WearyTraveler

Funny how that works: people that want to ask about the missing FP say, "Is it really that big of a deal to even ask?" People that think it would be FP grubbing to ask say, "Is it really that big of a deal that it's even worth asking?" To me, it boils down to whether you consider the poster to be a friend. If your aim is to coax some stranger into giving you the FP, then don't ask. If you're curious why your friend said he was going to do something then didn't, feel free to ask. I was leaning more towards "why would you even ask over something so trivial" since I can't see a single FP being that big of a deal. It's like asking for a thank you note. Sure, it would have been nice if they remembered to do it, but asking for it is the far greater sin. I disagree with the analogy. A better analogy would be if someone said they were going to give you an award that would earn you prestige and then forgot or changed their mind. Asking for the award is pretty rude, just like asking someone to give you a favorite point is a bit annoying (I also hate it when people beg for FPs - "Don't forget to give this a favorite point if you liked it!") But if someone TELLS YOU they are giving you one and then don't, I think the problem is with the one who said it in the first place. Not that they are MEAN or BAD, just forgetful or wishy-washy. Sure, as I said, getting the point would have been nice, but nagging someone about it is worse than forgetting. I just don't get why someone would audit these in the first place. If someone says in their log that they mean to give a favourite point, the sentiment is what matters, not the actual point. Isn't it nice to have someone say, in words, how much they liked the cache? Following up to nag just seems so needless after that. Reminding the finder, as I believe the OP meant, does not constitute nagging. If I forget to do something i said that I would, then getting reminded is my own fault and a reminder would be appreciated. If after the first gentle nudge, the CO continurpes to ask, that's nagging...

I honestly haven't read the 58 posts since my last login this morning, but how about we forget about what everyone defines as an inactive owner (last sign in etc) and use the "how long has a NM been unanswered" method? If the CO hasn't logged in for years and the cache is in good enough condition that there are no NMs, then all is well. If the cache has had an NM and the CO s performed maintenance, all is well. If the cache has an NM for over a month (or whatever period), then the cache is suspect to being in trouble. If this cache doesn't get OM for months, then it's subject to disable and NA. Caches that continue in their own, with finders replacing logs and baggies are not the issue. Caches that deteriorate and are ignored by finders and COs are the problem. I saw a post with information from project gc- can someone with access run a count to see how many caches have NMs for over 60 days? That'll tell us how large of a problem unmaintained caches are. True, the count will only be as accurate as finders logging needed NMs, but we're not looking for exact...

That seems a bit of a conflict of interest. Hidden by the CO with a billion hides, who would need the services of a small army to maintain all of their own hides if they didn't get help from "good samaritans." Good catch! Well, at least he's trying to get his caches maintained...

Oh no! You went there!

The owners can't get removed but you can start the process to get the caches removed, thanks to the post above. File those NM logs and don't worry about what others think. You're doing your part to help clean up caches so that the experience can be better for the next cacher to visit either a cleaned up old cache or a brand new cache. Exactly - but first go find them, log the find and an NM, ultimately a NA. Once archived, because you already know the locations, you can do the Good Samaritan thing and retrieve the geotrash. That'll remove trash, add a few smileys, and open up your area for new caches... a win for all.

I consider an 'active cacher' as someone who has signed on to the Geocaching website in the last 6 months. I will also occasionally look to see if they have hunted for caches and recorded a found, DNF or attended or whatever in the last 9-12 months. Very often you see CO's who haven't signed on in over a year. sometimes people do sign in but just to look around but have not done an active search in some time. They could be very active finding caches without signing due to using an app. When looking, I check their stats page to see finds within the last year or so. No finds for years looks like inactive to me. Not necessarily. Some Geocachers use a different account for hiding than one for finding and some are out physically finding caches but just don't log their finds online. True , but the other account isn't what we're talking about. If "cacher hider" hasn't logged in in a year and hasn't found a cache in years, cacher hider is not active. If his alter ego "cacher finder" has, then finder is active... You realize that someone using two or more accounts is still the same person, right? Of course I do... My point was that the hider account isn't active regardless of what that person does using the finder account. If he's ignoring NMs etc then the hides owned by hider account are owned by an inactive account.

I've used magnets from KJ for years. Decent prices too... Check them out here...

Isn't that GS telling the CO to steal the throwdown? Not trying (ok - a little) to be a smart alec- but I've seen many references to it being stealing when someone "removes" a geotrash container. Wouldn't this be the same? Don't get me wrong, I'm against throwdowns and I have no problem with someone removing a cache in terrible condition. I see what you're saying. By definition though, a throwdown is litter. A cache is owned and owners agree to monitor and fix and remove their caches. Throwdowns are litter - the person leaving it never intends to go back to monitor and retrieve it. They relinquish responsibility and some consider they relinquish that responsibility to the cache owner. You're right - makes sense...

Isn't that GS telling the CO to steal the throwdown? Not trying (ok - a little) to be a smart alec- but I've seen many references to it being stealing when someone "removes" a geotrash container. Wouldn't this be the same? Don't get me wrong, I'm against throwdowns and I have no problem with someone removing a cache in terrible condition.

Just a post to get this one back in play...

Yes. I am not sure why the new experiences are better than the old. At least you can see some of the information. I just watch the recent view and the recent logs section whirl unless I click on on the menu to the left. As for the friends logs, I defriended everyone because the plans seemed invasive. I have other means of staying in touch with my friends so I hope they understand. I have that reaction with the public profile. We used to be able to decide what we wanted to show when it is opened. Now Groundspeak has decided they know best and our information is relegated to the side. I was thinking of doing the same thing. Unfriending everyone on my list. I never pay attention to it anyway. I don't have any geo friends, but unfriending everyone isn't the "correct" answer. The correct answer would be for GS to fix the problem... oh well...

I think that the majority of folks would rather see caches in bad condition, whether ownerless or not, be fixed by the owner or physically removed.. I don't think that a majority want caches in good condition removed whether or not the CO is around. True - all COs agree to maintain. And if there's no need to go out and fix anything, as long as you get out and fix when there's a problem, you're pretty much holding up your end of the bargain. I have never had someone come back to me with "you stole my cache!" After having their trashed geotrash container removed and I don't personally know anyone who has had that happen. I'm sure there are some in this thread with an example or two, but with over 3 million caches and 7 million cachers, even a hundred instances (while not a good thing) does not constitute a boatload... I plan to continue to fix what I can, NM and NA what needs it, and if I NA or come across geotrash, I'll probably move it to the trailhead and send the owner a note telling him that I just made it easy for him (or his delegate) to pick up the trash...

Same here. They're promising "faster" but at over 10 minutes of whirling, it 5 minutes really any better. Come on GS - stop breaking things...

To me, there's no reason to include additional information on the recently viewed - that listing is to show the viewer which caches he's recently viewed, not to condense the individual cache web pages. If I was to see more information about a cache I've recently viewed, I'd click in the cache's link... Same thing with recent activity...

I agree with everything he said, with the exception that I'll eventually prefer the new one... In the old dashboard, everything I use is on the first screen (no scrolling required). And I go to it very often... Now, I have to wait till it populates (it's yet to fully populate for me in my iPad), then scroll down to get to the link I want to use. If you're going to continue down this path, please make all the screen items bookmarkable or at least regular URLs so I can create my own off site web page with links. That way I won't have to use the official dashboard...

On a more serious note, I wonder if we would be allowed to create one with the requirement to have done x number of Good Samaritan things like replacing logbooks, baggies, containers (for found broken containers) etc... just spitballing... Maybe GS could create a new FM (Finder Maintenance) log type? Any reviewers out there care to weigh in?

So many people have said, in this and other threads, that they are disappointed at the way challenge caches have been restricted. That aspects of this game which they enjoy have been eliminated. Are you really so insensitive that you don't realise that their enjoyment has been reduced? The change in the guidelines for challenge caches did not eliminate any existing challenge caches. It only limited the types of *additional* challenge caches that can be published. That's not a reduction. But as grandfathered challenge caches of types no longer permitted become archived, they can no longer be replaced with challenges of that type. That is a reduction. Why would they ever be archived? If they are so blindingly popular and bring so much enjoyment to so many people between them they should be able to keep them alive forever And if the container goes missing, the CC can be kept alive with a throwdown!!! How about a CC with a requirement to have thrown down 50 caches?

Is there a link we can look at?

I tried the new dashboard page. My God - slow. It's in another tab and has been circling with blank recently viewed and recent activity unpopulated. For several minutes! They need to make sure that this thing works across platforms before they roll this out into production. With what they've got now, I'm not going to opt in. They're stopping lots of people from alpha testing their updates because it's too painful.

We're still collecting feedback and discussing the best ways to address photo captions. I admit it seems simple on the face of it, but when you factor in the mobile app and draft logs it complicates the solution a bit. Just know that we're considering all the options and listening to your concerns. Just throwing this out there that other apps have allowed multiple photos and all with the ability to add captions and descriptions on every one. Cachly for instance has allowed for multiple photos attached to logs and capability to add a caption since it's first release a year and a half ago. If other app developers have added the capability, I would think your developers would be highly capable of adding this feature to the app as well. You'd think so, wouldn't you...

I just tried it. Sat here for minutes waiting for the recently viewed and recent activity to populate. Wow - SLOW! It's not my network or my iPad either. I went back and forth - old and new. The old populated quickly each time. The new just sat there blank, with the little green swirling thingie... I go to that page a lot when I'm using the GC site. If you make using that page painful, you're going to alienate your customers. Hopefully you'll keep things like lists, Pqs etc as bookmarkable links so I can bypass the speed bump profile page. Please stop breaking things. Finding caches should be harder than using the website - but that's not happening.

I'd love to, but someone has already created one and I don't want to be in the position of hosting a "competing" event. Also, I don't know yet what type of non-caching events will be happening that day or at what times. I live in a provincial capital, so there will be some big celebrations going on and I wouldn't want to hold an event right when lots of people will be wanting to go to something else. If it gets closer to the date and things look viable, I may indeed look at setting one up, if only to figure out what happens with the souvenir. If you're interested in hosting one, host one in my small town. Ill give you the coords of a local eatery. I'll attend! I'm tired of hosting and being the only cacher to show up. But if you host it, I won't feel so bad. And, you'll see if you get a souvenir even if you didn't attend. Unfortunately, it's pretty much guaranteed that I won't be in West Virginia at the beginning of July. While I'll miss the opportunity to meet you, I'd be willing to act as proxy host in your stead. You host and I'll mark attended see who gets what souvenir...

If you are a reviewer, you get special treatment and can disable your cache for eleven years. I just marked it NA ... using the old log page of course ;-) Seems like I'm not the 1st so if I had to bet $1, I'd say the NA entry gets deleted. Start logging finds... that'll teach them! There are 3 in that area owned by the same cacher...

Yeppers...

I can only speak for the CCs in the WV / NoVA area close to me. But I've yet to see a PT or GA made up of CCs. The most I've seen was about 10 on an old service road. The next largest group is 5-6 not far from Richmond VA. The rest that I've seen are onsey twosey. And most of these are GRC type placements. Hardly an epidemic. And as I said in a couple of other posts, many require a more difficult requirement than x number of caches in a single day. There's one that requires me to find a cache that is active and hasn't been found for 3 years. I've located the lonely cache and will make the trek to find it in 2 weeks. Then I have to go find the gnat's nut sized pill bottle and claim that find... And bottom line, if you don't like CCs, don't look for them. Their numbers are way below the others out there.