Finally Playing How I Want

[+Corp Of Discovery]

Who goes to every movie that comes out or eats everything they got on the menu? So select away!

And thank GC for the variety and the freedom to choose!

 

Yeah, I really like the variety.

 

Every once in a while I like to hunt a locationless. Oops, sorry, those are gone now. Well at least I can make a virtual out of this very historic and quite unique object I found. Err..forgot, those are no longer being accepted.

 

It sure is a good thing to be able to play how you want.

 

There is always Waymarking I guess (once it gets settled). Now where was that list of all the McDonalds...

 

[Foghorn Leghorn]That's a joke... I say, that's a joke, son.[/Foghorn Leghorn]

 

In all honesty I too play how I want. I hunt them all. Sometimes I do like one type over another, but I don't ignore any. I may pass it by today and come back for it next week, eventually I'll try and find it tho.

[+Metaphor]

I hunt them all. Sometimes I do like one type over another, but I don't ignore any. I may pass it by today and come back for it next week, eventually I'll try and find it tho.

 

Please don't misconstrue this question because it's not meant to be a challenge, but why do you hunt them all?

[The 2 Dogs]

As I approach 300 cache finds, I've started playing a new way: doing only the caches I want to do.

I know that sounds weird, but there was a time when I would find EVERYTHING around me, just to be a completist. But after finding so many weak micros, trash dump caches and other things I don't enjoy, I've decided to go after only the caches I think I'll really enjoy. I know some people enjoy all the micros, and I also know it could be argued that I may miss great caches that way, but really, that's the way I want to do it.

It's really liberating, actually: instead of griping about the poor quality of caches, I just plan better and have stopped being so numbers-oriented. I watch the logs and if people are just writing TNLNSL on the logs, then it's probably not good. If the log is nine miles long and talks about how great an adventure was had, that's probably my kind of cache.

All kinds of urban micros are popping up around me. The descriptions say terse things like "in parking lot look under bush." The hides are in coffee cans. And I feel fine about it because I'm IGNORING them.

I've discovered that my ideal cache is this:

1. In the woods. I just can't get excited about urban caches anymore.

2. Involves a hike.

3. Takes me to a very special scenic spot, or place of historical significance.

4. Is at least ammo can sized.

So those are the ones I'm hunting. It isn't that I think others should be abolished, or that Groundspeak should adopt a ratings system, or anything like that. It's just that after doing some biggies like Black Mesa Cache, I am no longer interested in anything that doesn't challenge me. I hope you are getting the same enjoyment out of the game as I am, playing it YOUR WAY.

 

You're lucky these days to have that option, back in the old days (sorry for the cliche) we were starved for caches so of course we did them all. It nice to see so many caches now and how the game has evolved over the years.

 

Hounddog

[+olbluesguy]

You're lucky these days to have that option, back in the old days (sorry for the cliche) we were starved for caches so of course we did them all. It nice to see so many caches now and how the game has evolved over the years.

 

Hounddog

 

 

How true

 

Back then, the morning after the posting you couldn't find a parking space near a new cache.

[+atfritz]

You're lucky these days to have that option, back in the old days (sorry for the cliche) we were starved for caches so of course we did them all. It nice to see so many caches now and how the game has evolved over the years.

 

Hounddog

 

 

How true

 

Back then, the morning after the posting you couldn't find a parking space near a new cache.

 

I like how you put that all in perspective. I am very fortunate, in this day in age, to have the option.

[+geos of the jungle]

I went through a brief "novelty" phase where I did some caches just for the sake of doing them. I am now at the point where I'm more selective and stick (mostly) to ones that seem interesting to me (and/or other members of our family). I do tend to spend some time reading the cache details and recent logs before deciding to put a cache on the "hey, do you guys wanna try this one today?" list. I used to think that clearing a radius was important. I'm over that phase now. A new micro popped up just a few miles from home the other day. I didn't think twice about just bookmarking it and saving it for another time.

 

I still like watching new caches that pop up and may even consider going after it if it sounds interesting. One of the things I like about new caches is the chance of maybe meeting up with other local caches. I love talking cache with others in the area.

 

Having said all that, I like all kinds of hides/containers (even nanos) and I enjoy working on puzzles (we have plenty of great puzzle caches in our area). I'm especially appreciative of clever hide styles and camo jobs. It's amazing how creative some cachers are! I'm also very appreciative of some of the hikes and sites I've learned about. I grew up in an urban environment and didn't get to do much hiking/etc in my younger days. I'm certainly making up for that now!

 

It's all about "fun" and we're having plenty of it!

tony (1/3 geos of the jungle)

[+Renegade Knight]

I hunt them all. Sometimes I do like one type over another, but I don't ignore any. I may pass it by today and come back for it next week, eventually I'll try and find it tho.

 

Please don't misconstrue this question because it's not meant to be a challenge, but why do you hunt them all?

 

Because they are there.

[+Ambrosia]

I will do just about any cache. Sometimes, it turns quite masochistic.

[+Ambrosia]

I hunt them all. Sometimes I do like one type over another, but I don't ignore any. I may pass it by today and come back for it next week, eventually I'll try and find it tho.

 

Please don't misconstrue this question because it's not meant to be a challenge, but why do you hunt them all?

 

Because they are there.

Very well said.

 

I'm obsessive-compulsive.

[+CharlieP]

I watch the logs and if people are just writing TNLNSL on the logs, then it's probably not good. If the log is nine miles long and talks about how great an adventure was had, that's probably my kind of cache.

 

Yep, that is one of my methods of selecting the caches that go to the top of my "to do" list. But that requires a lot of searching, and sometimes I stumble on a really neat cache that has been out there for a while and I just had not seen it. Another way to find the gems here in Georgia is to study the lists of caches nominated for the annual GGA Outstanding Geocache awards. But recently I have found another method ... the bookmark lists. I look at the cache pages for the caches I really liked and see if someone has bookmarked it. That can lead to a nice list of caches I might enjoy. I have done my part and made my own list of Recommended Geocaches. If more geocachers will do this, it will make finding the gems easier.

[+Corp Of Discovery]

I hunt them all. Sometimes I do like one type over another, but I don't ignore any. I may pass it by today and come back for it next week, eventually I'll try and find it tho.

 

Please don't misconstrue this question because it's not meant to be a challenge, but why do you hunt them all?

 

Because they are there.

Very well said.

 

I'm obsessive-compulsive.

 

Yes, because they are there and a slight O-C bent have a bit to do with it.

 

But I truly like all the different types. Sometimes I get wrapped up in a puzzle, sometimes it's urban micros and sometimes it's long hikes in the snow to find an ammo can. Variety to me is good.

 

I just had my biggest caching day ever. I found 30. In that 30 I found ammo cans, urban micros, micros in the woods and even 1 virt. No really long hikes, but for being in the city the walks were fine. Found some with a partner and a few solo. A really mixed bag and a great day.

 

I always find it hard when some one asks me my favorite type. I can hardly answer because my favorite kinds are ones that challenge me, surprise me or give me a good or even just a different experience- and that can be any type of cache.

[+Poidawg]

I am thankful for what caches I am able to get to and recover from. While I can appreciate what it takes to place and find a cache 22 miles from the nearest roadway, I have a physical disability and while I would have once been able to find such a cache, if not for the micros placed behind a rock in the parking lot on the borders of that beautiful state park near the trailhead of that 22 mile hike, or the urban caches - micro or not, I would not be able to participate in geocaching. So for me, Im thankful for what I can get to, get back from and recover from within a reasonable amount of time. I may not be able to see the beautiful vistas far from civiliazation no matter what my heart desires or even dive into a good sized cache on a regular basis because Im surrounded by micros, but all I can do is all I can do.

[+WalruZ]

The ones that take me out into the woods are certainly my favorites.

 

But that said, I try to do them all (except puzzles). An oft-heard piece of advice to complainers on the site is "don't do those".

 

Thing is, you really don't know what a cache is like, not really-really, until you've found it. Some of the caches that the PPs dismiss may very well be nice memorable caches, but they bypass them because they think they know what's there already. And some of them aren't, and how would you necessarily know without visiting?

 

That said, yes, if the cache description says "watch out for the homeless encampment", or "please be respectful of the neighbor with the barking dog on the other side of the fence", or "it's just a lightpost, nothing fancy", I choose somewhere else to do my caching and give that one awhile to see if it will die a natural death. If i'm in the area might try it, and if it's badly done I'll leave an honest log, and if it's really awful I'll leave an honest sba. But I don't usually rule things out offhandedly - you never know...

[+Confucius' Cat]

But I don't usually rule things out offhandedly - you never know...

 

That is a profundity. This is the best argument against placement rules and automatic filtering.

 

Sometimes the ones you think are going to be crap turn out to be cool. (and unfortunately vers-vica)

 

I think that is a big part of the "draw" of the game.

[+drat19]

As I approach 300 cache finds, I've started playing a new way: doing only the caches I want to do.

It only took me 100 finds, but more than 2 years, to realize this same thing. I think it all came to a head when I came home 3 or 4 times in a row disappointed from caching, and these were cache runs that had no DNFs.

 

It made me think about what I like about caching and what I don't like.

I made the exact same discovery, for the exact same reason, at about the 1350-find mark. I was a confirmed, admitted Numbers Ho, but then one more trip to Mobile spending a day searching for garbage dump side of the road micros that the hider admittedly placed for Numbers Ho's (his term for it was "for folks to test their GPS skills"), and followed by one more trip to New Orleans spending a day searching for flim canisters placed every 0.2 mile in the same flippin' tree hollow each time, finally broke me.

 

Ironically, the notorious Mobile hider retired from the game after getting what he considered to be too many complaints about the quality of his hides/locations (not just from me), and as for New Orleans, well, Katrina pretty much cleaned out those hides.

 

Now I'm a member of the "me too" camp on this thread. I cache when I want and where I want, targeting only the types of hides that I want. And my ego finally learned to accept that it was OK not to be "Mississippi's #1 cache finder" anymore.

 

Dave R. in Biloxi, MS

 

- 1365 cache finds my first 2 years (incl. 994 in calendar yr. '03, an apparently-impressive accomplishment at that time - at least for someone like me based in a not-cache-dense region)

 

- Less than 400 cache finds in the almost-2 years since

Edited March 13, 2006 by drat19