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Is This Cheating?


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A family with one geocaching account, Husband goes North with his friends logs 15 caches on the account. The wife goes South with her friends and logs 15 caches on the account in the same day. Does it seem ok? Anyone doing this?

 

Team accounts are a completely different situation than individual accounts (Even if they don't have 'team' in the name).

 

They found their caches.

Edited by BlueDeuce
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Katydid & I have a joint accout. We have never done what you gave as an example. I believe it is OK to do it if we were so inclined. Granted, our number of finds won't ever stack up to an individual doing the same amount. It is afterall a hobby. MS

 

You head to the Cranberry Festival in Wisconsin with some girlfriends, he heads to the Promise Keepers event in Kansas City with some buddies.

 

You both take a trip to Nashville, he says, 'You take that side of the street, I'll take the other."

 

One implies cheating.

 

Neither are.

Edited by BlueDeuce
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Why do you care about their numbers? Are prizes given out in PA for first to reach 100,1000, 10,000? Last time I check the only person who should care about my stats is me. :unsure:

I'll agree that it's a little squirrley, but I really don't care as long as they are legit found logs. No one is really being 'cheated'. It's a different story if the logs are totally bogus. But then it isn't about the numbers either. It's about false information being provided to the cache owner and anyone behind them. Perhaps the cache isn't actually there-the owner gets a false signal. The next person to look for that one thinks-geez it was just here yesterday-how odd. But I digress....

 

So to sum up-if stats really mattered or if it were a contest with posted rules that prohibited this type of logging, then it would be cheating. But since it's just finding geocaches and logging them then no not really. But if you think it is then I guess it is? :):laughing:

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Our family logs finds uner one name. Many times it's just me, but I don't want to have to manage 2 accounts and try to remember which ones I did solo and with the family.

 

Cheating in geocaching is pretty tough to pull of; you're only cheating yourself. There is no reward for boosting your numbers, so I think the above scenario would be OK.

 

My wife recently went on an out-of-state trip without me. She went caching in MN and I spent the day caching here in CO. She didn't find any (too much snow) and I found 5 or 6. I suppose it would look a little strange on the 'cache finds' page, but that's about it.

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A family with one geocaching account, Husband goes North with his friends logs 15 caches on the account. The wife goes South with her friends and logs 15 caches on the account in the same day. Does it seem ok? Anyone doing this?

 

Consider publicity (media coverage, leaderboards, forum accolades) as another factor when discussing cheating, then threads discussing this topic might not be so controversial. It should be obvious based on the ACTIONS on how the person goes about this pursuit whether the intention is cheating or not.

 

I know of a team that posts finds where both members are not always present. I don't think they have done the extreme of what you said, where they deliberately split up to increase their finds. (By the way, they post DNFs :laughing:) For this team, they aren't cheating IMHO.

Edited by budd-rdc
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know of a team that posts finds where both members are not always present. I don't think they have done the extreme of what you said, where they deliberately split up to increase their finds. (By the way, they post DNFs ) For this team, they aren't cheating IMHO.

 

Interesting, so if he finds 100 caches and she finds 100 how many caches should they log on one account?

 

(Counts on fingers...)

 

:unsure::laughing:

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It seems silly to me. An account is not a passport. Some accounts are individual, some are "teams". My wife and I are a team but she works 80 hours a week and has little time for caching. The dog and I have a lot of time without our favorite team member so we go caching. She's only found a couple w/o us, we've found a growing number w/o her, and the best ones we've found, we've found together.

 

Seems the only people who really care about numbers are the ones who take this hobby a bit too seriously. My feedback numbers on e-Bay dwarf my geocache finds. But, THEY ARE ALL POSITIVE.

 

Numbers only matter when there is competition. Competition is great and I'd like to see more of it. I'd like to see sponsorship and big prizes but currently Groundspeak is keeping the cabosh on this angle. If and when this angle is opened up, I want a piece of it.

 

Until then, your numbers only show how much you or your team supports O.P.E.C. and what ever brand of tire you drive on.

 

It's more a hobby than a game.

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Of the finds on our account... I have been present at all but maybe 35 of them. In one situation, Dean got to go to an event while I was out of town and found a bunch of caches with friends. Meanwhile, I went caching that day and found a few myself. But I travel for a living and have over 100 finds without him due to caching after work and stuff.

It is easier to have the one account to log them under then for both of us to get seperate accounts. And cheaper. :(

Why worry, it shouldn't be effecting you in any way, your numbers don't change in response to anything they are doing.

(I do think that logs should indicate who/which team members were the finders though. When I cache alone I try to remember to sign the online log as "Jennifer of Jennifer&Dean" so the owner knows who found it.)

-J

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My wife and I maintain separate accounts, but if we are together and one of us finds it, we sometimes show the other person if it has been a long difficult search, but more often we just call out "OK got it" and walk away to let the other person find it. So by our standards logging a cache when you are not present would certainly be cheating the other half of the partnership.

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I agree with most of the posters here. Geocaching can be a social sport as well as an individual one. My family caches under the name Agilefox, but it's rarely all five of us (and the cachehound). Usually, it's me, me and the boys, or all of us. We log all finds under the same account and never considered that "our" finds included ones only I saw.

 

If more than one member is interested in caching individually, it's their call whether or not to get their own account. Personally, I would get two, so I could see these places for myself. Part of the fun is seeing the parks, locations and cool hides for yourself.

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I don't think it is cheating at all. There are many teams out there ranging from a few to several. If that is how they wish to tack thier efforts ,so be it.

The only time I can see this to be an issue is in the unlikely event that they insist on comparing numbers. At that point it's comparing apples and oranges. You can't really compare the achievments of a single cacher to the efforts of two or more people. I find that most teams are out there having fun and tracking thier numbers as a benefit to themselves.

 

The only numbers you should be concerned about are your own. Everyone else is playing by thier own set of rules. not yours

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Are you implying group cachers are cheating if everyone in the group doesn't independently find the cache? You remind me of that guy who accused me of stealing someone else's sig item out of a cache, just because I found it a day before he did...

 

Addendum - Just because I've asked all my geocaching friends to log me into every cache they find, I'm not cheating. Okay, I don't have any geocaching friends, but if I did...

Edited by edchen
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We started out as "The Texas Vikings" all 5 of us, plus two associates.

Then we realized that some wanted to go out on their own, so we changed to:

 

"One of the Texas Vikings" (me)

"Two of the Texas Vikings"

"Two other of the Texas Vikings"

"M.I.L. (Mother-in-law of my daughter) of the Texas Vikings"

Plus two associates, who don't get out much or log much.

 

This works for us...

If we all go together, then we log it, seperately, no matter which of us finds it.

but when we go without the others, the we can still log it.

BTW, we all use the same logo.. Kind of keeps it in the family.

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In essence, if you've ever cached with another person, one of you had to find the cache first. Assuming that's the case (and that you didn't both see it at exactly the same time) then technically, one person has logged a cache that they haven't found. To me, this is silly. Feel free to log any and all caches that you want. Log a million if you want to. I really don't care. I have but a few caches logged, as I am unfortunate enough to have to work for a living. I keep my logged caches 100% accurate, as I want to track my personal progress. It's a personal thing, but I prefer it that way.

It should be noted however that I see a huge difference between a team member logging a cache that another member found versus someone sitting in front of their computer and logging a cache that they haven't physically touched. It has been my experience that most teams will log their visits my noting which team member actually found the cache. I believe this should be enough.

There was one cache that I found and there was no pencil/pen or other writing implement to be found in either the cache itself or in my stash of pens I usually carry with me. I used a muddy thumb smudge to prove my visit. I later returned to the cache and signed it correclty, but in a pinch, by noting the log in front of mine and the smudge, I could, if necessary, verify my visit.

If somoene wants to cheat, let 'em...who cares. It's not a contest without two people competing. If you don't compare your find count with theirs, there is no contest, and it doesn't matter.

Just my early morning rant.

-Cracker

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... Competition is great and I'd like to see more of it. I'd like to see sponsorship and big prizes but currently Groundspeak is keeping the cabosh on this angle. If and when this angle is opened up, I want a piece of it.

...

 

(Sorry for the off topic, but someone asked.)

 

Check out this Canadian contest (if you speak French) that was advertised on Groundspeak. ;)

Edited by Maxima
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Are you implying group cachers are cheating if everyone in the group doesn't independently find the cache? You remind me of that guy who accused me of stealing someone else's sig item out of a cache, just because I found it a day before he did...

 

Addendum - Just because I've asked all my geocaching friends to log me into every cache they find, I'm not cheating. Okay, I don't have any geocaching friends, but if I did...

 

I love it! That was very funny! Thanks!

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I don't think that they are cheating in the game. They are certainly not cheating any of us out of anything. They may be cheating each other out of a good experience because if one of them finds a cache alone and logs it, it is unlikely that the other one will go look for it (assuming that they don't include found caches in their PQs), but if its OK with them, its OK with me.

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A family with one geocaching account, Husband goes North with his friends logs 15 caches on the account. The wife goes South with her friends and logs 15 caches on the account in the same day. Does it seem ok? Anyone doing this?

 

I don't think its cheating. If a hubby and wife team who usually hunts together, happened to take separate trips and logged everything under their team account I think that's dandy. Now if it they did it alll the time for the sole purpose of cranking up find counts, it would be a bit cheesy, but at least they are finding the caches so its pretty harmless (Unlike people who log finds on caches they didn't find).

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No. Until there are actual "rules" in geocache finding, there can't be actual "cheating." My opinion: just play your own game your own way and don't worry about anything else. I'm sick of hearing about the cache police these past few months.

 

* Boy, I can't wait to see the controversy that this statement might bring.

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... It's a personal thing, but I prefer it that way... If somoene wants to cheat, let 'em...who cares. It's not a contest without two people competing. If you don't compare your find count with theirs, there is no contest, and it doesn't matter.

 

-Cracker

 

Amen, brother! Cache on!

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If it bothers you at all (and it shouldn't) do as Jennifer&Dean said, note in the log who found what.

 

But I agree with briansnat "if it they did it alll the time for the sole purpose of cranking up find counts, it would be a bit cheesy."

 

To be honest I'm surprised someone hasn't gotten together a group to take on CCC. If they did that just to beat her and started bragging about it then to me that would be extremely cheesy and seem like cheating in some way.

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No. Until there are actual "rules" in geocache finding, there can't be actual "cheating." My opinion: just play your own game your own way and don't worry about anything else. I'm sick of hearing about the cache police these past few months.

 

* Boy, I can't wait to see the controversy that this statement might bring.

 

And never mind how it effects others, right? Yep, ts all about us and to heck with everyone else. :)

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In essence, if you've ever cached with another person, one of you had to find the cache first. Assuming that's the case (and that you didn't both see it at exactly the same time) then technically, one person has logged a cache that they haven't found.

 

Oh they found it alright. So it was in the hands of their partner. Seriously, many people who cache in groups will spot the cache, then walk away and announce they found it so their partner(s) can experience the thrill of the find as well.

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Sign the log. Get a smiley. :) Seems simple to me. :)

 

If you want competition, this is the wrong web site. This is just fun. Getting a smiley is like getting a gold star sticker in 3rd grade. Your smiley count says more about how much time you have on your hands, or the cache density in your area, than it does about your prowess as a cache finder.

 

If I were to turn it into a competition, I wouldn't enjoy it, because I'd have to hunt every crappy cache on the block to keep up with others who do. I'd rather hunt the ones that intrigue me, which greatly reduces the number. Usually they re the ones that take me someplace I've never been, or to find a neat natural or historic spot, etc... Everyone's taste differs of course. I just wouldn't enjoy it if I had to go hunt rail-road track caches just to rack up smileys. (although I've hunted a few of those too... so what does that say... ?)

 

Cache on!

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If you feel you have cheated then you have. If you feel OK about the finds, then it is not cheating.

 

I never considered geocaching to be a 'competition' where the number of finds meant anything. I search for my personal pleasure, and a day hiking in the woods and have nothing but DNF's is still a good day.

 

Instead of counting your finds, count the number of smiles you generate caching, whether you find any caches or not. Isn't it all about spending time outdoors and going to interesting places in your neighborhood you haven't visited before?

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I don't think its cheating. If a hubby and wife team who usually hunts together, happened to take separate trips and logged everything under their team account I think that's dandy. Now if it they did it alll the time for the sole purpose of cranking up find counts, it would be a bit cheesy, but at least they are finding the caches so its pretty harmless (Unlike people who log finds on caches they didn't find).

 

Yes. I agree with this comment – both halves of it. When husband and wife (or any other combination of significant others) are both very actively involved with geocaching it is inevitable that they will do some caching independently. Couples often log under one account because they feel very strongly that the activity is a team effort and want their participation in the sport to be perceived as such. (Note: I support this concept even though I have been to all (except one) of the finds logged under our team name. My wife averages about half, or more of the total.)

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In essence, if you've ever cached with another person, one of you had to find the cache first. Assuming that's the case (and that you didn't both see it at exactly the same time) then technically, one person has logged a cache that they haven't found.

 

Some believe this to be true but they are in a very small minority.

 

Logging a cache as Found does not mean that you must be the first one to spot it. It means that you were physically at the site of the hide and you or your teammate signed the logbook.

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