Here's my two cents: First off, I'm a firm believer in "not all caches are meant to be found by all cachers." Otherwise, why even bother with difficulty/terrain ratings? I've found/not been able to find many caches that the owner has requirements for the sole reason of EARNING the stars. I enjoy it when I can find one, and I live with it when I can't. (see my personal experience below)
This is a slippery slope we're heading down. What's going to happen if people start complaining because they can't figure out the coords to puzzles, or climb trees, or go scuba diving, or buy an expensive GPSr for where-i-goes? Will those owners have to change their caches so that anyone can log them?
Anyone can do a good job of hiding a cache in the woods, and I enjoy finding those. But I really like the creativity caching brings out, and the success I feel when I have to WORK to qualify for a cache!
Personal Experience:
I spent 23 months finding caches around my house in an effort to push the "found-it" circle as far away as possible, and last Nov. had it at 6.3 miles without an unfound cache in that circle. Considering there are two HUGE state parks .5 and 3 miles from my home, and another small one with 100+ caches in that circle (it took 8 trips, hiking and biking to find all in the small park) and included dozens of puzzles solved and requirements met, I was quite proud of that accomplishment, and looked forward to new listings (even the tough ones) so I could keep the circle intact.
Then a cache requiring 50 5-star diff, and 50 5-star terr to log it appeared 3.1 miles away in one of the aforementioned parks! I currently have 6 5-star diffs, and 0 5-star terrs.
My reaction? I laughed, shrugged my shoulders, and was content that my "bubble" would have a nice hole in it for a long time. And guess what? I've started looking for caches I can find to MEET THE REQUIREMENT, no matter how long it takes. Why, because that's what the cache owner wants. Since that cache is not a "challenge" cache, should I go find it now, because I have the coords. No way.
I have a few caches with special requirements. One, called "Couples Hike" simply says that it can't be found by one person. You don't have to be a "couple" to find it, but I hid it for cacher's whose significant other isn't in to caching, like my wife, or to inspire people to group-cache on a trail (a rare event in my experience). The few people who have found it (it's more than .5 mile from pavement...) all enjoyed their walks, and I haven't had any problems or complaints. Now I have to change it?
OK, I realize that caching is at least a game, at worst an obsession, and at most a hobby, but for me these new guidelines take a lot of fun out of it.
