[Magic: The Gathering Trackables Promotion]

28 minutes ago, thebruce0 said:

Yeah I don't see much hurt to geocaching, but I do see drama in their own community. Some will certainly want to collect the trackables, but there are bound to be the 'purists' who will loudly encourage people not to steal, since that defeats the purpose of them being out to move around and increase the value of the pieces for the community in story advancement and card releases. So there may be some infighting over there :P.

Smart players (or, those who want to collect the pieces) may find one and keep it, but also keep it moving. Doesn't look like there's any benefit whatsoever by dropping it for others to pick up. Place/retrieve if Visits don't count.

It's an intriguing (& unendorsed) experiment they're running, but I wager they didn't do a whole lot of research... that, or they took into account the ways people may not abide by the spirit of the activity. It does look like the geocachingvlogger took up the cause though

It surprises me how long certain companies have been in the business and know their customer base, but completely forget what they're like sometimes. It's optimism at its finest.

Didn't think of the place/retrieve. Min/maxer players would be very into that.

[GEOCOIN TRADING, WANTS, OFFERS AND LISTS]

Looking for just two, unactivated preferred for the Illuminati coin, Bigfoot I'm willing to negotiate on:

- Illuminati Antique Dark Gold

- The Legend of Bigfoot

[Magic: The Gathering Trackables Promotion]

4 hours ago, hukilaulau said:

I don't think this will hurt geocaching. During the Jeep promotion (over four years) the TB's disappeared pretty fast but it didn't really affect the game.

I managed to find a few each year and moved them along. I remember stories of people at events proudly displaying dozens of Jeep TB's they had stolen  collected

and people logging them saying "thanks for sharing."  I wouldn't be surprised to see the same thing with these. I think geocachers might be the only ones who DO move them along. Certainly people involved in "Magic" will just keep them.

Magic players will definitely keep them, since many of them are huge collectors of cards and memorabilia of the game. Similar scavenger hunts have been done for video games, where pieces of the hunt (entire fake human limbs) ended up stolen and never found again. There may be a couple that will move them along initially, but they'll disappear faster than an average promotional TB.

6 hours ago, rosebud55112 said:

I saw this this morning (as a M:tG player as well) and my heart just sank.  This will not work out well for geocaching.  Trackable loss, and cache losses to occur.  This seems to be an idea that someone at WotC had, but didn't discuss with Groundspeak.

I don't think we'll see cache loss, at least not much more than regular muggleing that occurs. They'll be in it for the TB (which will definitely disappear), but I find that particularly nerdy community to be pretty non-destructive and will most likely return the cache to its proper place. M:tG has a much older player base than other card games (with majority being between 21 and 50 years old), so it'll be less destructive.

[Geocaching Ethics!]

On 8/12/2017 at 5:21 PM, TahoeJoe said:

I don't see many new hiking caches in my area anymore and I live in an area know for it's trails and outdoor activities. I took a break from geocaching for a number of years and when I returned I was surprised at the direction the game took. At first looking at the map of all the caches I thought I had enough caches to keep me busy for months but soon realized the majority were park and grab and poor excuses for what I thought a geocache should represent. 2 1/2 years ago I placed a new hiking cache out there that involved a moderate hike to an interesting local location stocked with goodies for the kids and I thought it would get plenty of visits. It was two months till the first visit and one visit after that. The game is what it is but I'm amused how geocaching is marketed as a treasure hunt when the majority of caches I see are leaky pill bottle with camo tape placed along side the road with little or no thought involved with the creation or placement of the cache. By no stretch of the imagination do I see this as modern day treasure hunting. When I think of geocaching treasure hunting, I think of the treasure as being the journey to the cache as well as where the cache is located and my overall experience from the cache. I'm one who likes a logbook in the cache that I read about others experiences and that I can record my own thoughts. I'm probably a relic from the early days but I don't see playing for the sake of numbers of finds as geocaching. 

 

On 8/12/2017 at 6:04 PM, cerberus1 said:

We used to like to read those ... a lotta poems too,  and view the drawings that often accompanied that lengthy log. 

 - Those  people,  many who rarely or never logged online really made us look forward to maintenance.

We know now our log books will last a long time, unless damaged from neglect, as these days there's either a name/date on a single line, stamp, or sticker.

 - And it's rare to see any kind of wordy log on the online as well.    We're often told that change is supposed to be good...

 

I would actually really like to see more caches with lengthy log books. I'm extremely new to geocaching and all of the caches in my area have small logs in them (or just a piece of paper for the micros) that aren't really viable for writing little notes on. I've stopped by a few on my trips back and forth that were easy park/grabs just to get a good idea of what to expect and learn the game, but what I really have loved are the ones that take me on a hike through some beautiful forest or to an interesting historical area that I wouldn't have gone to otherwise (with a nice view is a bonus!). I made a day of it with my dad who was visiting and even he had a blast going through the areas, reading the history, and finding the caches to see who had last visited them. It would have been even more fun to see something extra creative inside of them which would have kept us in the area a little longer before hiking out. I should go back in my logs and write down more thoughts online for the particularly lengthy visits in retrospect, since I tend to log them right there on my phone so I don't forget.

Some of the park and grabs are pretty cleverly hidden, though, which I find impressive enough. If they take me to a nice park or area I'd like to visit again, or are cleverly hidden where I have to actually look a little and am impressed by after I don't mind that at all. I guess the experience of seeing beautiful places in an area I've lived my entire life for the first time is what feels nice to me, on top of the "treasure" hunt.

4 hours ago, arisoft said:

The armchair geocacher may have been mistaken for the nature of the hobby and he may imagine that other players compete with him. He also may imagine that others are envious of his fake accomplishments. Or may be he is a passionate collector who can not resist the attraction of the points.

With the rise of video games, many people are into things for the points and achievements collections solely. I wouldn't say that's negative unless they cheat of course, because then you can't even be proud of your own achievement. As for competition, I think some people like to see the high numbers and be seen on leader boards, even if there is no specific competition going on with anyone else. I don't see that as a problem at all, as long as they aren't bothering anyone else with that goal.

[What Irks you most?]

I'm really new to geocaching, but I do have one irk thanks to a couple of caches I was unable to locate. It's putting a cache in a location deep in the thicket where the only way to get through would be to literally cut down some bushes and small trees. I don't mind hard to reach places, but I'd really rather not destroy the local fauna (which is against the guidelines for placement anyway) except for maybe tall grass just to find a box I'm not even sure is there. One in particular I circled around looking for an easier way in (some place I could crawl under or just push branches aside and squeeze in) and could only get within about 50 ft before there was no other way to get inside but with a machete the bushes were so tall and thick. Peeking in as best I could, it was like that all the way in. I just gave up, but I'll stop by again later in the year to see if the lack of leaves makes it easier to find if its not flooded.

[Introduce Yourself]

4 hours ago, Team Christiansen said:

Welcome to the game. You will love it.

Never mess with a geocacher! They know the best places to hide a body.

Just don't put a cache next to it. The FtF will be in for a surprise. Thanks for the welcome!

4 hours ago, RuideAlmeida said:

 

Welcome Michele (ma belle)

Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble 

Thank you for the welcome.

[Introduce Yourself]

Hi there!

My name is Michele and I'm from the Michigan, USA. I'm currently studying Mortuary Science. I love science fiction, history, art, strange history, reading, hiking, and the list sort of goes on. I'm super new to geocaching (I only have 6 found and a few that were either lost or I was just bad at looking), but I'm already planning my first drop! Have the location in mind, just looking for some neat swag to drop in for people to take with them. Happy hunting!