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this seems to link with the themes of other recent topics but my general question is do cachers dislike the multi-cache / mystery type of caches. :D

The reason I ask

I have placed a mediocre 7 caches of which 2 are standard the other five are multi stage and thus more challenging, yet these are rarely visited in comparison to the standard ones. :D

There is the time factor involved in most of these which I understand, I have done a number myself - yet I have done a few 'standard' finds which have taken much longer than most multi's. :D

What is the general feeling about these types of caches because if they are not so welcome then it might mean cachers may be put off setting this type of cache.

I myself, when I make a day of hunting, pick a particular location, find the nearest caches, multi or standard and try to do them all. I dont just pick the standard ones because 'they will be quicker', because I like to complete one area and then move on which means doing all that are there. :P

 

Tim - ddm :D

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Check anyone's profile. You'll find multis to be one of the smallest numbers.

 

Most people become annoyed/bored with more than 2 redirects.

Surely the reason all profiles show multis with a lower number is because there are far less of them anyway. Mine shows fewer multi's - but that is not because I have shied away from them. :P

 

people become annoyed or bored with more than two redirects - don't they read the cache page first ??? - I am well aware of what I let myself in for and actually consider the multi's more of a challenge - because unless you get the first bit right (the clue solving bit) you won't find the main cache.

 

Tim - ddm :D

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Maybe it would help if multi-caches rated multi SMILEYS, one for each stage. It is a new find for each stage, right? :D

 

Some stages require miles of driving, new puzzle-solving and myriad other hoops to jump through . . . they should have more smiley-value . . . methinks!

 

We all want to complete the things that we begin. With shorter attention spans and limited time available for fun . . . we may resort to terminal caches (one stoppers) as the best use of our time.

 

Lately, the reviewers are leading us toward multi caches, as opposed to several single stage ones in a close area . . . perhaps to limit saturation . . . why not give more smileys to bring us on-board to this idea? :P

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I don't dislike multi-caches at all. I just tend to shy away from the ones I think are gonna consume a lot of time just to get one smiley. If it's a 2, 3 or even a 4 part multi that is going to be a nice easy walk in a park, sure I'll go for it. But if a multi sounds like all the stages will take some time to find cause they're all cleverly hidden then I'll do it when I feel like it. Most likely I'll just do one stage at a time and still try and get a few other caches in that day, instead of spending the whole time for 1 find.

 

Krazymtbr

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Yes, just another topic boiling down to quality vs. quantity. Personally, I enjoy the fact that few have found my caches - I don't cater to the crowd. IMHO, the perfect find/hide ratio is 50, 1 star caches should be only 1/5 of all caches, and an archived cache is a very sad occurence (unless it sucked). Oh, and just to be on topic I better mention multis.

Edited by edchen
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OK -

(1) what are you refering to when you say Smilie ???

(2) there are different types of multis - I agree, those that take you some distance between each clue are more hard work - but they are like the old style 'car treasure hunt' (a UK thing I think) - I have one of those - the others are more compact, you can walk from one clue to the next and complete the whole thing in under 1 1/2 hrs.

But why is a car based hunt less enjoyed to one where you walk - they are likely to take the same amount of time with the same objective - seek out clues to get the co-ords for the final cache

 

Tim - ddm

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Maybe it would help if multi-caches rated multi SMILEYS, one for each stage. It is a new find for each stage, right? :D

 

Some stages require miles of driving, new puzzle-solving and myriad other hoops to jump through . . . they should have more smiley-value . . . methinks!

 

We all want to complete the things that we begin. With shorter attention spans and limited time available for fun . . . we may resort to terminal caches (one stoppers) as the best use of our time.

 

Lately, the reviewers are leading us toward multi caches, as opposed to several single stage ones in a close area . . . perhaps to limit saturation . . . why not give more smileys to bring us on-board to this idea? :P

I've done it twice. You can too.

 

Hide a series of caches and then link them all up with a bonus cache. This is not a new concept.

 

Leap Frogz

 

The bonus to my offroad adventure series.

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OK -

(1) what are you refering to when you say Smilie ???

(2) there are different types of multis - I agree, those that take you some distance between each clue are more hard work - but they are like the old style 'car treasure hunt' (a UK thing I think) - I have one of those - the others are more compact, you can walk from one clue to the next and complete the whole thing in under 1 1/2 hrs.

But why is a car based hunt less enjoyed to one where you walk - they are likely to take the same amount of time with the same objective - seek out clues to get the co-ords for the final cache

 

Tim - ddm

smiley - the yellow guy next to your "found it" log. Every time you log add a found it log you get a smiley and it bumps up your found it stats.

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This cache gives you the fifth smilie as you seek out the final container. As you can see by the multiple bookmark lists it is on, it is a popular and fun cache . . . but it involves a major commitment, and a lot of gas, if you choose to do it in one day . . . :P

 

As I did other caches around the county I picked up the different stages. I think it took me two months to complete.

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I enjoy multis. The good ones take you on a journey and the final is so much more rewarding.

 

Generally they aren't popular and I don't just think its the time factor. I have a few multis that should take no more than 15-20 mins to complete and they are largely ignored, while single caches in the same area that take about the same time are hit regularly. I do mention on the page that they should be quick finds.

 

I think its more the "I'll be darned if I have to find 3 stages and only get one smiley for it." attitude.

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Here are a couple of reasons that people may have for avoinding multis:

 

1) if the cache page does not say anything about the number of stages or the length of the hike, it is impossible to estimate how long the hunt will take. Many people want to know if a cache is going to take a significant amout of time before they start hunting for it.

 

2) some people don't like the fact that you may not find one stage of a multi and therefore you get no smiley even though you found some stages. Many assume that if a multi has a lot of stages, some will be missing so why bother in the first place.

 

A series of caches with a bonus cache if found all in the series address both of the above concerns - but I don't see it as an alternative for a multi. Multis tend to be much better thought out than many traditional caches.

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I like Multi's....

 

... but ...

 

... When travelling, I generaly don't persue them while on the road. To many variables. Generaly there is no way of determining if it's 1 mile or 10 miles to the end point. I also don't do mysteries or high terrain level caches while on the road. (yes, I do once I am at my destination).

 

When caching around home, I setup a caching route. If the multi takes me too far off route, it will wait for next time I cache that area. (could be a few months)

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Multis are my most favorite and my least favorite caches.

 

I love a multi that makes me scramble all over one pretty piece of conservancy land the whole day long, to come home dirty, scratched up and exhausted for a single dadgum smiley. If all my caching days could be days like that, I'd be a happy weasel.

 

But I hate puzzles. And I hate the driving and the parking, so multis with drives in the middle bum me out. And so I also hate multis that naturally take more than one day to complete. You can filter these kinds out easily, but the ones I hate most are multis that should be perfectly to my taste, but I get irretrievably hung up on one stage and go home dirty, scratched up and exhausted for no dadgum smiley. I save 1/1's to cheer me up on days like this.

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Multis are my most favorite and my least favorite caches.

 

I love a multi that makes me scramble all over one pretty piece of conservancy land the whole day long, to come home dirty, scratched up and exhausted for a single dadgum smiley. If all my caching days could be days like that, I'd be a happy weasel.

 

Me too! Multis are either great or extremely boring. Having recently spent almost two full days doing one, losing a lot of blood and gaining much mud in the process, multis are again elevated in my thinking.

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I also tend to shy away from multis when i am out caching for the numbers but i do not mind them when i am just casually doing a bit of light caching as for what i do when putting out caches i tend to like the series type cache where you have several stand alone caches that are tied together with a mystery cache at the end i have done one with 20 different legs that count for 17 regular caches and three mysteries and the folks who went out and found them did it in only two hours so they ended up with the best of both . also i like to put a two stage multi where the first stage is a cool micro with the coords to the next stage an ammo box but i try to put them no more then a couple hundred feet apart from each other and once you find the micro the ammo can stage is a give away that shouldnt take more then a mintue or two :mad:

 

 

 

 

 

:laughing: Life is the prize and then you die :anibad:

Edited by 2trax
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Here's why I would tend to say multi's are not my favorite type of cache...

 

What is the point of hiding a multi stage cache when the stages don't really serve a purpose other than to make you find a film canister in a tree 500 feet away from the previous spot? Nothing special to see or neat hiding technique. Makes no sense to me. Seems too many multis are just placed for the sake of adding stages.

 

I was very guilty of this early on and try not to be a repeat offender.

 

Just my stupid opinion. :lol:

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What is the general feeling about these types of caches because if they are not so welcome then it might mean cachers may be put off setting this type of cache.

I like mullti caches. There have been some very memorable ones.

There are a few things about multicaches that I don't care for like very long distances, and large numbers of stages. It would be nice if there was a rough idea of what was coming before you get there. Some have good warnings, some do not. Ones that don't say much make me leary.

There's one around that supposedly takes a 60? mile journy to finish, driving of course, but still that's a lot. Another I've heard has 25 stages, and at least some of them are written coords, and terrain is a hilly rocky area, so gps reception isn't always so good.

I understand some are meant to be hard, but geez if I hid a cache I'd want it be found more than twice a year.... but hey, These are not my caches I can't change how they're set up, but I can avoid them

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I love multis, I even like the ones that take more than 1 day to complete. I also like ones that I have to drive to between stages. I just store the coords to the next stage and do them the next time I'm in that area.

 

I love singles too. They're great for lunch breaks, on the way to some where else, a quicky after work, etc.

 

Varity is the spice of life!

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When I first started geocaching I did not like the multi's very much. Now I love them. I like the puzzle ones too. It's fun to figure these things out.

 

Because we are not into the numbers aspect we have a lot more freedom to choose quality over quantity. We can simply pick a direction and go. Many times we will base our search around a multi.

 

Once we know our starting point we get a list of everything around and we just do it all.

 

I plan to set multi's.

 

I don't care if only a very few visit the cache because it is those very few special cachers I am targeting for an adventure and fun.

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1) I don't like them to begin with.

2) If I'm traveling I won't look for them at all.

3) If they are local I'll do them if I've cleaned out every other cache in the area.

4) I've done far to many where I can get a few stages, and never do manage to get back before it's gone, archived, or it's just not a place I'll visit again within the next year or so.

5) So I end where I started, and I'm not a fan of multi caches.

 

Naturally I'm working on one that will span 250 miles and have several stages. :lol:

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The smilie - can't spend it, can't trade it, doesn't do anything really.

The search - good workout - physical and mental, have fun

 

I guess I do not understand the hang up on getting more than 1 smilie. Did you have fun? If not, it doesn't matter how many smilie things the computer puts out. Did you not have fun? Once again it's not going to matter. If you have the need for lots of smilies - here you go: :lol::lol::lol:;);):D

 

It would seem that a new feature could be useful to solve the whole problem. How about a numeric feedback that the finder can select on a scale of 1-10 how much fun and so forth that they had. Numerical peer feedback would give you another tool to help you determine whether any cache - multi or not - was worth it. The software would of course have to aggregate the numbers so that a quick glance would let you know how others felt.

Edited by martinell
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For quite a while we steered away from multis. We would get fustrated and discouraged when we couldn't figure out where the next part was. We have done several though. Some local ones have taken up to 3 or 4 tries to find the next stages. This is why we only do local multis!

 

The best multi that we enjoyed was near Hunt Valley, Md. There were several hides with a clue in each. Each stage was a find and took us all over the place. As we aren't from that area, it was nice seeing around town. As we would find each stage, we would also grab all the caches in the immediate area. Then, after finding all the stages, we were able to locate the final. (With help from a phone a cacher) Best part, this cacher has several multis that are placed the same way. We also have finds on a couple of his other multi cache stages and will be able to finish another next year when we're up that way.

 

Terri

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I placed a 21 stage multi this summer that will probably get less than 10 "found" logs in it's entire life...why did I do it? Because the mental and physical challenges were tons of fun. Why will a few people work at, and solve, it...because the mental and physical challenges are tons of fun. Geocaching is fun, and different people like different kinds of fun and challenge and sandwich meat.

 

Multi-caches are not for everyone, but it's nice to place caches for all types of cachers.

 

jamie

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I agree that a non-walking multi is a pain, and I don't like them and don't do them either.

 

I might add that maybe the reason so many of you say your stats are low on multi's is that there are so few of them to do. It takes a great deal of time to layout and setup a good multi. Took me several weeks to do my last one. Anyone can walk out in the hundred acres of forest and hang a film can in a tree. How long does that take. Let's see, I think I can do that in less than 10 minutes. And how much thought do you have to put into and how much time does it take to do an 'ivy drive by'?

 

Some of us like to do multi's and like Tahosa said, if you don't want to do them then don't. There are several very good reasons to do a multi.

 

a - bring you along a whole trail - not just part way - to experience the feel

b - start you at a specific starting point

c - maybe I want you to see this trail and not go in the shortest way

d - I did one that was set for safest parking one time

e - puzzles have their own appeal and reasoning

f - and sometimes for the sheer pleasure of making it more difficult

 

cc\

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I don't do too many multi's but I've set up more tahn a dozen that combines driving and hiking. The drive coordinates are given along with a Treasure Map and focus around Covered Bridges with the final hiking coordinate to the cache calculated from questions about the bridges. I suppose it has an element of Mystery type but it's also not a multi container - only one at the end. Example.

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I like them, but not a steady diet of them. I've done multis that took multiple days to finish because I ran out of time (14 hours total on one). I've done one where you couldn't "see" the coordinates - you had to read them by feel. I've done multis that required a compass, waypoint projection, magnifying glasses, ultraviolet light, and a mirror. Multis take more time, but when hidden correctly they are a lot of fun. If every cache was a magnetic key holder hidden in a Wal-mart lot this game would get stale very very quickly. I am just glad that there are bunch of very creative cache hiders in my area that hide excellent multi caches that are a joy to find.

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We like many multis but don't like one's that send you miles away. We have put out a few and they are all two stage with short walking distances. The reason we put out multis is to show people different aspects of the same area.

 

Not fans of puzzle caches especially those that involve solving some sort of physics or chemistry equation. Never do those.

 

JDandDD

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I'll do a multi if it's in my 'clean' area and I have time.

 

One thing about multis is that they are more difficult to do well. put another way, there are only so many ways you can screw up a traditional, but there are almost infinite ways you can screw up a multi. Not just screw it up, but if you don't pay attention to the experience you're trying to deliver it's real easy to create a multi that just doesn't work well, start to finish.

 

I suggest you state upfront how many stages there are and the total transit time for the entire multi. You're hardly spoiling it that way and as a previous poster implied, doing so makes it easier for someone considering the cache to determine if it fits in with their schedule and available time. I try to do this and it makes a big difference.

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Multis have thier place. I have used them to lead cachers in the safe way to a cache and to spice up a cache that would be just another cache and dash. They can show more of an area than just a tupperware under a pile of sticks.

I like to find different types of caches. If I have time I hunt the more involved ones, If Idon't have time I hit the one stars.

As for the smillies, to heck with them, I just want to have fun!

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I see a lot more cachers find my regular caches then my multis. And I do not look for many multis myself because they can take more time than a regular cache. If I am planing a new cache I will do a multi that may be in the area so that I know it will not interfear with my cache placement. We just had a new multi placed not far from me that I will not do because ther are 11 legs to it.

 

edit to add:

On reason I do not go out of my way to do a multi is that in the past I just got tired of trying to do multis that have had missing legs.

Edited by JohnnyVegas
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I like multis. I like puzzles. It's just that they do take longer and involve advanced planning. If I happen to be in an area and have a few minutes, I'll stop and grab a cache. I usually don't have time for it to be a multi, and many puzzle caches require "homework" before attempting.

 

Keep 'em coming. At least they aren't micros!!

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