Realms & Nerds Podcast

Been a while since we posted anything here, huh? We don’t really use this platform much anymore, but we figured we should give an update for everyone who follows us here.

Our show has become available on more platforms, such as iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Deezer, and more! We’re working on getting episodes back onto YouTube, but it’s a slowish process. Our biggest challenge currently is getting our Twitch channel to Affiliate so we can upload our episodes there! RJ has taken a bit of a break from streaming there, but will be returning soon to stream there, so any follows and watching streams is greatly appreciated!

https://twitch.tv/realmsnerds

We’re still trying to figure out a patron program, probably going to go with Patreon.

If you haven’t heard, Ray and RJ have a country music discussion podcast as well, called Cedar Country!

https://cedarcountry.podbean.com

We have created a Discord group for fans of our projects (this podcast, the country music podcast, RJ’s video game streaming, etc.) that you can join. There’s a link to the group in the episode descriptions of our podcast.

Lastly, if you want to keep up with us going forward, be sure to follow us on Twitter!

https://twitter.com/realmsnerds

We’re also on Instagram and Facebook

https://facebook.com/realmsnerds

As of mid-November 2019, and until further notice, Realms & Nerds’ episodes are not available on YouTube. This is due to current and potential upcoming changes to the site in 2020, after it was discovered that YouTube had been illegally collecting data from kids (people under the age of 13) to sell to companies for personalized advertising and things like that. So the FTC has stepped in, YouTube paid the fines, and the government has told YouTube what needs to be changed. YouTube has to become COPPA-compliant, meaning all content targeted for kids does not have data collected, or personalized ads played. This is not good news for many people who make their living off of YouTube videos, as “for-kid” videos are automatically de-monetized, but as we do not fall into that camp, we’re not going to get into all that.

 The part that matters in our scenario is the determination of who (in the eyes of the FTC) our content is for, and the labeling of said content.

 If you’re reading this, you are probably familiar with our podcast. And as such, you are probably aware that the podcast is most certainly not for kids, due to our use of expletives, some dark humor, and some of the story content. But now imagine you have never heard of our show. Imagine you are a person tasked with combing YouTube videos and determining what’s for kids and what isn’t. You may not be in the loop of pop culture, or know what an actual play tabletop role-playing game is. All you know is the guidelines set by COPPA.

 Just from my memory, I know that things mentioned in COPPA that can be labeled as “for kids” includes fantasy, stories, bright colors, jokes, words like “cool” and “awesome”, I think something about character voices, and for sure an even more vague blanket statement to the effect of “things kids might like”.

 These are ALL things that our podcast has. Which is fair… as far as I can remember, kids do like those things. But the problem is that the context and sub-context of the content will likely not be looked into by the people deciding all this. For instance, Piemations made an animated video lampooning the Thomas and the Magic Railroad film, and several others about the popular Five Nights At Freddy’s video games. The videos are definitely NOT for kids, but because they are animated, and the topics at a glance are about Thomas the Train and a video game popular with younger people (despite THAT not even being for kids), they will likely be labeled as “for kids”, at least as it seems to stand now, according to what the FTC has said, and what has been inferred by YouTubers and the general public.

 But back to our podcast, you may still be wondering what the problem is. YouTube has added a setting for every video/channel, where the creator chooses if their content is “for kids” or “not for kids”. Which sounds fine- just click “not for kids”, and we’re all set, right?

 Wrong. If you say a video is not for kids, and the FTC comes through and says that they determine it IS for kids, then you can get slapped with a hefty fine of up to around $42000. And that’s per video they say is mislabeled. I imagine this also works the other way around, but I morally will not label our content for kids, or knowingly have it be labeled as such. We can’t afford that for even a single video. And to be honest, despite the fact that we set our channel to be age-restricted, we’re not even sure if that would make a difference.

 So to play it the safest we could, we have instead just completely deleted our videos from the channel. The channel itself is still there, because hopefully, this will all resolve in a way that we can safely upload our episodes without being mislabeled as for kids or saying it’s not and being fined. But until at least the new year, no episodes will be available on YouTube. You can still find our podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and pretty much every other podcasting app.

Apple Podcasts/iTunes

Spotify

YouTube

iHeartRadio

Podbean

Google Podcasts

Podchaser

Listen Notes

Player FM

CastBox

TuneIn

Stitcher

Podcast Republic

Podcasts Dot Com

The Return of Ornon, Prelude Part 1: The Burial Mound of Gilliard Wolfclan

The Return of Ornon, Prelude Part 2: First a Demotion, and Now Uninvited Guests?

The Return of Ornon, Prelude Part 3: A Gentleman’s Study

The Return of Ornon, Prelude Part 4: The Final Fight of Gilliard Wolfclan

The Return of Ornon, Episode 1: The Gathering (An Adventure Begins)

The Return of Ornon, Episode 2: The Birds and the Trees

The Hall of the Goblin Lord, Part 1: Goblins Galore

The Darkness of Xarthemis, Part 1: Not Everything is As It Seems

The Return of Ornon, Episode 3: Rats! A Side Mission in the Garden of Stone

The Return of Ornon, Episode 4: Leroy and the Boys (Who Are Just Trying to Make a Living)

The Return of Ornon, Episode 5: Bysil Boss Battle

Harried in Hillsfar, Part 1: Trouble On the Farm

The Return of Ornon, Episode 6: Reach For Help

The Return of Ornon, Episode 7: Bank Heist! Part One

The Return of Ornon, Episode 8: Bank Heist! Part Two

The Return of Ornon, Episode 9: Out of Reach

The Return of Ornon, Episode 10: Time At Timber’s Crest

The Return of Ornon, Episode 11: Return of the Ring

The Return of Ornon, Episode 12: Wedding Awry

Halloween 2018 Special, Part 1: The Wolfpack Ghost Hunt

Halloween 2018 Special, Part 2: The Dark Downfall

The Return of Ornon, Episode 13: Back to the Burial Mound

The Return of Ornon, Episode 14: Over the River and Through the Pass

Winter Holidays 2018 Special: The Great Hearthfire Tree Mystery

The Return of Ornon, Episode 15: The Battle On Icy Pass

The Return of Ornon, Episode 16: Friends in High Places

The Return of Ornon, Episode 17: Welcome to the Plains of Doom

The Return of Ornon, Episode 18: The Castle

Realms & Nerds One-Year Anniversary Special

The Return of Ornon, Interlude 1.1: Rockhammer Has a Secret

The Return of Ornon, Interlude 1.2: The Best-Laid Breakout Plans...

The Realms & Nerds: Harried in Hillsfar side campaign character sheets.

Character Sheets for Realms & Nerds: The Rise of Xarthemis side campaign