PMember only cachers

[+James Lobb]

why are there so few, dont most cachers see this as a reasone to go the extra yard in making there caches awsome. i wish that there were more, and the next one i make will be a PM only cache

[+The Leprechauns]

When I hide a cache, I want to share the location with as many people as possible. In particular, I enjoy reading logs from newbies saying "this was my first cache and we are hooked." Most newbies are not premium members.

 

PM-only status is a *limiting factor* on who can search for the cache. Before I make a cache PM-only, I would think hard about the reason why I'm choosing to do that. So far, I've only hidden one cache where I could come up with a reason to make it PM only. It receives quite a bit less traffic than my other caches.

[+sbell111]

For the most part, I've noticed no difference between 'member only' caches and all others.

[+jacobsen1]

I agree with The Leprechauns... I haven't hidden my first cache yet, but as a non premium member (yes the budget IS that tight...) I hate when I get a cache listing and it says you have to be a premium member to view it... For this reason any caches I eventually hide will be non premiums, regardless of my status, unless I find someplace that is so out of the way, that only premium members will go after it anyway, but I don't see anything like that in my future. I want as many people to find my caches as possible, so why limit who can see it?

$.02

Ben

[+StarBrand]

I agree with The Leprechauns... I haven't hidden my first cache yet, but as a non premium member (yes the budget IS that tight...) I hate when I get a cache listing and it says you have to be a premium member to view it... For this reason any caches I eventually hide will be non premiums, regardless of my status, unless I find someplace that is so out of the way, that only premium members will go after it anyway, but I don't see anything like that in my future. I want as many people to find my caches as possible, so why limit who can see it?

$.02

Ben

I have started off a handfull of caches as pm but later changed them. I did it to kind of prompt some of the locals to spend $3 a month for a membership. Until recently less than a gallon of gas per month.

[+sbell111]

... Until recently less than a gallon of gas per month.

[+StarBrand]

... Until recently less than a gallon of gas per month.

poorly worded - the cost of a premium membership is less then the cost of a gallon of gas was a month ago.

 

[+welch]

why are there so few, dont most cachers see this as a reasone to go the extra yard in making there caches awsome. i wish that there were more, and the next one i make will be a PM only cache

Ah... No. Most seem to see making a cache a premium member only as a way to reduce the visitors. Making less maintaince for the owner, an slowing trikent degradation as the traffic is slowed. There are no guidelines for rules for creating a MOC, few are special, most are just normal caches the owner checked an extra box on

[Neos2]

I don't think most people see PMOC as an opportunity to make their caches any better than any other cache. As it turns out, they usually aren't much different than every other cache of the same sort in an area--except they do get fewer visitors.

 

The best "reason" I have been given for starting a cache as a PMOC for a few weeks is that very new cachers are very rarely premium members, and so if you start a cache out as a PMOC, you will get fewer newbie cachers at your cache. The reasoning behind that, according to the people who told me the idea, is to get better feedback from the first few visitors to the cache. They figure that newbies are relatively easy to impress, but folks who have been around a bit will be better able to critique the coords, the hide, and the swag.

 

I've also heard people say it cuts down on cache vandalism, but I can't really see three bucks stopping anyone who is intent on vandalizing all the PMOCs in an area anyway.

 

I can't say if either set of reasons are right or not, as I've never made a PMOC.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Most of the folks I know who list PMOC caches do so for the first month or two as a "thank you" to the folks who support our game. We appreciate folks willing to pay for the game we play, and information on new PMOC caches is a member benefit.

 

Ed

[Clan Riffster]

dont most cachers see this as a reasone to go the extra yard

Not that I know of. I had a few that were PM caches, but that was just to reduce visitors due to an intense level of maintenance required for each visit. I later found a way around that, and opened up those caches to the masses. The reason I hide stuff is cuz I want folks to find it. The reason I pay the $30 a year is for the benefits, and to offer some degree of financial support to the company behind the game I love so much.

[+NotThePainter]

I make all my caches, except for those released at events, members only caches.

 

Why? I like watching the audit logs, I want to see who is going after FTFP, who is working on the puzzles. I open them after FTFP or a week, whichever is later.

 

Make the Audit Log a PM feature, not a feature of PM cache and I'd change this in a hearbeat.

 

Paul

[+Clan X-Man]

I have to admit that I really like the audit logs and didn't know about them until I made a MOC. Say what you like, I like knowing who is going after this certain cache of mine. I have reasons.....

 

X

[+Airmapper]

I make all my caches, except for those released at events, members only caches.

 

Why? I like watching the audit logs, I want to see who is going after FTFP, who is working on the puzzles. I open them after FTFP or a week, whichever is later.

 

Make the Audit Log a PM feature, not a feature of PM cache and I'd change this in a hearbeat.

 

Paul

 

I agree, that is one of the reasons I think PMOC's are a poorly designed feature. Why not give us PM's the audit log feature, and let everyone find the cache. As a PM I won't use the audit log feature as I don't see any reason to restrict the type of members finding my caches. I think it cheats some of us PM's out of a good feature.

[+sbell111]

... Why? I like watching the audit logs, I want to see who is going after FTFP, who is working on the puzzles. I open them after FTFP or a week, whichever is later. ...

I have to admit that I really like the audit logs and didn't know about them until I made a MOC. Say what you like, I like knowing who is going after this certain cache of mine. I have reasons.....

... Why not give us PM's the audit log feature, and let everyone find the cache. As a PM I won't use the audit log feature as I don't see any reason to restrict the type of members finding my caches. I think it cheats some of us PM's out of a good feature.

You guys realize that the audit logs don't let you know when everybody looks at your cache, right? It also doesn't give you a clue why they are looking at your cache.

 

Personally, I get most of my local cache info from PQs. I rarely look at online cache pages. When I do pull up cache pages online, it is often because I want to know something about caches in a specific area, so I pull up the cache page for a specific cache in that area and then go out from there. It has nothing to do with that cache.

 

Audit logs are basically useless, in my opinion.

[+Airmapper]

You guys realize that the audit logs don't let you know when everybody looks at your cache, right? It also doesn't give you a clue why they are looking at your cache.

 

Yes, I fully realize that point. Some people surely don't care one way or the other and look at the cache page anyway. But, I go around them myself on a regular basis. It all depends on whether or not you want to be seen. Which brings us to the validity of the claim that PMOC's are safer from being stolen because you can "see" who's looking at it.

[+sbell111]

... Some people surely don't care one way or the other and look at the cache page anyway. But, I go around them myself on a regular basis. It all depends on whether or not you want to be seen.

I don't think that has anything to do with it. Many times it is more convenient to view a page off-line or on a pda.

Which brings us to the validity of the claim that PMOC's are safer from being stolen because you can "see" who's looking at it.

I disagree. While it is true that some cachers might think that it allows them to see everyone who is viewing their page, it is really just giving them bad data. As you stated, anyone who does not want to be 'seen', can access the information through alternative methods.

[+the hermit crabs]

I make all my caches, except for those released at events, members only caches.

 

Why? I like watching the audit logs, I want to see who is going after FTFP, who is working on the puzzles. I open them after FTFP or a week, whichever is later.

 

Make the Audit Log a PM feature, not a feature of PM cache and I'd change this in a hearbeat.

 

Paul

That's the feature I dislike most about PM-only caches. I don't like knowing that the cache owner is watching our every click, and making potentially erroneous assumptions. "They looked at the page but haven't found the cache -- they must not be able to solve the puzzle!" or "They looked at the cache page, so they must be trying to find the cache, but haven't logged a DNF!" And worst of all, "The cache was vandalized, so it must have been done by one of the people on the audit list!"

 

I wish that new-cache insta-notifications would include an indication that a cache is PM-only. If I knew in advance that it was, I probably wouldn't click on it in the first place, unless it was very close to home.

[+NotThePainter]

You guys realize that the audit logs don't let you know when everybody looks at your cache, right? It also doesn't give you a clue why they are looking at your cache.

 

Yes, I fully realize that point.

 

Of course.

 

On the other hand in the few hours after a cache is published there is a pretty good correlation between those looking and those seeking.

 

Not 100% by any means of course but that just increases the mystery. "Who's gonna get it" isn't a sure thing.

 

Paul

[+WebChimp]

Most of the folks I know who list PMOC caches do so for the first month or two as a "thank you" to the folks who support our game.

 

I agree.

 

If I make a new cache a PMO cache, how can I tell the difference between PMs and non-PMs? There's quite a trend around here for non-PM players to try to log PMO caches. Will their log entries show them to be PM or non-PM?

 

(BTW, I now hold one of your reviewer geocoins in inventory. Is that a banana on the obverse? Inquiring chimps want to know. )

[+Airmapper]

Which brings us to the validity of the claim that PMOC's are safer from being stolen because you can "see" who's looking at it.

I disagree. While it is true that some cachers might think that it allows them to see everyone who is viewing their page, it is really just giving them bad data. As you stated, anyone who does not want to be 'seen', can access the information through alternative methods.

 

I think I was a little unclear on that statement. What I intended to point out was that claim is not valid. We agree on the fact that PMOC is not a good way to try and monitor a cache and other users.