User:GrampaSwood/Reference trivia
- Trivia items should be factual, not guesses, conjecture, or speculation. It is almost always† required that there is a verifiable source for citation of the Trivia, this citation should always come in the form of a screenshot of the creators of the cosmetic, map, taunt, etc. in question confirming it (regardless of it being a community-created or Valve-created item).
- Examples:
Good trivia: Bill's Hat has its own intricate back-story, which reads as follows: "While conducting a science experiment on parallel dimensions, Bill's Hat fell off a table into the Team Fortress universe." (From Bill's Hat)
Explanation: This item is a hard fact about the history of Bill's Hat. The claims made by this item come from an external website - the TF2 Official Website in this case. Because the information is readily available and linked to, anyone can independently verify that the item is indeed factual. (Note: Within the page itself, the citation is placed between <ref> </ref> tags so that it appears in the References section at the bottom of the page.)
Poor trivia: The Heavy's boxing related items (Killing Gloves of Boxing, Gloves of Running Urgently and Pugilist's Protector) may be a reference to the similarities between him and Russian heavyweight boxer Nikolai Valuev (Removed from Heavy)
Explanation: While it is possible that the Heavy's boxing paraphernalia reference the boxer Nikolai Valuev, there is an equal chance that they reference any other Russian boxer, or no single boxer in particular. This item is entirely a guess and an assumption of Valve's intentions. While the fact that Nikolai Valuev being a Russian boxer is referenced via a link to Wikipedia, the trivia itself is not based in fact.
- † In some cases, such as Valve-created items or creators that have long since moved on from Team Fortress 2, it is not possible to get this direct confirmation. In this case, an argument can be made on the article's talk page, but it requires that there are at least 3 supporting arguments of a direct reference. Other Wiki editors are then able to vote on if it or isn't a reference beyond a reasonable doubt. Note that with community-created items, it is expected that you have made reasonable efforts to contact the creators before submitting the Trivia to the talk page.
