Personally I love long descriptions that people put time and effort into. But if it is completely unrelated it is pointless. For example if the description is a short essay written on the town it is hidden in or about the area it is in then that is something I love. If the description is a big hint decoded in a story or something of that sort that is awesome too.
I think that shows that people put time and effort into their cache. I dislike the people who complain that more is in the description than just directions to the location of the cache. To me that looks like all they care about is finding it and raising their numbers/stats.
If you get to learn something while hunting for a cache thats great. If you are looking to win a competition as to who can find the most the fastest look for another cache. Every single cache is supposed to be placed somewhere important to the person placing it, according to the official geocaching rules. ("When you go to hide a geocache, think of the reason you are bringing people to that spot. If the only reason is for the geocache, then find a better spot." – briansnat; Geocache Listing Requirements / Guidelines; I. PLACEMENT Guidelines: Placement guidelines govern the physical location of a geocache.) Therefore writing a description is awesome! Tell us why you love the area, tell us something about the history or a story about it. But don't ramble on pointlessly.
But at the same time caches that are empty in the description, have no details but the location and hint, I find boring. Those are basically for a quick park and grab to raise your stats. You don't learn anything, you just get another smile added to your map.
Basically: (To me)
Long description that relates to the cache/area/or placement == Great!
Long pointless unrelated description == Not a good idea
Basic info/ no extra effort into the info about the cache= boring and minimal effort.
No offense to anyone who posts empty or simple description caches, I just personally do not enjoy them as much as others.
~Sam