Cali9-1-1

THIS is so valid. When there are too many mystery's in one area blocking any traditionals it blocks bringing traditional cache hunters into a potentially really cool area or experience. A traditional only hunter looks at the map and sees nothing at all and therefore goes somewhere else. I plan entire trips with hotel stays around geocaching, if I see a city void of traditional caches they just missed out on a tourist & a hotel fee.

I tried that on like 3 hides. Seemed to annoy them so I quit bothering. I have managed to solve quite a few , but i don't enjoy it at all. Now I only solve any if I am very very very set on a particular location like when I solved the entire geoart mystery series at the Chattanooga airport just to be able to hide a cache at my Sunday night Poker Game location.

2 mins to "ask" not to get an answer back, than can take up to a week EACH time.

It's not EASY if you have to solve a puzzle to find it.

So basically everyone is saying "Cheaters" is why we can't have nice things? I still don't see the value in cheating. There is no glory in a FTF or any find if you cheated. Who would do that? It makes no sense. But I still feel an update can be done to make it easier than all the back and forth with the reviewers to get a traditional placed within a 2mile radius of a Mystery or Multi. What is the difference besides length of time waiting for answer, between me submitting my cache and waiting 1-7 days to be told you are 211 ft from the final blah blah blah, and then I move it and get told 1-7 days later you are 519ft from the final.... blah blah blah copy paste response... And so on, and so on.... Than the app or website telling me the same thing instantly? Because cheaters won't take the time to go through all that? But now we are saying there are people out there who will hide a bunch of geocaches just to find the finals to these other caches? That doesn't seem very likely... not impossible, but unlikely. I will say I don't think it's fair to those who don't enjoy puzzle/mystery caches to have entire areas off limits to traditional caches just because there are 50 or so mysterys. Traditional hunters would like smiley's too on a quick grab during a lunch break from work to de-stress, unable to drive more than a few mins away from work, not looking for a hike into the woods, just looking for a smile that can be grabbed in 30mins or less.

Yes I can hide caches in the middle of nowhere , far away from all other caches/mystery/multi whatever. And I do have some of those, and will have more. But I also like Urban caches someone can grab on their lunch break or on their way home from work to de-stress. Just because a city area is saturated with Mystery caches shouldn't mean there can't be traditional caches for those like me who need the stress relief but don't like stressful puzzles. I'm not saying get rid of the Mystery or Multi caches at all. Just make it easier to avoid them than an endless guessing game.

**THIS** would be helpful. And so much relief on the reviewers too. They wouldn't have to reply over and over again about how "i'm sorry but your cache is 312ft from blah blah blah" ... next message "I'm sorry but your cache is now over 528ft from the final I told you about in the previous message but now it is 99ft from a different final" followed by a dozen similar messages.

A lot of pain in the *** back and forth with reviewers, and moving my cache sometimes miles, and solving things I don't want to solve and are not fun for me, and talking with CO's. Lots of work, which takes some of the fun out of the game & decreases the stress relief that I use the game for. I can hide a million caches and that doesn't change the point that there should be a way around this MYSTERY & Multi finals ruining the fun for those who do not enjoy that part of the game.

In Oklahoma it may take 2mins. We have different reviewers in TN. Sometimes it can take a few hours, other times it can take a few days to a week. Depending on the reviewers daily busy real life & how many requests they have waiting.

I very recently (like an hour ago) Changed about 70 of my previously Basic geocaches to Premium Only. I hated having to do it. I really wanted the most people possible to have fun making finds on my hides. And I know money is tight for many. I did keep as many Basic as I could (The more basic/cheaper container ones). But since the containers on the majority are more expensive or time consuming to create I couldn't have them continue to go missing after someone with a Basic membership and 2 finds got it. It kept happening. My caches never went missing after a Premium member found them. I did what I had to do to keep playing the game as a C.O. I do really wish I didn't have to though and I plan to hide more Basic caches to make up for it soon.

What's the difference between cheaters logging traditional caches they haven't found, and cheaters logging mystery caches they didn't solve? If a C.O. doesn't believe someone found a traditional they have to physically go to the cache and check the log to catch the cheater. If a Mystery CO is so worried about cheaters they can take it upon themselves to require a cacher to send them a email or message explaining how they solved the mystery, or send them a picture of how they worked through the puzzle or whatever proof before logging the tangible find. at least they don't have to leave the house to catch the cheater that way. Although on that topic I recently found the final to a mystery cache and there were 9 online logs that were not signed on the paper at all , which I advised the CO about. Cheaters will be cheaters I don't know why, it doesn't seem fun to me.

The area is full of MYSTERY caches and because their finals can be up to 2miles away (and are typically light pole caches) no one can hide traditional caches in more interesting spots in the area without jumping through the endless attempts mentioned. So for people like me who only want to hunt traditional caches the area is not saturated at all but almost barren.

I don't use GSAK. I need the coordinates to be the same on the map after finding them, not the same on the individual cache pages. That isn't helpful when there a numerous Mystery caches in a 2mile radius of where I may want a hide to be. Asking a reviewer about location could take up to a week for each and every check and with my busy schedule who has time to do that over and over again until you get lucky enough to avoid every single multi or mystery in a 2mile radius. It is really surprising that there isn't an easy solve for this yet. Apps and computer programs are smart. Why can it not at the bare minimum pop up that red circle during the listing phase when a mystery or multi is too close? That would at least save some of the time. Still wouldn't be ideal though. With so many of these type caches in my area I wish it was a seperate game all together for those of us who like the traditional only & are tired of getting cache blocked during hides. You can't just sit in your living room with google maps and the app up and pick a spot for a hide and ask reviewer if it's available. You need to be on site, seeing GZ with your eyes, being able to make sure the container is perfect the location is perfect, and the placement works.

I tried looking through topics to find my answer but didn't know how to word the search. So after some random looking I am creating a new topic. One of the most frustrating parts of hiding new traditional caches is being "cache blocked" after submission by the "real location" of a Mystery or a stage to a multi cache. So even though I very much dislike Mystery caches or solving riddles, math problems etc etc etc I started trying to solve the easier ones so I could know where I can hide my new traditional caches. But soon as you log a find on the Mystery it pops it back to the original spot on the map and again I don't know later on if I am too close to the final. Because it's not like I am going to memorize where 50+ finals are in each part of town. (There are A LOT of these type caches in the Hamilton Co TN Area). Also I literally can not solve a lot of them. Sure I can ask CO , but again that doesn't help when trying to hide a cache and using phone or Garmin to tell me if I am 528ft away or not, because the device doesn't know, because it's not like I can click on the cache and it say "You are 400ft" like it would if it was a traditional cache. When submiting a new hide those lil red circles don't pop up because even the website doesn't show you're too close. You end up waiting up to 7 days for a reviewer to get back to you to tell you sorry but your cache is 312 ft from the final to a mystery or multi and I can't tell you where that is. There has got to be an easier way to get around this block. Does anyone know a simple solution that does not involved having to solve and update any coordinates?

Found this thread after noticing on a cache run yesterday, there was a newer cacher with 30 finds who was logging every cache she couldn't find with a DNF & NM. Every single cache she couldn't find. We must have been on a similar path because I kept seeing it. And the caches were there, and didn't need any maintenance at all. I used my FIND log to state the cache is in good condition no maintenance needed. And I know there is no way to tell newer cachers to stop this annoying habit, but I wish there was. As a CO if I get a DNF I run by the cache location asap to check on it, and write a note that all is well if it is. If I can't find a cache a few times, and I see a lot of people can't find it, and the CO hasn't logged in in 9 years, I may log a NM. But if the CO is active, and I have tried a few times, I will 1st message them. I am big on communication with active players.