How Iron Nest Guide Labels Evidence
EDITORIAL METHOD · MISSION GUIDES AND ENDINGS
Iron Nest Guide uses evidence labels to show what kind of support sits behind a statement. A label is not a promise that the source is complete, current, or correct, and it is not a claim that the author personally tested the mechanic. It tells you where the information came from and what that evidence can reasonably support.
A statement may carry more than one label when several kinds of evidence support it. Page-specific notes add the relevant build, review date, missing context, or conflict.
How to read the evidence labels
- OFFICIAL
- Confirmed by the developer, an official platform, or an official announcement.
- IN-GAME TEXT
- Read from game text or transcribed from in-mission communications.
- OBSERVED
- Visible in public gameplay footage.
- REPORTED
- Described by a guide or community source without a complete visible chain.
OFFICIAL
Use this label when a statement is directly supported by the developer, an official game channel, an official platform listing, or an official announcement. It supports what the source explicitly says. It does not automatically support an unstated conclusion, and an older official statement may still need a date or version boundary.
IN-GAME TEXT
Use this label for wording or values read from the game itself, including briefings, objectives, messages, interface text, or a recorded build extraction. In-game wording is strong evidence for what the game says. It does not by itself prove that the mechanic always behaves exactly as written.
OBSERVED
Use this label when a public screenshot or recording visibly shows an action, state, or result. The evidence supports what can be seen in the frame or sequence. It does not establish hidden causes, rules outside that run, or a current build when the recording does not identify one.
REPORTED
Use this label when a guide, player, or community source describes a step or result but the reviewed material does not show the complete chain. Reports can still be useful, especially for troubleshooting, but the page should preserve the limitation and avoid presenting the report as a confirmed universal rule.
Evidence labels used by the Endings guide
OFFICIAL: A developer or official platform source directly confirms the stated fact. An official achievement name does not by itself confirm its trigger.
OBSERVED: Public release-version footage visibly connects the stated action, state, or result. A screenshot supports only what is visible in that frame; a sequence claim requires a continuous segment.
REPORTED: A third-party guide or community source describes the step, but the reviewed footage does not show the full chain.
CONFLICTED: Sources disagree, so this guide shows the conflict instead of selecting an official answer.
How we handle conflicting evidence
There is no automatic rule that one label always defeats another. We compare scope, date, build, directness, and whether the source actually demonstrates the disputed point. A current observation may reveal that older official wording is no longer accurate; official text may explain a result that footage alone cannot explain.
When reliable sources still disagree, the page should name the conflict, narrow the conclusion, or leave the point unresolved. We do not silently average incompatible claims or promote a repeated community report into an official rule.
What versions and review dates mean
A review date records when the cited material was checked. It is not automatically the date of the game build, recording, announcement, or underlying event. When a source identifies a version or build, the page states that boundary beside the affected claim. When the version is unknown, the page says so instead of assigning one by inference.
The evidence review date is also separate from the page's publication and modification dates. An editorial or layout change does not imply that every game-related statement was re-verified.
Where this method applies
Mission guides use the shared mission-guide vocabulary above. The Endings guide retains its separately defined OFFICIAL, OBSERVED, REPORTED and CONFLICTED vocabulary, now explained here. Page-specific evidence and version limits remain on each guide.
CONFLICTED marks disagreement about a statement, numbering or route; it is not a source type or a confidence score. It is not interchangeable with IN-GAME TEXT, REPORTED or UNVERIFIED. Labels from different vocabularies should not be mapped one-to-one.
Some parts of the site use different vocabularies for different jobs. Roadmap status, demo verdicts, Field Data classifications, and mod availability describe their own states; they should not be treated as aliases for these four evidence labels.
Corrections and changes
Evidence can become outdated, incomplete, or better explained. If you find a source we missed, a version change, or a statement that reaches beyond its evidence, email [email protected] with the page, the disputed text, and a link or capture that can be reviewed.
Corrections update the affected wording and its public change record when appropriate. A page's evidence review date changes only when the underlying evidence has actually been reviewed.