Category Proposal: Answers To Puzzle Caches

[+tozainamboku]

This is a serious proposal. It may require some modification to both Waymarking.com and geocaching.com code to implement.

 

The idea is as follows:

 

Owners of Unknown/Mystery (i.e. Puzzle) caches on geocaching.com could create a waymark with the actual location of their puzzle cache. The waymark nickname would be the GC number of their cache. Only geocaching.com approvers would be able to see these waymarks and could use them to enforce the 528 ft cache saturation rules when approving new caches in the area. The waymark owner could see his own waymark but none of the others in the category.

 

An owner of a puzzle cache who has created a solution waymark, can include a button/link on their puzzle cache page labeled "Verify solution". A geocaching user who has solved the puzzle could click this link to get a form to input their solution to the puzzle. This would run a script on geocaching.com that can check the solution against the location of the waymark. It would then report yes or no in an image so that a user could not write a script that would guess coordinates until yes is returned.

[+Bear Paughs]

Interesting, but I see a few problems with this --

 

1) Many GC puzzle cache owners may not be interested in participating in the waymark site (as cool as I think it, we already know it's not for everyone.)

 

2) These aren't waymarks in the sense of posting a target within a category and having users logging visits. Your suggestion is for functionality that Waymarking is not meant to provide. (Although it could become potentially a cool feature on GC as a totally separate function.)

 

Those are the main issues, but I'm sure there are others, like potential for hacking, requiring different access levels for usergroups, etc.

 

Although their loads are probably pretty full now, I think you should suggest this on the geocaching.com web site forum, but as a new feature not part of Waymarking. Who knows, maybe it's something TPTB will consider for future development.

[+FtMgAl]

A mystery cache (and multi's) already requires the actually finally location for approval. That should preclude a new MC inside the distance limit. Unfortunately no record seems to be kept of this location since I have seen a new regular cache get approved later well within the limit (200 feet on flat terrain, no streams, in fact just on the other side of the trail). Rather than create a whole new system on a website never designed to solve this problem, how about we fix that problem with a spreadsheet that approvers get with real coordinates and a few macros for checking distances and doing routine Modify/Add/Delete functions?

 

Next, so that finders can find mystery caches and not walk up to the Camp David Gatehouse staring at their GPS because they solved the puzzle wrong. How about puzzle cache owners solve that problem themselves with their own web site. It is easy and free to set a small one up. Create a couple of subdirectories and a page using the name of the finally coordinates. Then create a "home page" that says "enter the URL www.geocities.com\myanswer\xxxxxxx\xxxxxxx\right.html" in your Address box. They do that and they either get the page that says they have correctly solved the puzzle or they get a 404 error message. You also explain 404 errors on the home page.

 

You have two good issues that need to be solved. IMHO they can both be solved far easier without involving Waymarking.

Edited August 20, 2005 by FtMgAl

[+tozainamboku]

You agree that my proposal fixes two real problem with mystery cache but object to my proposing using Waymarking.com as a solution? Waymarking provides a way to create lists of geographic data and associate metadata with each of the the locations in this database. It provides a mechanism for creating and maintaining these lists. Your is suggestion it that Groundspeak develop a whole new system just for keeping a list of solution to puzzle caches on geocaching.com or on another website and ignore the fact that they have just spent all the effort on a general solution from keeping list of data.

 

There are issues with my solution, as I pointed out. Mainly this involves adding a permission to categories so that only geocaching volunteer approvers could see the waymarks. However something like this has already been discussed in the thread on taboo categories.

[+BalkanSabranje]

How about mystery caches by non-premium members?

[+Bear Paughs]

You agree that my proposal fixes two real problem with mystery cache but object to my proposing using Waymarking.com as a solution?

No and yes.

[+ibycus]

Then create a "home page" that says "enter the URL www.geocities.com\myanswer\xxxxxxx\xxxxxxx\right.html" in your Address box. They do that and they either get the page that says they have correctly solved the puzzle or they get a 404 error message. You also explain 404 errors on the home page.

Getting a wee bit outside Waymarking here, but what the hay.

 

I see a couple of problems with this....

 

1. Puzzle caches that have only approximate solutions (i.e. a cacher may not come to the 'exact' coordinates originally intended by the placer, but can get 'close enough') One of my multis is like this (Advanced Trianglation)

2. Would have to be rate limited, otherwise some bonehead is going to try every reasonable coordinate possible...