Sometimes it takes watching someone else’s stream to realize you’ve forgotten something fundamental.
I was watching a co-working stream with a few teenagers in the chat, and in that moment, it hit me: I had completely tuned out one specific aspect during the entire development process—youth protection (Jugendschutz). I hadn’t just put it on the back burner; I had simply forgotten it. And this happened just before the 0.1.0 release.
The first temporary fix was implemented quickly. The open Twitch login was converted into a whitelist system, which was manageable at this stage since there weren’t any real users yet. But the actual problem wasn’t solved, only postponed. So, I started researching. Then came the moment that made me pause: a regular USK audit (the German entertainment software self-regulation body) for a web login costs a flat 1,785 EUR. For someone who can no longer work due to ME/CFS and is developing Legends of Arthengard as a hobby project out of thin air, that’s not just a hurdle—it’s a wall.
After a lot of digging, I finally found a solution. You can apply for a USK rating for free through the app stores via a simple form. What remains are the one-time fee of 25 EUR for the Google Play Store and 99 EUR annually for the Apple App Store. These aren’t sums I just have lying around, but they are in a completely different league than the alternative.
The new plan looks like this: Streamers will gain access to the web login via a verified 18+ check to manage their cities. Viewers, on the other hand, will download the app and play through it. What does this mean concretely for development? Until now, Legends of Arthengard was planned as a pure web application—everything in the browser, no app. That plan is now completely out the window. Does this make me happy? No. But sometimes reality forces you in a certain direction, and then it’s a matter of rethinking instead of stubbornly pushing forward.
My To-Do: I need to figure out how to transition the existing project into a full-fledged app without starting from scratch.