RealWorldAvatars

Now that I have an active cache, I was wondering about the etiquette of "refreshing" it with theme-related swag. The name of the cache is New Game; I have plenty of spiffy videogame tchotchkies that will fit in the container, and I figure I'll go down there from time to time and pop some new ones in. I'll admit that it's only half about the whole theme thing... I also don't want to let this cache fall into the state of some others I've seen, where the contents end up being two expired bus passes, a movie ticket stub, and a busted Happy Meal toy. So here's the question... actually, two of them: 1) For those who refresh their caches, how often do you do this? 2) What to do with the swag that's in there when I go to refresh it? Obviously, any actual junk can be CITO; there's a park trash can visible from the cache site, heh. But assuming that there's actually something nifty in there, is it customary to just leave it in the cache and say to heck with the theme notion, or take it out to move to another cache on my own next trip? I know these are newbie questions, and I apologize. Please be gentle.

*hops the next plane for Michigan and starts looking in small-or-larger caches*

If the cache isn't sound, it shouldn't be placed at all. That's a seperate issue from FTF prezzies. Even in my short time caching, I've seen a couple of really questionable caches: soggy, poorly hidden, or full of stuff that even a 4-year-old would pass up. And frankly, it doesn't cost much to go the extra mile when hiding a cache. A couple of layers of clear packing tape can substitute for lamination sheets on your notes, a Zip-Lock bag (changed out every couple of months) can provide an extra layer of water resistance for the cache contents, and you can use all sorts of stuff from around the house to camouflage the container. Can't afford fancy spray paints? I saw a great cache disguised with Elmer's Glue and a whole bunch of old leaves. I like the cache-goodies guideline from the official tutorial page here, "It's up to you what you want to put in your cache, budget permitting." My own budget won't be impacted by a nice gift card, so that's what I chose to put in. I'm sure if Bill Gates gets into geocaching, he'll place a five-gallon bucket with an Xbox system in it. And I'm equally sure that if one of my best friends from back East, who works as a public school teacher and is paid accordingly (read: shamefully low), decides to place a cache, she will include a FTF prize that somebody will really want to find, and it will probably not cost her much at all. It's not how much you PAY for a FTF prize, it's the creativity you put into selecting something, and the fact that you're offering a little treasure to commemorate the first-finder's achievement that is so cool. So I accept your scorn... ...and will continue to place FTF prizes in any future caches as I just did in my first. Long live generosity!

I absolutely adore signature items. Painted stones, Sculpey beads and discs, wooden nickels, pins and buttons... if it's something made by another cacher or team, I'm really excited to find it. Hubby and I are having (non-trackable) geocoins made as our own signature items, but I actually feel like I'm being a little uncreative, since I've seen some other items that have much more of a personal flair. Until the coins are done, I'm using little RWA-imprinted "stones" made from Sculpey. Unfortunately, I've only found four signature items in the 30 caches I've logged so far (well, five, but there were two in one cache, so I had to choose... so... hard... to..... choose.....!). I really wish more people would do some kind of personalized item, since I'd love to make a whole collection. Bottom line: I'd rather find a river stone with a logo inked on it than something I could buy for myself. And hey, they're cheaper than buying swag, so I'm not sure why more people don't make sig items!

Well, I would never say that I HATE micros, but they're certainly not my first choice when picking caches to find. Primarily this is because I've developed an addiction to finding signature items (yep, it's an irrational rush to open a lock'n'lock and discover somebody's painted rock or wooden nickel, heh), and the chances of nabbing one from a micro are fairly slim. Also, urban micros are often hidden in heavily trafficked locations, and it's difficult to find the proverbial needle in the haystack when Questionable Hygiene Man and the Crackhead Kid are watching your every move.

Frankly, I couldn't care what other people think of my "stats", since I'm in the game for my own amusement and health, and not for somebody else's anal retentive opinion. So far as I'm concerned, the only stat that matters is that I've lost 12 pounds since I started caching. As for DNFs, I don't feel right logging one unless I've spent a reasonable amount of time looking for the cache; if it's a hide I stopped by for just a couple of minutes on my way somewhere else, just in case it was super-easy to find, I won't log a DNF on it. If I spend 15 minutes or more surreptitiously scouring the area, though, and still come up empty-handed, I'll be the first person to admit it, heh. Usually at great length, and with frequent interjections about my own lameness. Exceptions are when I leave a cache site soon after arriving because it's under construction, surrounded by police, or neck-deep in Japanese tourists (all of these happened in the same week, believe it or not), or if there's something particularly amusing about the situation that I feel will make people giggle at my incompetence; in those cases, I log the DNF anyway. Just my two-cents-worth (or in the case listed above, my two yen worth). - CindyV (Mrs. RWA)

Okay, I have to admit that I'd love to find a hat like this. I would actually start WEARING hats if I found a hat like this. We just listed our very first cache today (it hasn't been published yet, tho'). The FTF prize is a $25 gift card to our favorite Seattle videogame arcade. I sort of figured that if the idea of geocaching was to introduce people to the places you enjoy visiting, then it would be twice as fun to make the prize lead the FTF cacher to another favorite place. (The hat is still WAY cooler, though.)

Well, heck, I could tell it was a joke, and I thought it was a good one. Being new to geocaching, I haven't attended an event yet, although I plan to go to one in October. With full apologies for the newbie question, what sort of things do you usually do at events? The earlier mention of a breakfast cookout sounds superb.

Hubby and I are both avid videogamers, and have been working in the games industry for more than a decade. When we first heard about geocaching, it sounded a lot like playing an adventure game in the real world. And "avatar" is the term for a playable character in a videogame, so RealWorldAvatars seemed like a good name for us. To keep with the theme, we leave only videogame-related swag, and we're currently having a geocoin minted with a game controller on one side and a common monster (the mimic) on the other. Gotta say, geocaching has been better for our health than sitting on the couch playing Oblivion.

On the one occasion I've been spotted and questioned, I held up my digital camera and said that I was photographing natural textures for use in skinning 3D models. Reason #837 that I enjoy working in the videogames industry: I can shoot from the hip with ready (if fallacious) technobabble.

So long as Portland has Powell's, we will always have a reason to visit Oregon.

And you know, I have to agree with you. Looking at it from the perspective of somebody who isn't familiar with the series of games that particular critter comes from made me realize I'd chosen the wrong image. So after searching around for a different view of the monster, and chatting it over with the minting company, here's the version that's actually going to press. This is why I adore online forums, and why I'm always very grateful for any feedback. I think our signature coin is going to be even better now! EDIT: We travel across the USA on business or for family reasons from time to time, and we're planning a couple of nice vacations as well over the next couple of years, so you never know where these coins might turn up! At least a few of them will be going with us to Japan next year!

Okay, wow. I absolutely love the binary crawl in the background of the image. Too... freakin'... cool.

Oooo! I vote for keeping the caboose. It's nostalgic!

Well, it seems that hubby and I have fallen hard for this whole geocaching thing, and that means we want to do it up right. We considered quite a few ideas for "signature items", but finally decided that the coolest option would be a custom coin. After a good bit of pondering on designs, we settled on something that we feel represents us well, heehee! Since we're both in the videogames industry, the coin will feature a modified game controller on one side, and a very appropriate monster type on the other. It's off to minting this week, so we'd love to hear any opinions of the final design! They're not going to be trackable, but we plan to number them anyway, for our own records. They're not going to be sold, either; they're just to leave in caches! We're going to have 300 minted in antique brass, for regular caches, and 15 shiny gold finish ones specifically as FTF goodies in our own caches. Here's hoping people will want to find them! - Cindy n' Bren, RealWorldAvatars