Will All Virtuals Be Archived?

[+DavidMac]

It’s pretty well known that all locationless caches will be archived and moved to Waymarking on January 1st. It’s also been stated numerous times that other cache types (virts, webcams, earthcaches) will be grandfathered on the site unless maintenance issues arise. Still, however, there seems to be a nasty rumor circulating that all caches without logbooks will disappear from gc.com at the turn of the new year. I’ve seen several references to this rumor over the last few days here in the forums and have talked to several people in person who were convinced that all caches without a physical logbook (virtuals, webcams, etc) are doomed come new years’ day.

 

I’ve seen several references where geoaware has stated that all earthcaches on gc.com will be archived at an upcoming date. Has this date been set? Also, are there any long-term plans to mass archive any other cache types such as webcams? I understood “grandfathered” to mean that all existing listings (except locationless) will remain on the gc site indefinitely. Hopefully someone at TPTB can clarify and crush any rumors.

 

I’m also assuming that all locationless will be “locked” from posting new logs at the same time they’re archived, as has been done with the Yellow Jeep locationless. Is this true or will there be a grace period to get any last-minute logs in?

[+mihiker]

See This Thread

[+DavidMac]

See This Thread

Yes, I've seen (and posted in) that thread. But it doesn't explain why there's been so much talk about mass archiving caches, specifically earthcaches. Geoaware has stated several times that all earthcaches on gc.com will be archived at a future date.

[Keystone]

With apologies for being repetitive, I am copying and pasting a chunk of a post that I made recently in another thread.

 

Existing virtual caches and webcam caches will remain grandfathered on the Geocaching.com site unless and until Groundspeak decides to change that. NEW virtual, webcam and locationless submissions are no longer being accepted on Geocaching.com. All of those are finding a new home at Waymarking.com. Existing locationless caches -- and only locationless caches -- will be archived and locked at the end of the year.

 

Reliable sources for the above information include the section on Grandfathered Cache Types in the Geocache Listing Requirements/Guidelines document, and the Read Me First thread that's pinned at the top of the Getting Started With Waymarking Forum.

 

This post does not address Earthcaches because volunteer cache reviewers (such as me) do not have any responsibility for new Earthcache listings or for later actions taken in regard to existing Earthcache listings.

[+DavidMac]

I brought this up because I'm increasingly seeing logs on webcams and earthcaches that read something like, "glad I got this one while it's still here" and "too bad these caches are all going away." Not having heard anything official saying that these were going to be archived I wondered if: 1) people just don't read the forums and are misinformed (most likely), 2) rumors get nastier as they spread (again, prety likely) or 3) there's been a change in plans in regards to these cache types and I missed the memo. I wanted to make sure that #3 wasn't true. But it looks like nothing's changed for now.

 

This post does not address Earthcaches because volunteer cache reviewers (such as me) do not have any responsibility for new Earthcache listings or for later actions taken in regard to existing Earthcache listings.

 

I still have the question about earthcaches. Are they going to be removed from gc.com?

Edited November 29, 2005 by DavidMac

[+Lil Devil]

I still have the question about earthcaches. Are they going to be removed from gc.com?

I guess we'll find out in a month, eh?

 

Personally, I would be very happy to see Earthcaches go away, since most of them are just lame virtuals with a fancy name

[+Iowa Tom]

So I guess that this "cache" will no longer function.

 

Too bad for that one. I used it to make a cache for my locationless cache cache here.

 

-it

[+Lil Devil]

So I guess that this "cache" will no longer function.

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