gururyan

This sounds like a perfectly sensible solution to the virtual quandary. Surely this has been suggested to HQ before? Anybody know?

I don't see Pokemon Go as a competitor or a complement, but as a nuisance. Please, allow me to explain. Groundspeak/Geocaching emphasizes safety and respect in regards to trespassing, laws, CITO, etc. This insanely popular Pokemon Go game has people out in droves, clambering to chase down as many of these characters as possible with little to no regard (sometimes even blatant disregard) to private property, trespassing, etc., essentially giving us all a bad name. Yes, there are jerks in every organization; I get that. The fervor at which these Pokemon'ers compete has many doing really, really stupid things. Just locally we had a Pokemoner photographed on his motorcycle, barreling at high speeds into and on our hiking/cycling trail system. Not only does this destroy the trails, but it's extremely dangerous as kids, elderly, and everyone else use these trails. Trail users were yelling at him to stop and he just screamed about Pokemon and ignored their pleas. I'm happy to report that nobody was injured and the perp was caught by police after calls came in and his bike was impounded. Yes, one example, one bad seed. However, you can scan the news sites and find plenty of Pokemon examples, like the 15yr old, Arthur Digsby, that was shot and killed in NC yesterday for trespassing while chasing a Pokemon. I too have witnessed swarms of players trample gardens on our university grounds. My wife, who doesn't cache, thinks Pokemon Go and Geocaching are one in the same. I worry that's what the general public may think as well and therefore tie the poor behavior to all GPS/smartphone scavenger hunt "games."

Well excuse me for suggesting. I am not in I.T. so how was I to know this request would be a major overhaul? And if you don't update your home stats then irrelevant alerts are sent to you. ...wow, friendly forum.

After I recently moved, it changed all my stats by retroactively adjusting my distance to caches to my new home location. This is no good. Can there be a tweak made that allows the system to recognize the date/time a new home location was made and have it only adjust caches after said date?

My sister picked up a coin for me as a gift, an old split window VW bus...because I used to have/drive one. It's the first coin I've decided to "keep" and only dip and let people discover. I have a strong suspicion that if I dropped it, it would go "missing" pretty quickly. It's not as fun, but I really have grown tired of stolen, lost, missing coins.

Given the awful track record of coins and inventories, I am elated when I actually stumble upon an actual coin. I usually dip them around the area and release them...reluctantly, knowing that their lives will likely be cut short very soon by either accident or maliciousness. Geocoins are a touchy subject, mainly due to the expense and hope poured into each and every one...only to see them stolen, lost, or other. Proxies are like, well, <edited by moderator> . I can understand the reason behind them but to me, a proxy is one step too far. Either suck it up and release the actual coin or don't.

Well, I'm back from my trip. I dipped half, dropped half, found 1. So I'm back with half+1. Put about 3,000 miles on the ones I dipped. The ones I was most concerned about going missing were luckily found by a seasoned cacher the same day I dropped them, so they should be in good hands. The others I dropped haven't been found yet, hope they make it.

Good Great suggestion.

So, can we assume that when you were a noob just 2 years ago, you were the Geocaching Poster Child of How Things Should be Done? Yes, yes you can. From day one.

Maybe they don't want to geocache anymore and lucky for us they at least deposited them in a cache instead of the trash. Get them logged into where you found them and get them back out on the grid.

I'll move a stagnant trackable from a cache I've already found sometimes...it's more of a rescue mission.

I used to use various tools as others have described, but now that I just use my iPhone, if I forget a pen then I just attach a pic of the cache's log in my post as proof.

So I've got a number of geocoins (not mine) that I will be taking over 1,000 miles away to a state that seems to have a high theft rate of coins, at least in the areas I will be. Should I drop them in various caches so their journeys can continue, or just dip them and bring them back home and drop them in caches where may have a better survival rate? Granted these theft "stats" are simply personal observations as I do research prior to my trip. So I guess the question is as an owner of a coin, would you prefer your coin be dipped until it can be dropped in safer areas (subjective I know) even if it means backtracking, or do you prefer it being dropped and taking the risks.

Yep favorites are a good number too. I checked out the Hungry Tarpon cache (link http://coord.info/GCMQJX ) and it certainly looked like great fun. Here is a cache around here with 79 finds and 54 favorites http://coord.info/GC3057X Another example of a cache that took us to a place you would NEVER find without geocaching. The trail doesn't go there, you would walk right past it if not for geo: http://coord.info/GC20K7G

I'm glad to see that you think only newbie's are the ones taking coins. I have a different opinion. Oh no, I suspect others of falsely dropping coins too...but we can't do anything about theft. With education though, we should be able to save truly "lost" trackables.

These are funny. My next cache will have a left/right hint just for fun...might toss a "where the McDonald's cow got loose" or a "beside the tree" in for good measure.

Truer words were never spoken.

The only number that catches my eye is the Favorites number. I cache because it takes me places not on any tourist map. I have been shown spectacular, outstanding places that no map, no tour guide, no Google Earth could show me. That is why I cache. In fact, I am about to head to the Keys and about 4 miles beyond where I had planned to go is a spot that is now the most anticipated part of our trip...all because of a cache. I would have never known about this awesome spot had it not been for a cache to draw me there. I can't count the NUMBER of times this has been repeated. It's like a secret guide to awesomeness. 4 miles beyond where we were would have stopped will now be a spot of memories for not only me but my wife and kids. They will get to feed tarpon by hand! Toss "Hungry Tarpon" into the cache name search and you'll see what I'm talking about. Click on the photos link. Thank you cachers, thank you.

Next cache I find I'm going to log it as 483TF!

I only focused on trackables because that seems to be the most difficult for newbies to grasp. And I'm not just speaking of MY coins, but on behalf of all owners of trackables. It's disheartening to watch one fall off the grid. If one takes it so lightly as to "don't release one then"...what's the point of any of it? Surely and hopefully people would prefer to see the whole idea of trackables succeed and not have such a laissez faire attitude about it.

I know it's a sensitive subject, and I don't want to discourage people from joining the Geo family...but I really think I found a solution to the frustration newbie errors create. We all know how disappointing and frustrating it can be to spend $$$ on cool geocoins and trackables or have ones that have traveled so far...just to see them lost forever due to a newbie not understanding the logging process. This is what I propose. If we could make a test that shows and requires new members to perform mock actions like dipping, grabbing, dropping trackables, leaving notes, logging DNF's, submitting maintenance requests, etc...I think it would really help. I will admit that my tolerance with a newbie losing one of my cherished coins is short, but even my own father seems to have difficulty understanding how it all works and properly logging trackables. If we required new members to actually go through the motions and understand firsthand how to log, track, edit, etc., I think it would be very beneficial. Add it to the registration section—a test that must be passed before being given an account.

Yeah, I'm sure they did.

Nothing angers me like thieves, so sorry to hear all of this. ...on a lighter note, tell me no trackables were lost!

I just need to vent, hear me out. I had to run an errand to an area I never visit. I had about 3 hours to kill so I figured I would rack up some smilies. Well, I got 2 out of 16. No, I'm sure they are there, but c'mon people...can you think of maybe a little better place to hide these?!? I'm not a numbers cacher, so typically I ignore 1/1 or 1.5/1.5 micros. But these locations were just ridiculous. For example, 10 ft. from the speaker/microphone at a fast food drive-thru that is open from 7am-2am? Or a micro somewhere in the bushes by a bank's back door with all the office windows facing you? Or a micro next to daycare center's playground?! C'mon people, can you pick more suspicious areas or higher muggle zones?! Do you want people to call the cops on me? Do you want geocaching to get a bad wrap? Can we please use more common sense when placing a cache? [/rant]

Couldn't resist while logging a cache near a pile of bones. Yes, I washed my hands extra good when I got home.