narcissa

Taoiseach

K.I.W.F.

I logged three or four armchair finds quite some time ago, but have since changed them to notes.

I think it's best to leave the guideline as is, and let the reviewers ask for confirmation at their discretion.

Oh boy, it's time for more arbitrary FTF rules!

This is exactly the sort of case where it's in the interests of geocaching as a whole to report the bad cache.

It was my impression that those Kansas City virtuals were archived because the cache owner disagreed with the reviewer asking for fake logs to be deleted. Not that I think the owner was in the right, but it is unfortunate that they were archived. I found a couple when I was in the area in 2008 and they were nice virtuals.

... because they recognize that it's something that some cachers care about, and it increases the appeal of the log sheets that they sell. Groundspeak doesn't keep stats on FTFs, nor do they have rules or guidelines about FTFs. Nobody was hating on FTFs or people who try to get FTFs. Any "hate" was directed at those geocachers who create arbitrary personal rules and then expect all other geocachers to follow those rules.

There are some types of guidelines violations that put the entire game at risk, eg. a cache placed on private property without permission, or a cache placed in a way that is highly likely to cause alarm. When you look the other way on these issues, you are as culpable as the cache owner for any subsequent problems. The guidelines weren't created just for the sake of having rules. They are in place to keep the game running as smoothly as possible, and to facilitate good relationships between geocachers and the public, everywhere. I can think of a few examples of problems we've faced in our community that could have been avoided if just one cacher had written a "Needs Maintenance" log or sent off a private message to a reviewer.

If you have a Pocket PC with the mobile version of Windows, there's a great little program called GPXSonar you can use. I used to use an iPaq for my paperless caching and it was fantastic.

I can understand someone not being into geocaching, but I what kind of person tries to keep his/her spouse from doing an activity that brings them joy? In any healthy relationship, there are things you do together, and things you do apart. Geocaching can be one or the other. As long as your spouse isn't neglecting his/her family responsibilities, there's no reason to be such a kill-joy.

If it's something that isn't particularly serious or can be easily remedied by the cache owner, I'll mention it in my log. If it's something more serious and I think it needs immediate attention, I'll post a Needs Maintenance log and then keep an eye on it. If I'm unsure about it, I'll bring it up on our local forum before taking action.

Honestly, unless it's private property that's normally open to the public, I don't think it's appropriate to ask a stranger if you can put a cache on their property.

Respectfully, you need to reread the thread. Your assessment is incorrect. Exactly. There were all kinds of suggestions of ways he could handle the situation without breaking the guidelines, but he made it quite clear that anything less than a cash bailout was not good enough. If it looked like an attack, it's simply because his behaviour was so abhorrent.

It shouldn't bother you, unless you're an anal retentive dingleberry who thinks a DNF is a personal criticism.

Defending the very clear and reasonable guidelines in this case does not make anybody a "bad" person.

Shhhhh! You're ruining my reputation by painting me here as a "nice" person.

Maybe if he asked for that sort of help, instead of asking for money, people would be willing to help. As it stands, he's been acting like an entitled jerk and alienating the people who might be willing to do maintenance on a temporary basis.

That's irrelevant. It was against the guidelines AND the TOU for him to put the request on his cache pages, and, as has been mentioned NUMEROUS times, he always had the option of asking other cachers to adopt the caches. Asking for money was inappropriate and misguided, at best.

This is ridiculous. He didn't ask for "help," he asked for money. He didn't ask his local cachers to help him, he asked them to give him stuff. He's not asking for anyone to occasionally fix a cache or replace a logbook, he's looking for long-term financial support for his caching hobby because he feels that the caching community owes it to him. A quick glance at the Maryland forum will show you that there are plenty of enthusiastic, helpful Maryland cachers who would happily take over responsibility for his caches without a second thought. Groundspeak's guidelines are there for a reason. Without the rules against soliticing, the game would quickly be overrun with caches for businesses, caches for charity, and caches for personal agendas. Letting one person break the rules because he has a sob story isn't fair to the geocaching community as a whole. Nobody is forcing anyone to play the game or place caches. If it's a financial burden to place caches, don't. Anyone who gives a cacher grief for "not giving back" is a jerk. I place caches because I want to, not because I want to be a martyr to the game.

I think a note instead of a DNF is fine. Just let the cache owner know what the circumstances were. If you think you didn't look hard enough, say so. If it looked like there was an obvious hiding spot from which the cache was missing, say so. And if you're a cache owner OR a cache reviewer, don't treat DNFs like they're imminent death for a cache!

Yeah, read the logs on the caches he's already archived. This guy has an enormous sense of entitlement and feels that other cachers "owe" him for his caches.

Hideous. Change it back.

A further investigation of the Maryland forum reveals that you haven't asked for cache adoption, you've asked people to donate cache containers. You've also demonstrated an alarming sense of entitlement, and drawn ridicule for inappropriate content in your signature line.

The key words being "for example." You are seeking charity, therefore you are soliciting, and it's against the rules. It is irrelevant if the charity is "Save the Whales" or "Save My Geocaches." Groundspeak's staff thinks it's against the rules, and so does everyone who has replied to you. I am looking at the Maryland forums right now, and I see lots of requests for cache adoption, all of which seem to have received enthusiastic offers of help from other Maryland cachers. I don't see any requests by you.