markandlynn Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 With the onset of Instant Notification (you need to be premium member and logged in for the link to work) Is there any point having members only caches any more ? At £2ish for one month's membership its not a barrier to a determined person using the website (remember the log list wont show up a PQ) I suppose the only thing it does is prevent newbies from finding your cache. Also for the benefit of any non members i will put this in context Currently there are 30 members only caches In the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands compared to about 10,000 non members caches. Dons flame proof suit and runs off Quote Link to comment
+Simply Paul Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 As a freeloading scumbag non-premium member geocacher I can't say I've ever seen the point of PM-only caches. They can still be muggled, they make hiding caches anywhere near them problematical for non-PMs and, if it's a trad, you can still workout the co-ords with a little trial and error. The ones I've seen have been no better hidden or stocked, in no better places or containers than 'free' caches. Should I ever decide Premium Membership offers me any worthwhile benefits, I'd still not place PM-only caches, for the above good reasons. SP Quote Link to comment
markandlynn Posted November 21, 2005 Author Share Posted November 21, 2005 As a freeloading I think 100 caches researched, stocked, hidden and listed hardly makes you a freeloader. Quote Link to comment
NickPick Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 (edited) As a proper freeloading standard member, I agree with everything SP said. The only thing I find about MOCs is that it's slightly annoying because I see the "New" logo on a cache search page before I see the "MOC" logo, so I think "wow, new cache nearby. Doh!". But as SP said, there's still plenty of non PM caches in my area. Also funny is that I was driving to work this morning, thinking to myself "We haven't recently had the issue of Premium membership vs. standard membership" Does this come under 'freaky coincidences'? edit - read before posting Nick and make sure the sentances make sense! Edited November 21, 2005 by NickPick Quote Link to comment
+Kitty Hawk Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Do I gather that you can pretty well get the coordinates anyway if there is a TB in a members only cache anyway? If this is the case, it does seem that they moving towards redundancy. Adrian - current premium member. Quote Link to comment
Deego Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 I only pay so I can have the red cross in front of my name on the forum I have only found 1 members only cache so thats not why I joined. +Deego, Quote Link to comment
+Kitty Hawk Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 I think I'm wrong, unless you know the name of the TB, in which case you can get close on google earth, but the datum is wrong and you wouldn't have the clue so it'd be pretty tricky. Quote Link to comment
+Kryten Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 I have premium membership for the PQ facilities but I wouldn't dream of setting a PM only cache. Quote Link to comment
+kewfriend Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 I've done one only MOC and it was excellent - but thats not the reason for paying the sub. As a family we get an enormous amount of enjoyment from Geocaching and I am more than happy to pay that little bit extra ( especially when the dollar was low ) to support what we enjoy. Having said that; FewKinder and KewFinder are just ord mems. Quote Link to comment
+walkergeoff and wife Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 I have premium membership for the PQ facilities but I wouldn't dream of setting a PM only cache. Ditto! Quote Link to comment
markandlynn Posted November 21, 2005 Author Share Posted November 21, 2005 I have premium membership for the PQ facilities but I wouldn't dream of setting a PM only cache. Ditto! Ditto! Quote Link to comment
+Alibags Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 There is one advantage of members only caches... you can view the cache audit to see who has been looking in on your cache. If it's a puzzle that requires solving, it is nice to know who has been looking in, and how many times they have looked! Oh, and you can keep freeloading scumbag non-premium members off your cache. LOL! Sorry Paul, only joking! Quote Link to comment
+Pharisee Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Un-ditto.... My last series of caches were all Members Only caches for the first two or three weeks of their life and then they were opened up to everybody. Why....? Just because I could.... so there !!! Quote Link to comment
+Maingray Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Un-ditto.... My last series of caches were all Members Only caches for the first two or three weeks of their life and then they were opened up to everybody. Why....? Just because I could.... so there !!! Ditto! Quote Link to comment
+Moote Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 (edited) If there were not paying members then the site would not be as good as it is That is why I'm a fully coughed up member So if you can have member only caches that is fine by me Milton (aka Moote) Edited November 21, 2005 by Moote Quote Link to comment
+purple_pineapple Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 ditto to most things said! I just wanted to express my surprise that SP is a freeloading scumbag non-premium member!! SP, does this mean you print your cache pages when you go caching, and don't use GSAK? Just surprised, thats all! D Quote Link to comment
markandlynn Posted November 21, 2005 Author Share Posted November 21, 2005 There is one advantage of members only caches... you can view the cache audit to see who has been looking in on your cache. If it's a puzzle that requires solving, it is nice to know who has been looking in, and how many times they have looked! Unless they use a pocket query to get the information. Quote Link to comment
+Simply Paul Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 ditto to most things said! I just wanted to express my surprise that SP is a freeloading scumbag non-premium member!! SP, does this mean you print your cache pages when you go caching, and don't use GSAK? Just surprised, thats all! Not even that. I write the co-ords, clue and any formulas on the page in a small book or on a scrap of paper and go for it. This *has* lead to problems, but a life without challenges is like a woman without a sharp intellect. Fun for a while but ultimately unsatisfying. SP Quote Link to comment
+Team Hippo Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 ...you can view the cache audit to see who has been looking in on your cache How do you do this, please? Quote Link to comment
+Pharisee Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 ...you can view the cache audit to see who has been looking in on your cache How do you do this, please? You just 'click' on the link that says "Read the audit log" and you get something like this Quote Link to comment
westonwanderers Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 I am another freeloading scum, who's not yet got a premium membership. I have been very tempted, especially after the recent google earth enhancements (that are, very cool). After all, it's very cheap, and that warm fuzzy feeling can be hard to beat. But then I remember what happened here last January in these forums, or I look at what's happening now to Virtuals/earth caches, etc. (and a few other things that are a thorn in my side). So, I don't bother on principal, so there! Quote Link to comment
+Team Hippo Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 You just 'click' on the link that says "Read the audit log" That's the problem - I can't see any such link Does it only appear on MOCs? Quote Link to comment
+Bambi&Thumper Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 But then I remember what happened here last January in these forums... OK, so for those of us who weren't about then, can someone please enlighten us? Bambi. Quote Link to comment
+Sensei TSKC Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 HH, You can only read the audit trail of your own cache and I think you have to designate it as MO first. You can't read anyone else's cache's audit log. (I think)... Quote Link to comment
+Pharisee Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 You just 'click' on the link that says "Read the audit log" That's the problem - I can't see any such link Does it only appear on MOCs? I'm afraid so.... bit of a bummer if you're not a fully paid up member Quote Link to comment
NickPick Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 (edited) But then I remember what happened here last January in these forums... OK, so for those of us who weren't about then, can someone please enlighten us? Bambi. I don't know if we mention that out loud, but I expect you'll have received a PM shortly. Or you could run aforum search for a word beginning with T which means "Large wave caused by underwater earthquake" and look at all the locked threads dated Jan 2005 Edited November 22, 2005 by NickPick Quote Link to comment
mjbvbjjbtmb Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 (edited) i have recently come across my first member only cache....... but it only became one very recently, after we tried to find it! Why would that happen? We're new at caching so would prefer to get a few more under our belts before paying up, to make sure that this is really for us. We printed off the Thomas Hickman and headed off to find it, unsuccessfully as it turns out and logged that we'd not found it! Next time we tried to visit the page less than a week later to see if anyone had found it since we searched, we discovered it had been made a member only cache. did we upset someone? hope not, cause we're really pretty friendly folk Edited November 22, 2005 by mjbvbjjb Quote Link to comment
markandlynn Posted November 22, 2005 Author Share Posted November 22, 2005 i have recently come across my first member only cache....... but it only became one very recently, after we tried to find it! Why would that happen? We're new at caching so would prefer to get a few more under our belts before paying up, to make sure that this is really for us. We printed off the Thomas Hickman and headed off to find it, unsuccessfully as it turns out and logged that we'd not found it! Next time we tried to visit the page less than a week later to see if anyone had found it since we searched, we discovered it had been made a member only cache. did we upset someone? hope not, cause we're really pretty friendly folk I can see how annoying that could be. There is a facility for non members to log MOC caches i have put a link in here to help you out. Having looked at the cache page he has placed a new container 3 days after your visit so yours was probably an "it was not there" log rather than a DNF. Log the cache NB welcome to the forums nice to see some new faces Quote Link to comment
+Alibags Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 i have recently come across my first member only cache....... but it only became one very recently, after we tried to find it! Why would that happen? Because someone has read the arguments on the subject and thinks that it's a good idea to change their caches? I would love to get the audit logs, but don't especially want to make my caches premium member only. My take on this is that it's a comparatively small amount to pay when you consider the amount of time I spend caching, and I do enjoy the member features. However, I do have misgivings about certain aspects of how a single organisation effectively 'owns' geocaching. As it is not compulsary to be a premium member I respect anybody's right not to be one. Considering the hobby carries on because of the money and time given by cachers, I would be completely sympathetic with the viewpoint that why should TPTB make money from this? This was the situation when I joined geocaching, so I have made the choice to accept the status quo as it is. If I had been in at the start, I may have chosen to make a noise to try to prevent the community sleepwalking into this situation. I wasn't, it is, and I chose to pay. It is Jeremy's bat and ball (and very nice of us to buy it for him) so it's his game. I can live with that. Quote Link to comment
alistair_uk Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Well I am a "freeloading scumbag non-premium member" as well. To be honest I have been thinking about premium membership for a while but never quite got round to it. It was not worth wile when I was only looking for a cache every 6 months and even now I do not feel I am missing out on anything big. Perhaps it is because I am not a premium member but I don't like the idea of member only caches. I also like to think that I have put something back to the cause just by placing caches that people enjoy (or at least I hope they do) that costs time and money, and just because someone does not subsidise the web service does not make them a freeloader. Premium membership as my Christmas present to me perhaps. Quote Link to comment
mjbvbjjbtmb Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 Having looked at the cache page he has placed a new container 3 days after your visit so yours was probably an "it was not there" log rather than a DNF.Log the cache NB welcome to the forums nice to see some new faces Many thanks for the link - we returned today and found it....exactly where we had searched before! I will log it now with pleasure! and thanks for the welcome too. Quote Link to comment
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