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BearTerritory

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Posts posted by BearTerritory

  1. GC25RWX has already been addressed in prior posts (#52 and #54, up above on this second page). The posts are from Geocaching HQ and from Nomex, the publishing reviewer for the archived listing.

     

    I will second what Nomex said. When a cache is just across a boundary line and the neighbor complains about it, odds are that HQ will archive the listing. That occurs for a different reason (it's unwise to stand on principle and put geocachers at risk of getting yelled at by an angry neighbor... or worse). I saw that happen in my review territory just this week. But the analogy is helpful to understand the basis for what happened with GC25RWX.

     

    Here, the Chamber of Commerce wanted to have a cache on their property as part of the GeoTour and the cache on the border of their property was archived because confirmation of permission didn't occur.

    Thanks to Nomex for the explanation.

  2. Hello BearTerritory, the cache that was archived to allow the publication of GC69DBG is in a City of Milpitas Park.

    That is not the correct cache. In fact this cache is not even an active listing, archived or not.

    When you quote a post that deals specifically with GC69DBG, you should not be surprised to hear follow up information relevant to GC69DBG.

     

    There is another cache that's been explained; it is on or at the border of the Chamber of Commerce property.

     

    If there are other caches you are asking about, please ask specifically and respectfully.

    GC25RWX - This has been confirmed to be on private land. It was considered close enough to a City building to be archived. It would be good for the community to better understand the reasons behind this archival. Thanks.

  3. I think The Rat is right, it is mainly about the money. I've seen some numbers bandied about on the forums. GeoTour setup, $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000. Not sure what each rate gets you. Then, $2,500/yr. Using the low end numbers, GeoTours have made at least $300,000 for GS. $5,000 setup for 60+ GeoTours, and ignoring the annual recurring fee.

     

    Skye.

    Another vote for the Rat's overview. The local caching community in Milpitas also seems to share this view including the COs impacted. We are actively working with them on communications locally. Groundspeak's responses on the other hand have been unsatisfactory IMHO. The cacher commenting may just be a little too far out of the affected area to care about developing relations with the City of Milpitas, so it is easier to attack then to understand. The local community is very interested in proactively working out issues at a local level.

  4. Did Groundspeak, at the request of the City of Milpitas, archive a cache that was not on City of Milpitas property?

    A cache was was archived to make way for a City of Milpitas cache that has not yet been published: GC69DBG. They were about 58 feet away from one another. It is within the City of Milpitas boundary. The image below is from County of Santa Clara's Parcel Map.

     

    0cbcd5a8-5095-4a07-947e-a1e503035fde.jpg

     

    Whoa! My house is in the City of Milpitas boundary. My house is my private property. There is a cache in front of my house. Based on this fact pattern, does Groundspeak believe that they have the right to archive my cache on my private property because it is within the City of Milpitas boundary??? The cache in question that was archived due to the geotour is on private land regardless of what city it resides within.

     

    Groundspeak - please explain why this cache on private property was archived.

  5. I won't belabor the point, but there is a single question that really needs to be answered:

     

    Did Groundspeak, at the request of the City of Milpitas, archive a cache that was not on City of Milpitas property?

     

    We can discuss whether it was policy or a mistake and how we deal with it later, but we need that answer.

     

    Where is Groundspeak in this Forum and why are they not responding to this question? To further the point, none of the 16 initial geotour caches were placed within close proximity of the final coords to the affected puzzle. Given that the next round of geotour caches will not be released until June 2016, there seems to be ample time to resolve this situation and reinstate this cache that seems to have been inappropriately archived.

  6. The message to the COs went out just days before the archiving of the caches. This did not allow for any level of problem solving.

     

    Also, changing the name of a cache to fit in with the geotour and the CO retaining ownership does not work for puzzle caches. The puzzle caches in this area in particular are incredibly challenging to solve and there is somewhat of a badge of honor in penning your name on the log. To transition that to a standard trad that everyone can log renders the point mute.

     

    Questions:

     

    1. Assuming that the City approves and chooses to archive certain caches following the geotour, would Groundspeak consider allowing an unarchival of the impacted caches?

     

    2. Assuming that Groundspeak is going to continue to work with Cities to create these geotours, can the company consider enlisting a number of good practices to ensure continued good relationships between the City and the geocaching community. This will also result in a better product for Groundspeak to market.

    - Request the Cities provide 30 days notification for archival of caches

    - Strongly suggest the Cities not request archival of caches that meet certain criteria (>10 years old, >25 favorites, etc.)

    - Allow an option in which the City runs their geotour for 6 months, after which any legacy archived caches may be revived. Communicate this to COs well in advance of the geotour

    - Reach out specifically to the 10 cachers with the most hides within a 10 mile radius of city center to specifically offer to add their names to a quick reference list for the City contact. Provide all 10 cachers with the City contact as well. Suggest to City that they host a coffee/meeting to gain feedback and enlist the help of the local community.

     

    Based on the poor reception of the Milpitas geotour, our community would gladly provide additional feedback.

  7. 1. What do you like most about challenge caches?

    The challenges that clearly show accomplishments and push you to explore your limits (e.g., Fizzy, Jasmer, DeLorme, States/Countries found, number of icons in a day, number of paddle or difficult climb attributes found, etc.)

    2. What do you not like about challenge caches?

    Challenges based on finding caches with certain words in them. This encourages passing good caches for mediocre ones just based on name. It also creates terrible, non-descriptive naming of caches and events. There is no joy in finishing off these "challenges" other than to say, "thank goodness...I'm FINALLY done with that awful challenge!". These challenges ruin geocaching relationships and generally waste gas due to cachers going 20-30 miles out of their way to pick up a single cache with "giraffe" in the title. It is just wasteful. :shocked:

    3. What would you like to see changed about challenge caches?

    Disallow challenges based solely on naming conventions, but keep those based on valid achievements. Give challenges their own icon so as to distinguish them from true puzzle caches.

    4. If you could describe your favorite challenge cache type, what would it be?

    A great challenges takes time to complete, but creates unforgettable moments. The Jasmer challenge took me to the tops of mountains and on my first caching boating excursion. The Fizzy encouraged me to pursue hard puzzles and to challenge myself physically. The De Lorme is still taking me to areas of my state that I've never visited before. Lonely cache challenges are generally a positive caching experience all the way around, as they can provide much needed maintenance on remote caches and generally include an unforgettable caching experience for the finder.

    5. What types of challenge caches do you avoid?

    Challenges with ridiculous word requirements (Yuba City is riddled with these) that have nothing to do with achievement.

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