quite sad the op must run fractal in order to equip them while he spent 70 laurels for rings to avoid it.

They should really just give all unique items an in-game description: “a single character may only equip one of this item”

The unique property does not exactly stand out visually, and isn’t very descriptive on it’s own. For all the buyer knows it could just mean the item is one of a kind (which is actually true, unlike most exotic equipment where multiple different sets have the exact same stats).

It’s called Schadenfreude…basically it’s a delight in the misfortune of others and a desire to show a superiority that is usually not very evident on closer examination.

This.

Or, as I like to call it: ‘If-It’s-Not-An-Issue-To-Me-It-Shouldn’t-Be-An-Issue-To-Anyone-Else-And-Nobody-Else-Is-Allowed-To-Say-Otherwise-Or-They-Are-Just-Bad’ syndrome.

But yeah, Schadenfreude works fine too.

In other games, the word “unique” means something totally different. For example, in diablo, unique just means it’s rare to find. You can equip the same unique item in multiple slots. So it doesn’t make sense to say " you should know that since it says unique in the description" or “unique is self-explanatory.”

If it were truly unique, as soon as the first person bought it from the Store, it would not appear on the list at all. For anyone.

The OP criticism is fair I believe.

bcd.4352:

feuna.1749:

I didn’t know this too! I would have purchase two of the same like you..

Just to be clear, you can’t use two Ring of Red Death?

Correct, unless one is infused and one is not.
There are two rings for each stat distribution, so get a RRoD and a Crystalline Band ( I think that’s what it’s called)

Seriously though… unique … It’s quite self explanatory. It’s unique, you can’t have another.

Its not self explanatory. Here is the dictionary defination for you.
Unique: Existing as the only one or as the sole example; single; solitary in type or characteristics: a unique copy of an ancient manuscript.
If it was “unique” there would be 1 ring in the entire game, there would not be a merchant selling thousands of them to every player in the game. There is no use of the word unique in real life of it meaning that you can own several of them, but only use 1 at a time.
I accidently bought two of the same 12000 btu air conditioner, they are unique so I can only plug 1 in at a time, said no one ever.

Israel.7056:

I have opened a ticket for this issue and I really hope Anet will help me out here. I would be happy to receive a refund and buy the other ring or simply have the rings swapped out.

Good luck with that… Please let us know if they DO refund or swap out the rings… They’ve actually told us they don’t have any tools for refunding / swapping etc in-game items and/or currency…..

morrolan.9608:

Syeria.4812:

The fact of the matter is that “unique” is a standard industry term. No one really cares whether you think it’s an accurate name or not, or if you’re even aware of it at all. That doesn’t change the fact that it is a standard industry term.

Yet many on this thread have played other mmos without coming across it.

Syeria.4812:

The fact of the matter is no one has offered a single viable alternative to the current method which exhibits efficacy and ease of use.

Yes there has been, adding a specific warning to the buy screen. It doesn’t require a separate screen. Its simple.

As has been pointed out, adding a warning screen will do absolutely nothing because less than 5% of the player base will actually read the warning screen when it comes up. Because there’s numerous warning screens during purchases already (and I believe there’s already one for buying things with laurels anyway) people who have ever bought anything like that aren’t going to look at the warning screen, they will just click through. Adding yet another warning screen will have no effect, so it’s not a solution.

I also lost my months work for second ring. I reported but no response yet. In my previous mmos Eq1 and eq2 you can`t loot or buy a duplicate of an item that is actually uniqu. You would get message “you already have xxx and can`t have another”. Like op, I would very much appreciate reimbursement.

I agree there should be a warning of some sort. But just about every game out there uses Unique to describe an item you can only equip one of.

You made your mistake and learned from it. I doubt you will buy 2 of the same unique items again.

Ruprect.7260:

I agree there should be a warning of some sort. But just about every game out there uses Unique to describe an item you can only equip one of.

You made your mistake and learned from it. I doubt you will buy 2 of the same unique items again.

Yes I learned from the mistake but I don’t see why I or anyone else should have to go through this process just to learn this lesson.

I have never seen the word “Unique” used to mean what it means in this game and I play a lot of video games, this isn’t my first MMO either.

The real question in my mind is whether or not Anet is ok with this happening to people. If they are then it doesn’t really matter what I have to say. If they’re not then perhaps they’ll implement some sort of in-game consumer protection.

Vayne.8563:

Except that it’s a relatively standard MMO term, and many people do understanding. Out of curiousity, what word would you use instead?

I don’t remember playing a single MMO with “Unique” type items at all. I’d replace it with something user friendly like :
- “Can only use one”
- “Uniquely equipped”

stof.9341:

Vayne.8563:

Except that it’s a relatively standard MMO term, and many people do understanding. Out of curiousity, what word would you use instead?

I don’t remember playing a single MMO with “Unique” type items at all. I’d replace it with something user friendly like :
- “Can only use one”
- “Uniquely equipped”

Can use only one works, but it’s longer…uniquely equipped means nothing to me at all, and includes the word unique. That wouldn’t make me think I couldn’t use two at all.

I think there should be a mouseover so when you mouseover the word unique, it says what it means. Even more, if you can’t use it, you shouldn’t be allowed to buy it, which would save tons of trouble.

Vayne.8563:

Can use only one works, but it’s longer…uniquely equipped means nothing to me at all, and includes the word unique. That wouldn’t make me think I couldn’t use two at all.

I think there should be a mouseover so when you mouseover the word unique, it says what it means. Even more, if you can’t use it, you shouldn’t be allowed to buy it, which would save tons of trouble.

Why only one word? Here’s an example of lines one can find on the item tooltip :

• Ascended
• Ring
• Unique
• Required Level : 80 (one word right?)
• Account Bound

“Can only use one” or “Can only equip one” fit perfectly if a little long. “Uniquely equipped” is weird for sure but something weird catches your eyes. Bonus points if this line is put in red when you already own or equip one such items but it’s not foolproof.

Btw, a mouseover over a mouseover is poor user interface for obvious reasons.

Besides, honestly. In the current game situation we have, the real effects of “Unique” on the ascended rings and earrings is 1% gameplay related (You cannot get twice +5 power for the same Offensive Infusion item. Wait, did we find someone that paid hundreds of ectos and fine T6 mats for +5 to a stat?) and 99% confusion inducing related.

ANet should never have done this Unique thing. All it causes are complaints, annoyed players and customer support loss of time for an incredibly minor and insignificant gameplay effect.

A lot of posters have claimed that the term “unique” has some sort of de facto meaning – in that the use of it is consistent across MMOs.

Well, I decided to check this and here are the results from the most common MMOs:

WoW – Unique: You can only have one copy of a unique item in all of your inventory, including what you have in the bank. If you have an opportunity to acquire another of the same item then you will be unable to.

Note: You can ONLY have one. Period.

Aion: Doesn’t make use of the term Unique.

SWTOR: Doesn’t seem to have unique items. At least according to their manual.

Lord of the Rings Online: Unique Items

There are some items that are so rare, so special, that you can only have one of them. These are known as “unique” items. If an item is listed as unique in its description, you will not be able to own a second one on your character.

Rift appears to use the terminology: Unique Equip

EVE Online doesn’t have unique items.

Those are the -major- MMOs and the term is -not- used consistently across them. Even WoW the most popular MMO uses the term Unique differently.

As such, anyone who is arguing that one should just “know” what the term means because it is used everywhere… well, you’re wrong. There is no standard definition for the term in MMOs.

Unique in Guild Wars 2 needs to be defined clearly within the context of the game. Having to leave the game to find out what it means is bad design. Using the /wiki command (seriously? who really makes use of this command?) to find out what unique means is NOT an adequate mechanism. Why would anyone who sees the term unique think to themselves: oh, I should check the wiki to see what this means.

At the end of the day this is an issue of bad game design on Guild Wars 2’s part and, as such, the OP should get their purchase refunded. I think additional information in the purchase confirmation regarding unique would be advantageous – at least the game would be trying to inform the user about what it means and if the user decides to ignore it then, yes, it would then be the user’s fault. As it is now it is Guild Wars 2’s fault.

Another option would be to have a buy-back feature although that does not solve the underlying issue of a lack of clarity within the game itself.

Perhaps a contextual tutorial or information screen upon acquiring one’s first unique item is another option. “Congratulations you have just acquired your first unique item! You can only wear one of a unique item.” Or whatever.

I think it is pretty clear what unique means. The above post makes it very clear. 3 of the biggest MMO’s out there clearly use unique equip as the ability to only have or use one of that item. What is the problem.

If the game needs to babysit everyone we are going to have a lot of annoying warnings in game and when that happens everyone just mindlessly skips them and they no longer serve their purpose.

I made the unique equip mistake in Rift, once, then never again. Unfortunately it is the best way to learn a lesson.

Ruprect.7260:

I think it is pretty clear what unique means. The above post makes it very clear. 3 of the biggest MMO’s out there clearly use unique equip as the ability to only have or use one of that item. What is the problem.

If the game needs to babysit everyone we are going to have a lot of annoying warnings in game and when that happens everyone just mindlessly skips them and they no longer serve their purpose.

I made the unique equip mistake in Rift, once, then never again. Unfortunately it is the best way to learn a lesson.

The problem is Guild Wars 1. There are a TON of players who played Guild Wars 1 who never played another MMO at all. This is a sequel to Guild Wars 1. And in Guild Wars 1, unique meant something completely different.

If you’re going to change terminologies between games in the same serious, you have no choice but to define it.

Unless you’re trying to say no players came from Guild Wars 1 to Guild Wars 2 without having played other MMOs.

Ruprect.7260:

I think it is pretty clear what unique means. The above post makes it very clear. 3 of the biggest MMO’s out there clearly use unique equip as the ability to only have or use one of that item. What is the problem.

If the game needs to babysit everyone we are going to have a lot of annoying warnings in game and when that happens everyone just mindlessly skips them and they no longer serve their purpose.

I made the unique equip mistake in Rift, once, then never again. Unfortunately it is the best way to learn a lesson.

The problem is that unique in Guild Wars 2 isn’t unique. If you can have multiple in your possession why would you think that unique means the same as another MMO? In most other MMOs you would be PREVENTED from buying a second unique item.

Because the game treats unique differently it opens up the situation that the Original Poster got into: making a purchase in good faith based on what the feedback that the game environment provided.

Since unique items are not unique (you can have multiple) how do you know, at this point, that unique doesn’t mean what it did in Diablo? In that you could equip multiple of them? You don’t.

There is no way in the game to figure that out prior to trying to equip a second of the same “unique” item. Sure, we can say, “but it’s obvious” except that it isn’t. In Guild Wars 1 the term meant something else as well. So, how is it obvious when the most common behaviour of a unique item isn’t what happens in Guild Wars 2?

Hmmm, I never played GW1 so I don’t know. You do have a point though if GW1 had a unique item that had a different meaning then does GW2, that makes a big difference. My guess is there are more GW1 players in this game than first time GW players.

Ruprect.7260:

Hmmm, I never played GW1 so I don’t know. You do have a point though if GW1 had a unique item that had a different meaning then does GW2, that makes a big difference. My guess is there are more GW1 players in this game than first time GW players.

A unique item in Guild Wars 1 simply meant a green named item dropped by a specific boss. So the Beserking Bison Asterius the Mighty dropped Asterius’s Scythe, which was considered a unique item. Unique in this case meaning it was a named item that only dropped from that single boss.

Guild Wars 1 was different though, because there was no jewelry. Still because it represented a named “special item”. seeing unique on an item here might make one thing it was a named special item, just like in Guild Wars 1.

Vayne.8563:

Ruprect.7260:

Hmmm, I never played GW1 so I don’t know. You do have a point though if GW1 had a unique item that had a different meaning then does GW2, that makes a big difference. My guess is there are more GW1 players in this game than first time GW players.

A unique item in Guild Wars 1 simply meant a green named item dropped by a specific boss. So the Beserking Bison Asterius the Mighty dropped Asterius’s Scythe, which was considered a unique item. Unique in this case meaning it was a named item that only dropped from that single boss.

Guild Wars 1 was different though, because there was no jewelry. Still because it represented a named “special item”. seeing unique on an item here might make one thing it was a named special item, just like in Guild Wars 1.

The OP has a point then. It seems kind of silly to make unique mean something completely different in the sequel.

I ‘ll have to agree that an option of buying back (or refund) within a certain time limit (30 minutes or something) is essential for such big purchases. The same thing happened to a guildie 2 days ago and he never got any info on why he could not equip both of them, before making the mistake. Such crucial information should be available in game. If some people don’t like the pop up warnings, it could be nice if the window had a tick box “Never show this warning again” like most of software we use everyday. If someone simply chooses not to read the warning, before buying, will have no reason to complain after. Simple as that!

Is it possible to give that stuff to another char? Or is it soulbound? I mean laurals are per account so that 2nd ring should worst case be account bound if you have not equipped it because not possible.

Edit: And yeah… unique is a bad term. In my understanding I think of a item that exists only 1 time in the whole game world. And since everyone can buy that stuff at the vendor they are not unique. Also it is not a rarity since rarity of the item is ascended.

Should be max equipment limit: 1

Not everyone is a WoW convert. (I didn’t play it until after playing GW1.)

Had I not, I wouldn’t know what unique meant. GW1 didn’t have rings/accessories… Thus no “unique” items.

AFAIK, it’s only Ascended gear that even carries the “unique” status.

ArenaNet really should have informed people better. Had I not kept up with the forums and wiki prior to buying my Rings from the Fractal vendor, I probably would have made the same mistake. (It’s easy to overlook… especially since it’s NOT normal in the Guild Wars world.)

See: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Unique
GW1’s “uniques” were green items, as other posters have mentioned. They were max-stat items that only dropped from specific bosses. (Each boss added after Prophecies tended to have at least one.)
Green/unique farming in GW1 was a cool draw to the game. ArenaNet would even have “unique-drop weekends” with double drop rates. (as well as double XP for elite skill capping)