Blindman

I'm just about ready to post a large multi-cache that has a possible 18 legs. It has a clue game theme. Each leg is a card in the game (you know the one - Mrs. Peacock with the Knife in the Conservatory). As such, finders would make a guess and I would send them to a card that would prove their suggestion incorrect, like in the board game. So, it's non-sequential and requires finders to email me between each leg (but they don't need to find all legs to guess correctly). Each leg has its own level of difficulty and is a site unto itself. My question is, should I report this as one single multi-cache and do all the legs through individual emails, or report each leg separately and give offset coordinates on the reports and give the key to the real coordinates through email and have the first leg logged when the finder guesses the right combination of cards? I was thinking of doing it the second way. I could then more easily do the whole description, hint, and difficulty ratings, etc. It would also be more accurate for what the finders are doing (going out and finding separate locations on different days, etc.). But, there might be some who see other things about this method that may give me reason not to do it that way. Any advice? Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

We just wrapped up our first game of GeoFlagging here in Utah - Steal the Flag for geocaching. That was a blast! There was one cache I went to that was at one of my opponent's place of work. In GeoFlagging, you wear a player tag around your neck that identifies which team you're on and you can be "captured" by an opponent if you are caught near the cache where their flag is hidden. When I first saw the cache report, I thought it was way too much of a coincidence that it was so close to another cache the same player had placed. So, I checked out the map which really looks like the cache is inside the building! Even the name of the cache seemed to be a challenge to come if I dared. That I would be an easy target once I was anywhere near the cache. The references to being prepared for fun and high security had me dreaming up elaborate sting operations to get in and out of the building while a co-conspirator pretending to be a marketing rep from a manufacturing source for the company lured my opponent away from his desk! Ha! I actually called one of my brothers to help me out with it if it became necessary! Crazy! So, that was my state of anxiety while I was planning and looking for the cache. I made sure I had placed my team's flag before going to the site because I was pretty sure I was going to get caught. I had checked out the office hours over the phone the night before (after tracing my opponent's email to find the company's website). So, I had a pretty good idea of what timing would be best. When I arrived there was only one car parked outside. I thought the risk was acceptable (now that I had already placed our team's flag), so I parked next door. As I was snooping around, I was imagining alarms being hooked up to some of the more likely spots. I was cringing every time I moved something, thinking I would be hauled in by the security for a mock interrogation or something of the like. I was waiting for the floodlights to come on and be surrounded by men with paintball guns! After some time looking, my thoughts started to get really wild. My hands were shaking! I got so excited when I finally found the cache. It was in a very unique spot and a lot of creativity had gone into placing it. Then, I thought the flag wasn't there. I dumped everything out and finally felt it down at the bottom. Whew! Now to get all this logged and put away before one of those cars that were passing by really did turn in here and catch me snooping around! That really was an amazing cache. I'd have to say that, in combination with my knowledge that the cache owner was actually trying to prevent me from getting to the cache uninhibited because of the game, and the cloak-and-dagger-like atmosphere that was created by the cache report and the location, that was the funnest cache I've ever found! My hat goes off to the cache owner, that was definitely the most exciting hunt I've ever had! Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

Now that the game is over, I'd really appreciate some more feedback and what you liked and what you didn't like - what should stay the same and what should be changed. I was talking to ~DragonKing~ yesterday and he suggested doing away with the tags altogether. That would loosen up the teams to include people who just wanted to move the flag once or twice, for example. With the small numbers of players, we were trying to figure out what the perception was of the game so we could make adjustments. The assumption was that it required dedication to play. A player has to find two different caches (registration and home) before they are even allowed to touch a flag. Maybe that's too much to ask. Maybe flags should be more like regular travel bugs and just ask that they stay within a particular playing field and when a player finds and logs a flag, they can simply join in the game then. This does take away some of the purposeful play of the game - and I'm sure would breed its own brand of problems. We were just kind of brainstorming. Tell us what you thought about the game! Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

This came up on the registration page and I thought a discussion might better take place here. quote:In regard to additional flags, I'm not sure I'm too anxious to add more flags. At least not yet. I would like to suggest another alternative that might accomplish the same thing and add another dimension to the game. What if we changed the object of the game to read more like this: Object of the Game: The game is won when a team steals both of the enemy's flags and places them in their own home cache at the same time. This way, when a team captures one of the opponent's flags, they have to then try to prevent the opponent from stealing it back (the same way they protect their own flags) until they can capture the other flag and place them both into the home cache at the same time. This would give the team with more flags a little cushion because the other team will be trying to get their own flag back in addition to the enemy's flags. Maybe even the penalty thing would be more fluid too. An offending team could drop a flag off to the other team's home cache. It might even be the other team's own flag! There just seems to be more possibilities this way, without the additional cost, work, and complication involved in additional flags. But, if it's more flags you want, it's more flags you'll get. What do you guys think?

I'm sure this is not a big deal to most, but we were playing a game that was relying on emails to be sent in response to logs on caches/travel bugs. I got an email this morning that reported a log from 9:00 AM yesterday. The wierd thing is that I got an email yesterday reporting a log on the same cache for three hours later than the one I received today!? Is there a way to make this consistent? Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

quote:Originally posted by infosponge: There's a _big_ difference between some pervert stalking women in the woods and other folks enjoying nature au naturel. I agree their intent is different, but for all practical impacts on my day the result is nearly the same. I have nothing to get over, I just think the choice of whether or not I see someone without their clothes should remain an unalienable right. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

I was scoping out a good cache site near a local bike path across the river from an apartment complex full of college students when I saw this guy trying to avoid being seen down a dirt extension of the paved path. I sat and watched him for a while and the second time I saw him come out of the path, he followed a lone female jogger who had broken off the path to go to the apartments after a work out. Luckily, the guy had someone else show up on the scene. So, he acted like he was just walking around aimlessly until the witness was out of sight. The stalker then bolted full speed around the backside of the apartment building, presumably to catch a glimpse of the girl he had been following. He was then out of sight and I thought I would call the police if I saw him out there again. In the mean time, my curiosity got the best of me and I started to cross the bridge to walk down the dirt path to see what was down there. As I was starting onto the bridge, the creep started walking up behind me. It was my turn to act like I knew someone in the apartments and walk aimlessly as I watched him over my shoulder. He went down the dirt path again! I thought to myself, okay this guy is definitely up to something - I'm going to go see what he's doing down there. So, I walk down the path checking the bushes to make sure he's not waiting for me. The next thing I see is this guy running (hobbling really) down the path straight toward me with his pants around his ankles!!! He was pacing a girl that was running on the bike path across the river from him! AAAAAHHHHH!!! When the guy saw me he took off in the other direction (and so did I). I called the police and the guy just walked aimlessly past the doctor's office I was calling from and up the street never to been seen again (hopefully). I've had more nudity in connection with geocaching than I ever wanted. NO MORE! Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

I was scoping out a good cache site near a local bike path across the river from an apartment complex full of college students when I saw this guy trying to avoid being seen down a dirt extension of the paved path. I sat and watched him for a while and the second time I saw him come out of the path, he followed a lone female jogger who had broken off the path to go to the apartments after a work out. Luckily, the guy had someone else show up on the scene. So, he acted like he was just walking around aimlessly until the witness was out of sight. The stalker then bolted full speed around the backside of the apartment building, presumably to catch a glimpse of the girl he had been following. He was then out of sight and I thought I would call the police if I saw him out there again. In the mean time, my curiosity got the best of me and I started to cross the bridge to walk down the dirt path to see what was down there. As I was starting onto the bridge, the creep started walking up behind me. It was my turn to act like I knew someone in the apartments and walk aimlessly as I watched him over my shoulder. He went down the dirt path again! I thought to myself, okay this guy is definitely up to something - I'm going to go see what he's doing down there. So, I walk down the path checking the bushes to make sure he's not waiting for me. The next thing I see is this guy running (hobbling really) down the path straight toward me with his pants around his ankles!!! He was pacing a girl that was running on the bike path across the river from him! AAAAAHHHHH!!! When the guy saw me he took off in the other direction (and so did I). I called the police and the guy just walked aimlessly past the doctor's office I was calling from and up the street never to been seen again (hopefully). I've had more nudity in connection with geocaching than I ever wanted. NO MORE! Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

What if we switched Maynard over to the other team. This would leave four on the Red team and three on the Blue team. When I discussed this with ~DragonKing~, he said he didn't feel like he had the time to play the game the way he would want to play it... Whatever... It's not like he hasn't placed four caches in the last two weeks or something! So, that leaves me to fill the fourth spot on the Blue team. Four on four and we can start the game as soon as we decide on this. What do you guys think? And we can place the flags in caches that we have found previously as long as we put out a few new ones too. Also, any judgments that need to be made during the game could be made by ~DragonKing~ to help avoid bias. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

What if we switched Maynard over to the other team. This would leave four on the Red team and three on the Blue team. When I discussed this with ~DragonKing~, he said he didn't feel like he had the time to play the game the way he would want to play it... Whatever... It's not like he hasn't placed four caches in the last two weeks or something! So, that leaves me to fill the fourth spot on the Blue team. Four on four and we can start the game as soon as we decide on this. What do you guys think? And we can place the flags in caches that we have found previously as long as we put out a few new ones too. Also, any judgments that need to be made during the game could be made by ~DragonKing~ to help avoid bias. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

quote:Originally posted by bunkerdave: Why do we have to place flags in caches we have not been to? This makes it very difficult for me, since there really are not many in the game area I have not logged, relatively speaking. This makes my experience a disadvantage, where I think it should be an advantage. There are two reasons for restricting the placing of flags to caches you haven't found before (and I think both are fair game for debate so tell me what you think): We didn't want cachers to have an advantage because of their knowledge of cache locations in a local area. We wanted the game to be based on skill (which may be gained through finding every cache in the local area). We didn't think it would be fair for a player to place a flag in a 5/5 cache they found last year before a neocacher was even on the scene. One of the goals of the game is to generate high quality caches within the playing field. If you could put them wherever you want, there would be less incentive to place new caches. Like I said, these are both open to debate. If I get to play, I've got a couple of cache ideas already up my sleeve that would get put out whether I could place in logged caches or not. So I can see how that would go. I can also see the side that placing a flag in an ancient 5/5 (not that there are any in the current playing field) would be a great way to introduce neocachers to the cache's delights! It's always fun to go back to good caches and a flag would just add to that fun. But, the reasons above were the main ones that prompted that rule. Also, I don't think that knowledge of the vast majority of the cache locations represents a disadvantage. Remember that stealing the other team's flags is the objective of the game - not moving your's around. Bunkerdave, you are an opponent to be taken seriously. If I get to play, it will probably be against your team and I would be making an effort to be putting one of my flags in the Silver Bullet cache and the other in Maynard's orienteering cache!!! Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

quote:Originally posted by bunkerdave: Why do we have to place flags in caches we have not been to? This makes it very difficult for me, since there really are not many in the game area I have not logged, relatively speaking. This makes my experience a disadvantage, where I think it should be an advantage. There are two reasons for restricting the placing of flags to caches you haven't found before (and I think both are fair game for debate so tell me what you think): We didn't want cachers to have an advantage because of their knowledge of cache locations in a local area. We wanted the game to be based on skill (which may be gained through finding every cache in the local area). We didn't think it would be fair for a player to place a flag in a 5/5 cache they found last year before a neocacher was even on the scene. One of the goals of the game is to generate high quality caches within the playing field. If you could put them wherever you want, there would be less incentive to place new caches. Like I said, these are both open to debate. If I get to play, I've got a couple of cache ideas already up my sleeve that would get put out whether I could place in logged caches or not. So I can see how that would go. I can also see the side that placing a flag in an ancient 5/5 (not that there are any in the current playing field) would be a great way to introduce neocachers to the cache's delights! It's always fun to go back to good caches and a flag would just add to that fun. But, the reasons above were the main ones that prompted that rule. Also, I don't think that knowledge of the vast majority of the cache locations represents a disadvantage. Remember that stealing the other team's flags is the objective of the game - not moving your's around. Bunkerdave, you are an opponent to be taken seriously. If I get to play, it will probably be against your team and I would be making an effort to be putting one of my flags in the Silver Bullet cache and the other in Maynard's orienteering cache!!! Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

Aside from just wanting to play, I think it would be good to allow ~DragonKing~ and myself to play to help balance the teams, we can look for bugs from the inside so to speak, and there is no particular advantage to us having set up the game because the only caches we placed are the home caches (and ~DragonKing~ wasn't even with me on one). I would love for the game to get started regardless of how we decide to do it. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

Aside from just wanting to play, I think it would be good to allow ~DragonKing~ and myself to play to help balance the teams, we can look for bugs from the inside so to speak, and there is no particular advantage to us having set up the game because the only caches we placed are the home caches (and ~DragonKing~ wasn't even with me on one). I would love for the game to get started regardless of how we decide to do it. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

There has been no activity at the registration cache for over two weeks now. I think we probably have what players we will get on this round. But, there are only two players on one team and five on the other. My question is: What do you guys want to do? (Currently registered players only please:)

There has been no activity at the registration cache for over two weeks now. I think we probably have what players we will get on this round. But, there are only two players on one team and five on the other. My question is: What do you guys want to do? (Currently registered players only please

I thought maybe I just hit one too many rocks with it while climbing. Mine has really been doing some wierd things lately. The other day I was standing still and it stopped averaging and shifted .040 minutes North! Maybe the security restrictions on the satellite signals have changed again? I'm glad to see there's another update out though. That averaging lock was becoming annoying. I just downloaded the v3.15 tonight after reading this. Thanks for the heads-up. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

I thought maybe I just hit one too many rocks with it while climbing. Mine has really been doing some wierd things lately. The other day I was standing still and it stopped averaging and shifted .040 minutes North! Maybe the security restrictions on the satellite signals have changed again? I'm glad to see there's another update out though. That averaging lock was becoming annoying. I just downloaded the v3.15 tonight after reading this. Thanks for the heads-up. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

I really enjoy my Magellan 315. It is constantly averaging your current position when you are not moving. When I want to get really close to the coords, I switch to my location navigation screen and try to match them exactly. This really helps when the coords are accurate. What has been said about the variation in cache owners' GPSRs is true, but if they're on, it can make a big difference. My brother and I just did a cache that was under thick black water. It could've been a lot more difficult without that averaging. We had good satellite reception and it put us within about seven feet of the cache. When I place a cache, I just put my GPS down near the cache location while I'm doing last minute touch-ups on the camo, etc. By the time I'm ready to go the averaging has settled down and I only need one or two readings for a solid location. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

I really enjoy my Magellan 315. It is constantly averaging your current position when you are not moving. When I want to get really close to the coords, I switch to my location navigation screen and try to match them exactly. This really helps when the coords are accurate. What has been said about the variation in cache owners' GPSRs is true, but if they're on, it can make a big difference. My brother and I just did a cache that was under thick black water. It could've been a lot more difficult without that averaging. We had good satellite reception and it put us within about seven feet of the cache. When I place a cache, I just put my GPS down near the cache location while I'm doing last minute touch-ups on the camo, etc. By the time I'm ready to go the averaging has settled down and I only need one or two readings for a solid location. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

Jamie Z, That worked beautifully. Thanks for the help. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

Jamie Z, That worked beautifully. Thanks for the help. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

quote:Originally posted by Renegade Knight: I knew it would go subscription and I'll sign up. But I was thinking 19.95 would of been the price and not 30. ...and for the first twenty that call, we've got durable ziplock bags to keep your GPS safe when you're out searching for caches in the rain! This is what a GPS looks like after being used in just three rainstorms - Don't let this happen to you! Call now and we'll even throw in these factory rejected travel bug tags that could make a great decoration to hang from your rear-view mirror! That's right, that's a year long charter membership to your favorite website, a ziplock bag, and a pair of reject-bugs-on-a-chain, a total of $60 value, all for $19.95! To order... Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

When I try to put a link in a log I end up with the full reference being displayed in addition to the text I want it anchored to. The link still works, but it's kinda ugly. Any tricks to get around this? When I write: <a href=http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=16444>link</a> I get: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=16444>link Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...

When I try to put a link in a log I end up with the full reference being displayed in addition to the text I want it anchored to. The link still works, but it's kinda ugly. Any tricks to get around this? When I write: <a href=http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=16444>link</a> I get: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=16444>link Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar...