«Rarity» on Zoide covers two mechanisms that are not the same thing, and mixing them up is the source of almost every misunderstanding about it:
| Who sets it | Where you find it | |
|---|---|---|
| Assigned rarity | The creator of the collection, item by item | Every collection published through Zoide |
| Dynamic rarity | Computed from the piece's own properties | Only collections that carry properties — Zoide's own generative ones |
Both end up displayed the same way, as one of six tiers: EXOTIC, LEGENDARY, EPIC, RARE, UNCOMMON, COMMON — plus UNRANKED, which is a tier of its own and not a missing value.
Assigned rarity: the general case
When somebody publishes a collection here, they decide the tier of each item. Nothing computes it for them and nothing checks the distribution: how many EXOTIC there are in a collection of five hundred is the creator's decision.
That is not a loophole, it is what a collection is. A creator knows which of their pieces are meant to be the rare ones, and that intent is part of the work. What it means for you as a buyer:
- A tier is a claim by the creator, not a measurement. Compare it against the collection's own distribution, which is public — and which the creator sees as they assign it:
Items per rank
- It does not compare across collections. An EPIC in one collection and an EPIC in another were decided by different people with different criteria.
- An item left without a tier is UNRANKED, and filtering by UNRANKED finds exactly those.
If you are the one publishing: Prepare your items is where you assign them, with a chart of your own distribution as you go.
Dynamic rarity: computed, and only where there are properties
Some collections — Zoide's own generative ones — give each piece a set of properties, and there rarity is not assigned by anybody: it is derived from the properties themselves.
The principle is the only part worth knowing, and it is short: the less common a value is, the more it contributes to the piece's score, and a piece's score is the sum of its properties' contributions. Two things follow:
- Rarity is about combinations. A piece with several moderately uncommon traits can outscore one with a single very rare trait.
- A property that everybody has is worth almost nothing.
These are the collections where a piece shows a number next to its tier. If there is no number, you are looking at an assigned tier.
Two scores, two questions
| Score | Compared against | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| Local | The other pieces of its own collection | «How special is it here?» |
| Global | The rest of the indexed catalogue | «How special is it at all?» |
They can disagree completely. The rarest piece of a small collection may be unremarkable more widely; a common piece of a collection with unusual traits may score well. Neither is the real one — they answer different questions.
It is updated periodically, not live
Computed scores are refreshed in passes over the catalogue, so they are a photo rather than a live feed.
The consequence is fair to know: a piece's score can change without you doing anything. Rarity is relative, so when a collection grows the fractions move and the numbers move with them. That is not a piece being devalued behind your back; it is what «rare» means when it is measured instead of declared.
What rarity gets you
Beyond bragging: your own rank as a collector comes from the rarest piece you hold, and rank is what unlocks some features and discounts some fees. That is a separate mechanism with its own page — Ranks, rankings and what they get you.
Related
- What a piece page tells you
- Browsing, filtering and sorting — filtering by tier and by score
- Prepare your items — assigning tiers to your own collection
- Glossary