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Sources & Methodology

How Aincrad Guide gathers evidence, handles third-party material, and turns research into original, reviewable player guidance.

Updated July 11, 2026Game 1.0.3Officially confirmed5 min read
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Evidence hierarchy

  1. Primary: official product pages, announcements, patch notes, and in-game observations.
  2. Corroborating: reputable reporting and independently reproducible tests.
  3. Discovery only: wikis, community guides, social posts, and transcripts that point to facts requiring verification.

How a guide is researched

Each page begins with one player question. Official game pages, guides, patch notes, store listings, and repeatable in-game observations are reduced to individual facts. Third-party guides, community discussions, and video transcripts are used to discover questions or test ideas, not as text to reproduce.

Structured game-data pages

Database pages can use names, short in-game equipment descriptions, functional effects, World View text, internal identifiers, and entity groupings extracted from a locally installed game build. Every public dataset records the build number, extraction date, and source asset path. Missing numeric fields remain absent rather than being filled with estimates, and a demo-build record is not represented as proof of full-release availability.

The current public subset comes from the Steam demo, build 23442858. It includes 121 player weapon records, 67 armor and shield records, 147 localized item records, 64 player Sword Skill assets, 27 resolved monster names, 9 localized character records used inside an 18-profile roster, 19 named locations, and 169 World View records with resolved English names. Raw archives, encryption material, complete dialogue, audio, models, textures, and executable data are not published.

Original synthesis

Articles are organized around a new outline, then written from the verified fact set. Recommendations are labeled through their reasoning and trade-offs. Time-sensitive details such as requirements, editions, modes, patches, and numerical balance are checked again when a page is revised.

Corrections and uncertainty

When an official source does not document a detail, we identify it as walkthrough-derived or version-sensitive rather than presenting it as confirmed. If you find an error, a regional difference, or an update that changes a guide, contact the site owner with a source or reproducible in-game evidence. Editorial responsibilities and publication standards are described in the Editorial Standards.

Source register

Source classHow it is usedPublication rule
Official game materialMechanics, platforms, features, requirements, patchesFacts summarized with a direct source link
Structured game dataNames, effects, IDs, categories and versioned relationshipsShow build scope; omit unresolved fields and raw media
In-game testingSteps, behavior, comparisons, edge casesDescribe reproducible conditions
Video transcriptsDiscover mechanics and player questionsVerify claims and write independently
Community materialFind recurring problems and disputed behaviorDo not present opinion as established fact

Visual material

The public site combines official videos through YouTube's supported privacy-enhanced player with original, fact-driven diagrams for weapons, combat, partners, and progression. Videos remain hosted and controlled by YouTube. Downloaded screenshots, trailer frames, Wiki files, and creator thumbnails are not automatically copied into published pages. A local image is published only after its origin, permission basis, allowed commercial uses, and review status are recorded in the site's asset register.