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Geocachers Or Waymarkers


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With Waymarking coming online to the masses, what is the early opinion.

 

Will there be many dedicated Waymarkers that do not Geocache?

Will most Geocachers become Waymarkers?

Will the majority do both?

 

After seeing the site, what do you think? Will the two live in peace, or will there be a divide of interests?

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I hope they diverge. I don't think the people will be mutually exclusive. I do other GPS activities but that doesn't make them "geocacher games." Just because I am a geocacher that uses a GPSr for cycling doesn't mean I have to abide by geocacher rules while doing so.

 

I look forward to Waymarking slowly making carryover geocaching paradigms a thing of the past and becoming its own activity.

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Being a geocahcer that really only has my GPSr with me when I intend to find/place a cache, thus requires planning and forethought, it will not be that likely that I'll stumble upon something to create a waymark or log a waymark AND have my unit with me AND have the time to sit around while the unit settles out for decent coords AND have my camera with me (if a picture is required). So I think it would take a lot more effort for me to create or log waymarks. I would need to set out with the intent of creating or logging one (like I do with geocaching). However, I don't care for the way things are layed out on the site as it compares to geocaching.com, so it does not feel the same and I don't think I can use it the same... it just doesn't look like much fun. It *almost* looks like work.

 

That being said, it does look like it could become a nice online reference for when I need to locate a nearby business or something.

 

But that is my opinion. I'm kind of int he middle. I'll probably use it once in a while. I doubt I'll create or log that many waymarks. We'll see how it grows.

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Honestly, I will use Waymarking to supplement geocaching, as a bit of variety. I wont be logging things like bicycle shops unless I come across a highly unusual one or dog leash parks. I will be looking out for cool mailboxes, finding old photos to recreate on the streets, and things like that. Im not in it for the listing service. Im in it for the fun. And yea, fun includes searching the internet for a peace pole location or a weird story when I have some spare time, then finding that out in the field.

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Can anyone tell me if they consider relisting existing virtual Geocaches as Waymarks a good thing.

I have just listed one of mine and referred to the GC in the WM write up?

Also what do you think of logging a visit to a Waymark which also happens to be a GC which I visited some time ago?

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I like Waymarking for points-of-interest and geocaching for the hunt. I do think there are a lot of virtual caches that could be moved over to Waymarking - after all, most virtual caches are pretty much a POI and really don't require much hunting. With Waymarking, you could find a lot locations just by mapping them and without a GPSr - so I think it'll bring a whole new crowd.

 

I think i'll search Waymarking when going on vacation for those interesting/neat places that you would never find in a vacation guide... and keep geocaching for the thrill of the hunt!

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I will do both though I will not be as fanatical about finding all the waymarks in my area. I do not see any real reason to separate the two but also do not really care that there is a separation.

 

I think i'll search Waymarking when going on vacation for those interesting/neat places that you would never find in a vacation guide... and keep geocaching for the thrill of the hunt!

 

I agree to a point. I'd do BOTH while on vacation/business trips. Quite frankly a lot of greocaches do not offer much of a hunt and are often not that interesting. The geocaches I remember offer a challenge and/or offer an interesting location. I also like geocaches that introduce me to an area which a virtual/waymark can also do. I would prefer a combined profile/stats page and a combined search page.

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The huge drawback to WM is that it removes one stop shopping. Everhone used to point at Waypoint.org as 'the place for virtuals' while not really understanding what made them a cache. Maybe WM understands why they are a cache, but, it's still another site.

 

I've got some pretty nice caches listed on NV, but they don't get any play. Why look there when you can do all your shopping here and it's more than enough to keep you busy? You could say a cache is a cache, but it's simply not true. Where it's listed matters. Is Waymarking any different?

 

I'll still kick the tires, the same way I actually do find NV caches, but odds are that in the end I will do a lot less virtual caches than I used to do as a result.

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I will do both though I will not be as fanatical about finding all the waymarks in my area. I do not see any real reason to separate the two but also do not really care that there is a separation.

Boy I hope not. The site was designed to support thousands and thousands of waymarks in your area in their own categories.

 

The vision of Waymarking is to create an interface to allow anyone to create their own geocaching style community. There are folks who are nuts over covered bridges and may just frequent that part of the site.

 

Once we add the feature to create readable URLs it will be easier to bookmark and save different categories, like http://www.Waymarking.com/d/covered_bridges and as the site features increase, category managers will be able to customize each directory to suit the theme. Additionally we plan to have forums for each and every category on the site, as well as for each and every waymark. So you can have your own geocaching-like site for each community around a particular waymark category.

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With Waymarking coming online to the masses, what is the early opinion.

 

Will there be many dedicated Waymarkers that do not Geocache?

Will most Geocachers become Waymarkers?

Will the majority do both?

 

After seeing the site, what do you think? Will the two live in peace, or will there be a divide of interests?

What do I think? I finally found something very useful for geocaching:

 

the "Geocaching Tour Guides" category.

 

It is probably pretty tough to have a "divide of interests" with a useful geocaching category such as that! :)

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The ability to search waymarks is going to be a critical.

I concur. I have been surfing Waymarking.com since it was released to PMs, and I just now today found that particular category. I know our wonderful Groundspeak web folks are working hard on the site, so this comment is not intended for jabs. Plus, I am quite a nomad, and finding waymarks on places I have been to recently is even difficult... although I suppose I could annotate zip codes everywhere.... hmmmm....

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Being a Chef I know it takes more than one ingredient to make a dish. And as the pot simmers away things will change. And finally you will have your final dish.

 

I will do both, Waymarking and caching and see where the two can be blended to create a different kind of dish. Which may be tart to some and sweet to others, hell you can't please all of them.

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Unfortuately for us, we'll be only going through geocaching. I don't have time to sort through two sites prior to us traveling. It takes me enough time to get through geocaching! So, when the virtuals leave, we will miss seeing those great sites. I regret that but unless someone figures out how to make a day a few hours longer, we'll try to find interesting caches.

 

Terri

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It *almost* looks like work.

That's what I discovered after using it for three weeks while it was still in beta. I even created 20+ waymarks for the site. But after the short honeymoon, I started to realize that there was no joy, no fun in this activity. Perhaps the poor site design had something to do with that. Perhaps it was because there is no surprise inherent in the activity, no hunt. Just drive up to a location and look around.

 

I've since archived all my waymarks. Just no interest in managing them. And, at least the locations are open again for those few people that may care.

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As a new geocacher, I'm pretty much open to all of it right now. I like to explore/wander/roam.....whatever you want to call it. If it's to go find a cache, i'm there. If it's to see a view that is out of this world, i'm on it.

 

My one concern is being able to combine the two to cause less stress. Is it possible to punch in a zip code and get the cords for BOTH cache & waymarkers nearest you? or is/will that be done seperately?

 

I like to make a day of caching and I enter 10 or so waypoints. It'd be cool to include a couple of waymarkers in the mix, just for sightseeing/relaxing/educational purposes. Will I have to go to both sites to get the cords to accomplish this? I'm thinkin yes I do. :rolleyes:

 

Whatever the case, I'm just happy that the entire community exists and that it's been a pleasure so far. :blink:

 

~denise

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Two very different worlds

 

I tend to agree. But it seems to be very busy , not good busy, but busy in the sense that people are trying to get a handle on it, so it has a lot of white noise around it. Maybe after awhile it will find its own level. What I am having a problem with is trying to figure out the purpose of Waymarking. Geocaching is a game, for entertainment, involving the gps and a hunt. What is the purpose of Waymarking, it does not seem to be a game, a sport a hobby, it seems more like a catalog ?

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Geocaching is a game, for entertainment, involving the gps and a hunt. What is the purpose of Waymarking, it does not seem to be a game, a sport a hobby, it seems more like a catalog ?

First there was 'Google' then there was 'Waymarking'--- pick your catatog.

Will sales ads be next? Tourist information search engines? ....or why would you have an extensive search for a place such as 'McDonalds' listed???[/Color=blue] <_<

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK>>>I got the "QUOTE" working" ...now how do you get the color to work??? <_<

Edited by Jake39
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As a new geocacher, I'm pretty much open to all of it right now. I like to explore/wander/roam.....whatever you want to call it. If it's to go find a cache, i'm there. If it's to see a view that is out of this world, i'm on it.

 

My one concern is being able to combine the two to cause less stress. Is it possible to punch in a zip code and get the cords for BOTH cache & waymarkers nearest you? or is/will that be done seperately?

 

I like to make a day of caching and I enter 10 or so waypoints. It'd be cool to include a couple of waymarkers in the mix, just for sightseeing/relaxing/educational purposes. Will I have to go to both sites to get the cords to accomplish this? I'm thinkin yes I do. :o

 

Whatever the case, I'm just happy that the entire community exists and that it's been a pleasure so far. :P

 

~denise

i agree with this statement, but that almost takes it back to being a virtual cache, so i dont know if it would make sense

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