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2 bass

+2 bass

Posted
Posted

Hello fello Geo-cachers!

 

This message is more to Groundspeak, but i think that for every geo-cacher member who hides maybe at least 100-150 geo-caches should recieve a 1-year preium membership, and if they hide another 100-150 in the next year it should be re-nued! This would defently help the sport of Geo-caching enlare, and grow, but it would also increase the number of caches in your area.Not that i am a paying member myself. I am a premium member!

 

p.s. please give me your feelings on this idea!

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hoovman

+hoovman

Posted
Posted

Thumbs down from me. It sounds like a way to get geocaching banned in places. Hiding one cache every 2-3 days is a recipe for a bunch of badly thought-out caches.

 

I'm also not sure that rapid growth of geocaching is even desirable. If things grow too fast, it may be difficult to adapt to changes. I'd rather see a continuation of the gradual growth that our game has experienced.

 

But if you don't have enough caches in your area, start a local/regional club.

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DeskJocky

+DeskJocky

Posted
Posted
I'm all in favor! Please encourage others to mass-produce lousy caches so that they can get their thirty-buck discount! I can't wait to find those 5000 new film cans thrown out the car window. Now that would be fun fun fun!! :rolleyes:

You know, this would a good way to torture the Approvers...

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as77

+as77

Posted
Posted

Actually I had the opposite of this idea: Finding caches would be free, but hiders would have to pay a monthly or yearly fee for each cache they hide; it would essentially be a listing fee. And there would be no premium membership, everyone would get the premium member services for free; the revenue would be generated from the listing fees.

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ibycus

+ibycus

Posted
Posted

Do I need to express my opinion? Hmmm, probably not, but I will anyways.

 

While this might sound like a good idea on its face (heck more caches, yeah!) there are a number of reasons not to go for this kind of idea (not that I think they ever would).

 

1. As has already been mentioned, quality of caches. The most likely result is that someone (lots of someones) would just go out to the local Wal-Mart, pick up 100 film canisters, and toss them somewhere in the woods.

2. Cache maintenance. How many caches can an individual reasonably maintain. This kind of policy would tend to encourage people to hide more caches than they could properly look after, even if they were quality caches (and given that a quality cache aint particularly cheap to set up, I don't think this would be the case)

3. Not such a knock down argument, but can you imagine the hell created for reviewers with all the extra caches being placed, going missing etc. Not something that couldn't be overcome, but I don't imagine an overnight change like this would be easily adjusted to.

 

As to the paying to hide a cache, I'll just assume either (a) you're on crack, or (:rolleyes: you're being sarcastic

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Will+Bill

+Will+Bill

Posted
Posted
Actually I had the opposite of this idea: Finding caches would be free, but hiders would have to pay a monthly or yearly fee for each cache they hide; it would essentially be a listing fee. And there would be no premium membership, everyone would get the premium member services for free; the revenue would be generated from the listing fees.

I think this could discourage some good caches. I am fine with the current permium membership program. If you want to support the game, you can; if you don't want to, you don't have to.

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Birdsong-n-Bud

+Birdsong-n-Bud

Posted
Posted
Actually I had the opposite of this idea: Finding caches would be free, but hiders would have to pay a monthly or yearly fee for each cache they hide; it would essentially be a listing fee. And there would be no premium membership, everyone would get the premium member services for free; the revenue would be generated from the listing fees.

 

:D;):D

 

It is a lot of work to place decent caches and maintain them. Not to mention the cost of materials to place one. We have one cache that cost about $70 to create. I'd now have to pay a listing fee? :D

 

Not a good idea, in my opinion. I'd stop placing caches if this ever happened. I like it the way it is.

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tabulator32

+tabulator32

Posted
Posted

* Tosses film canister (complete with piece of paper and golf pencil) iout the car window while cruising down the interstate access road. *

 

Ok. Press "Mark" on the GPSr so we can submit this puppy as a new cache. One down...One-hundred forty-nine to go!

 

Whoo-hoo!

 

:D

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tabulator32

+tabulator32

Posted
Posted

Wow! That new cache listing fee has made physical caches extremely rare! I had to pay about $18.00 in gas round trip just to find that last one. I think I'll go back to online gaming! I can do THAT without even getting dressed!

 

(Before you respond...yes, I have seen and heard about the nude cacher. No pics, please.)

 

Whoo-hoo!

 

:D

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Team GPSaxophone

+Team GPSaxophone

Posted
Posted
Wow! That new cache listing fee has made physical caches extremely rare! I had to pay about $18.00 in gas round trip just to find that last one. I think I'll go back to online gaming! I can do THAT without even getting dressed!

 

(Before you respond...yes, I have seen and heard about the nude cacher. No pics, please.)

 

Whoo-hoo!

 

:D

There's only one "nudecacher" account name, but many of us are nude cachers from timr to time. :D

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cache.scout

+cache.scout

Posted
Posted

I am astounded. I am a new to geocaching, I have only found about 30 or so and started in May of this year. It amazes me that someone who has a GPSr that costs from $80 - $1000 is complaining about $30 per year, or $2.50 per month, not to mention, you can use the free regular membership. I look at it like this, people allways pay more for milk at the corner store or gas station instead of driving further to the grocery store and standing in long lines. You pay for convenience, and a premium membership gives you just that, convenience. It took me a matter of hours to sign up as a premium member, the fee is cheap at twice the price. I personally am surprised that the fee is not higher. I think that Jeremy and rest of the crew should be highly commended for their efforts. As far as a "listing fee" that is a great way to start eliminating quality caches. The majority of the caches that I have found so far, I am fairly certain, have cost the hider a nominal amount of money to put it together, a large commitment of time to find a good spot, and are committed to maintaining cache.

 

"That's Just my opinion, I could be wrong"

-Dennis Miller-

 

Yours in caching

cache.scout

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globalgirl

+globalgirl

Posted
Posted
Actually I had the opposite of this idea: Finding caches would be free, but hiders would have to pay a monthly or yearly fee for each cache they hide; it would essentially be a listing fee.

And my incentive for paying gc.com a fee to create a highly clever and majorly fun cache for the sole benefit of others would be...???

 

Shoot, the only reason I take the time, expense and trouble to hide a cache, not to mention put up with wandering wpts and crabby DNFers, is... soley as my personal contribution to the OTHER fine hiders who collectively provide me with eternal fun and entertainment - in return for utterly zip.

 

Listing fee? good grief! :rolleyes:

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vree

+vree

Posted
Posted
And my incentive for paying gc.com a fee to create a highly clever and majorly fun cache for the sole benefit of others would be...???

well, it would make you think twice about just throwing a matchstick container (or 50) in the woods somewhere. if you had to pay to list it, i would imagine you would probably place caches that were well planned instead of placing them just to increase your numbers.

 

i can say this only because, suddenly, my area is completely saturated with caches. sometimes people place them 10-15 at a time. a listing fee would minimally discourage these cache placing binges. i know other areas are starving for caches, so i am not supporting this listing fee at all. i just understand the logic.

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welch

+welch

Posted
Posted
Don't be silly.

This endeavor needs to be funded.

As scifi has coined: TANSTAAFL.

There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

Yes this site needs to be funded, but how do you do that without damaging business?

Mandotary fees would scare quite a few people away, if not totally out of caching.

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globalgirl

+globalgirl

Posted
Posted
And my incentive for paying gc.com a fee to create a highly clever and majorly fun cache for the sole benefit of others would be...???

well, it would make you think twice about just throwing a matchstick container (or 50) in the woods somewhere. if you had to pay to list it...

Uh, nope. I dare say a listing fee would... why make me think twice about hiding ANY caches at all.

 

Make me think thrice about taking a week (minimum) out of my life to devise and create a cache, travel hither and yon to scope out a good hiding place (perchance weeks of deftly working with public service personnel to negotiate placement permission), purchase a quality container along with seed swag to tickle the fancy of total strangers (who likely will slowly but surely eventually "trade down" leaving but soggy blurred biz cards, quarters and dirty golf balls), traipse to and fro from the hide site on various days/times/weather conditions to take accurate coord readings, build a cache page (often with dazzling original custom background and graphics, along with a handy liink to a handicaching.com rating so that ALL can join in the fun), oh and then... patiently and politely responding to a reliable stream of private emails whining for extra clues and/or fielding grumpy - and pathetically unfounded - accusations of "bad coords!" from seriously shaky-egoed FTF zealots, along with... perennial and incessant cache maintenance checks (including emergency rushes to confirm that an alleged wandering wpt turns out to be but a figment of a DNFers imagination.)

 

Indeed. A listing fee of any amount would very much likely make me decide to not hide any caches at all.

 

Point izzz... under your proposed plan, you say "Finding caches would be free..." but just who do you think provides all the fun for the "finders" of this game? Indeed, who do you think FUELS the entire game of geocaching? gc.com? The finders? of what? What would there be to FIND (or for that matter, list here on gc.com) were your "solution" to be implemented and thus penalizing the kindly "good guys" in the (dubious at best) hope to thrwart the "bad guys" (who, after all, who's to say a listing fee would necessarily significantly reduce more lame caches than quality caches? - not to mention, "lame" ever being in the eyes of the beholder...)?

 

In short (yeah, right :rolleyes: ), I dare say, your suggested solution would verily dry up the very SOURCE of all this geocaching fun (alleged good w/ the alleged bad, babywiththebathwater...)

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vree

+vree

Posted
Posted
...In short (yeah, right :rolleyes: ), I dare say, your suggested solution would verily dry up the very SOURCE of all this geocaching fun

uh... i'm not 100% clear who the "you" is that you are replying to, but to clarify *my* position:

 

...i am not supporting this listing fee at all....

i think i understand why it was suggested, but it wouldn't work for the very reasons you listed. even a minimal fee would be a turn-off to many, if not most cache placers.

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Cardinal Red

+Cardinal Red

Posted
Posted

WH Posted on Jul 22 2005, 08:51 AM

Id be in favor of giving every new member 1 free month of premium membership so they can try ou PM features.

I would be interested to see the monthly jump in "new" memberships to take advantage of this free lunch.

 

A better idea might be to make only ONE Cache Page permanently enabled with Premium Member functionality. And a fictitious PQ file that anyone could download to test on 3rd party applications.

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Langner91

+Langner91

Posted
Posted

I have been a premium member for 8 days. In that time, I have created four PQ's.

 

One of those PQ's I set to run weekly on Thursdays (Nearest to my home).

One of those PQ's I set to run weekly on Mondays (my found).

One of those PQ's I set to run daily. (unfound).

One of those PQ's I didn't schedule, I figured I would run it as needed (my alternate address).

 

I got three PQ's the first day. Never got another one (they haven't run) because of the problems with the "server load". The daily one won't generate because it has been run too recently. The two weekly ones were scheduled on busy days, so they don't have enough priority. The only thing I can do is create new ones each time I want a PQ, which isn't what I thought I was getting into when I plunked down my money.

 

Anyway, I am not in favor of more premium memberships until that little issue is resolved.

 

Some companies would raise prices when demand exceeds supply.

 

Once that is fixed, I think all of the suggestions above would be great.

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Jeremy

Jeremy

Posted
Posted
I have been a premium member for 8 days. In that time, I have created four PQ's.

 

One of those PQ's I set to run weekly on Thursdays (Nearest to my home).

One of those PQ's I set to run weekly on Mondays (my found).

One of those PQ's I set to run daily. (unfound).

One of those PQ's I didn't schedule, I figured I would run it as needed (my alternate address).

 

I got three PQ's the first day.

Is this a logic puzzle? I see, at most, 2 can run in one day. With the exception of your daily query the other ones don't run daily.

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Langner91

+Langner91

Posted
Posted

Thanks for catching that. I meant I received three PQ's in the first five days.

 

My point being, I would like to see the current resource issue fixed before people come up with ways/reasons for more PQ's to be added to an already overdrawn system (by giving away premium memberships).

 

I know you are working on it, and I trust this will be temporary.

 

I am sorry my point took a bit of a detour.

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Jeremy

Jeremy

Posted
Posted
My point being, I would like to see the current resource issue fixed before people come up with ways/reasons for more PQ's to be added to an already overdrawn system (by giving away premium memberships).

 

I know you are working on it, and I trust this will be temporary.

I'm totally with you there. We're doing our best to break the bottlenecks.

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deimos444

+deimos444

Posted
Posted

 

Anyway, I am not in favor of more premium memberships until that little issue is resolved. 

 

Some companies would raise prices when demand exceeds supply. 

 

Once that is fixed, I think all of the suggestions above would be great.

<_< There is a great deal of merit in many of the solutions that have been offered.

In my business persona I do a wierd little dance called SixSigma.

To make an exceedingly long story short this involves using several " tools " along with statistical process controls to minimize waste in processes.

One thing you never do is add more tasks before the problem is identified and slimmed down a bit.

It seems to me that Groundspeak has too much on their table already.

All of the solutions so far seem to give them more work.

Sooo keep up the suggestions but pleeease think about the crap I just wrote. :o

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