Keystone

I moved this thread from the General Geocaching Topics forum.

No thanks, as the guidance I've received is quite clear. You are welcome to press the point by writing to Geocaching HQ or by posting an on-topic forum thread in the correct forum section. Meanwhile, I'm closing this thread, as the travel bug in the archived cache was retrieved successfully thanks to the help provided by the community.

I think what you're seeing in your area is more attributable to a "catch-up" effort by your local reviewers, after a glitch was fixed earlier this year in the automated tools used to bring caches with maintenance issues to a reviewer's attention. Things should normalize if they haven't already. The issue of new players using the "Needs Maintenance" and "Needs Archived" options is a broader issue. That's why, before action is taken against a cache listing, manual intervention by a Reviewer is required. I can easily see that some of those logs ought to have been simple "DNF" logs. Often I will post that on the cache page (as a response to a "Needs Archived" request) or I will skip over it in the tool we use to monitor caches with low Health Scores. The Health Score algorithm cannot differentiate between an experienced and inexperienced geocacher, but I can.

As a resident of a country with at least one relatively active alternative cache listing service, can you see the issues this would create for Geocaching HQ and for the local Community Volunteer Reviewer? An archived cache could be active on another listing service. As a volunteer, I have zero interest in taking on potential liability for orchestrating theft of personal property. And yes, before you ask, I've encountered this problem very directly in the past. I've since changed my practices to stay well clear of facilitating any physical cache removal, except for the ones I own as a player, of course.

That is not odd at all. As is clear from the archive log, the paid GeoTour period expired, and typically Geocaching HQ then archives the caches that are part of the former GeoTour. As always, it is the obligation of the cache owner to remove their own cache, and that includes GeoTours. Anyways, the thread is about how to find a trackable in a cache that's since been archived. I am happy to see that this worked out.

I see that you are located in the USA. There is another test underway, similar to what Moun10Bike described in his post from 2021, which explains the different behaviors for new official App users in the USA, as you observed.

As the cache in question has been archived by its owner, and seeing that the discussion here has devolved into personal attacks against other participants, I am closing this thread.

The land manager makes these rules, but I don't recommend sharing your opinion with them. The Appalachian Trail Conference is one of the most challenging land managers I've ever dealt with as a Community Volunteer Reviewer. I'll never forget the threatening, personalized email I received, warning me not to publish caches in contravention of their "buffer corridor" policy. Therefore, I am quite strict on enforcing the rules handed down to me from this land manager. There is no favoritism - all hiders are treated equal, meaning strictly. Knowing this, what sort of help were you hoping to receive here?

Closing thread. This forum is not the place to discuss unauthorized third party applications.

What device do you use to find geocaches? (handheld GPS model, smartphone type...) Do you use any third party tools to help prepare for cache hunts, like cachetur or GSAK? More information about your current method would help people who can assist you.

That's not a "maybe." See Groundspeak's privacy policy and related Help Center section on Account issues and the Help Center section on Privacy Rights for more details. Thank you for your accurate explanation of the distinction between the official apps and authorized third party API partner apps.

I moved this thread from the General Geocaching Topics forum.

[DELETED_USER] is the "holding" account to preserve the geocaches and waymarks established by accounts whose owners have exercised their rights under applicable privacy laws, including but not limited to GDPR, and pursuant to Geocaching HQ's privacy policy. For more information about account deletion, see this Help Center article. After reading these resources, you will see that the issues discussed in recent posts to this thread are driven by compliance considerations, and are functioning as designed, rather than being indicative of a "wonky website." The original subject of this thread related to a possible glitch in the waymark submission process, so let's return the discussion to that topic. Thanks.

Yes, or else I would have called out any exceptions. Mystery Caches and "Play Anywhere" or "Reverse" Wherigo Caches must have posted coordinates within two miles of the actual cache location. All other Wherigo caches must have posted coordinates that match the Wherigo "Start At" coordinates. So, those limitations have meaning when it comes to country and region selections. The limitations would not be relevant in edge cases like a cache with posted coordinates near a border, such as the examples brought up in the OP. But, as has been noted, both the posted coordinates and the cache location coordinates for those two examples are located in Poland, not Russia.

For caches with multiple stages, the correct country/state selection is based on the posted coordinates at the top of the cache page.

I moved this thread from the General Geocaching Topics forum.

You do understand that the country and regional selections are freely editable by the cache owner, both before and after publication? If a change from Poland to Russia were made post-publication, a Reviewer would not be alerted to this. Please re-read my prior post with this in mind, before speculating whether a Reviewer "just didn't care."

Are you using the official Geocaching.com iPhone app? If so, what happens when you click on "Sign out" under the "Settings" page?

This is not a website bug or feature request, so I've moved the thread to the appropriate forum. The OP assumes that the cache owner was not questioned about their country selection. The Reviewer for Russia insisted on the country selection being changed to Poland, and the cache was published by a Reviewer for Poland.

Have you used the "corrected coordinates" tool on the cache you're using as an example?

I moved this thread from the general Geocaching Topics forum.

No, your logs would not be deleted. You would not be able to view the cache pages anymore. Prior to stopping Premium membership, I recommend downloading an "All My Finds" pocket query. While a Basic Member, you would lose access to your Lists and Pocket Queries. But, if you ever became a Premium Member again, you would regain that access.

Discussion of this question should be limited to Geocaching.com functionality (including the official mobile apps) and functionality provided by authorized Geocaching Live! API partner applications. Thank you.

Yes, hence the moderator action. Now, let's get back to discussing the proposed category, OK? Future off topic replies will be hidden from view.

By definition, the reference to an "AL Final" has to mean a Bonus Cache, which is a Mystery Cache whose coordinates are revealed by completing an Adventure. That's because the container for the Bonus Cache is subject to the .1 mile cache saturation guideline limit, whereas the individual stages in an Adventure are virtual and are not subject to the .1 mile cache saturation guideline.