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the death of caches?


Bad_CRC

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is micro spew a fairly new thing, or has it always been that way?

 

we have a few micro spewers around here, and they seem to be taking over the area. I just looked at the list by zip for my area and was alarmed to see that the first page now only has 2 regular caches listed on it.

 

obviously it's pretty easy to throw out a dozen micros in a day compared to putting out even one or two real caches.

 

Is it getting worse? or has it always been this way? Are real caches an endangered species now?

 

:anicute:

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is micro spew a fairly new thing, or has it always been that way?

 

we have a few micro spewers around here, and they seem to be taking over the area. I just looked at the list by zip for my area and was alarmed to see that the first page now only has 2 regular caches listed on it.

 

obviously it's pretty easy to throw out a dozen micros in a day compared to putting out even one or two real caches.

 

Is it getting worse? or has it always been this way? Are real caches an endangered species now?

 

:wub:

 

I think its always been that way... sooner or later every area will get a couple people who's vision of geocaching is to spam lame mircos everyone. For some reason they find parking lots interesting enough to stick magnets to them, and every trailhead that doesn't have a matchstick holder within 200ft definently needs one :anicute:

Personally I wish if they're going to drop caches everywhere they go, that they would at least use ammo boxes with a 50 cent flip pad (instead a nickel piece of paper) and some McToys. That way there would at least be room to leave a travel bug or even a wooden nickel. /vent

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Actually, the bane of geocaching is people with bad attitudes. :anibad:

 

Great. I just had a bad attitude.

 

*slaps self on hand*

 

"A quality over quantity mantra does not a bad attitude make" - Mike Rosuk

 

Thanks for the personal attack just same.

Oh, I apologize. I personally felt attacked by the comments against micros (not *bad* micros, mind you, just....micros), because I have placed quite a few of them myself.

 

But it's never an excuse to be cranky. Thanks for pointing that out and correcting me! :o

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Actually, the bane of geocaching is people with bad attitudes. :anibad:

 

Great. I just had a bad attitude.

 

*slaps self on hand*

 

"A quality over quantity mantra does not a bad attitude make" - Mike Rosuk

 

Thanks for the personal attack just same.

Oh, I apologize. I personally felt attacked by the comments against micros (not *bad* micros, mind you, just....micros), because I have placed quite a few of them myself.

 

But it's never an excuse to be cranky. Thanks for pointing that out and correcting me! :o

 

Sorry you're offended. You see, its much easier to sterotype then discriminate.

Edited by D@nim@l
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From my log on a milestone cache:

 

[For this milestone, we] "needed a bit more than: took nothing, left nothing, signed the logbook. When you're tired of that routine, come" [find this cache.]

 

The date of that log was more than four years ago.

 

There have always been lame tupperware hides and good tupperware hides. They're rarer, but I've seen a dozen or so lame ammo box hides. There have always been lame micro hides and good micro hides.

 

There are just a whole lot more caches today than there were four years ago. So, we rely on filtering and sorting tools, caches along a route, and other features to serve us up just the caches we wish to hunt for.

 

If [insert your disliked cache style here] is the "death of caches," it must be a slow death indeed.

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is micro spew ... getting worse? :o

Yes.

 

(Anyone wanna dare me to start my campaign again?) :anibad:

 

(Don't worry, I won't...I gave my heart and soul to it back in June (and before) and got nowhere...not gonna get personally engaged like that again...)

 

I'll do it for you. Read my next editorial in December's issue of Today's Cacher.

 

El Diablo

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is micro spew ... getting worse? :o

Yes.

 

(Anyone wanna dare me to start my campaign again?) :anibad:

 

(Don't worry, I won't...I gave my heart and soul to it back in June (and before) and got nowhere...not gonna get personally engaged like that again...)

 

I'll do it for you. Read my next editorial in December's issue of Today's Cacher.

 

El Diablo

Thanks, Jerry. I'll look forward to it.
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are unusual ice flavors a fairly new thing, or has it always been that way?

 

we have a few funny flavor ice cream spewers around here, and they seem to be taking over the area. I just looked at the list by zip for my area and was alarmed to see that the first page now only has 2 regular flavors listed on it.

 

obviously it's pretty easy to throw out a dozen different ice flavors in a day compared to putting out even one or two real flavors (since there are only two real flavors: chocolate and vanilla).

 

Is it getting worse? or has it always been this way? Are chocolate and vanilla ice cream an endangered species now?

 

:o:anibad:

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are unusual ice flavors a fairly new thing, or has it always been that way?

 

we have a few funny flavor ice cream spewers around here, and they seem to be taking over the area. I just looked at the list by zip for my area and was alarmed to see that the first page now only has 2 regular flavors listed on it.

 

obviously it's pretty easy to throw out a dozen different ice flavors in a day compared to putting out even one or two real flavors (since there are only two real flavors: chocolate and vanilla).

 

Is it getting worse? or has it always been this way? Are chocolate and vanilla ice cream an endangered species now?

 

:o:anibad:

 

This one just gave me an ice cream headache.

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is micro spew ... getting worse? :D

Yes.

 

(Anyone wanna dare me to start my campaign again?) B)

 

(Don't worry, I won't...I gave my heart and soul to it back in June (and before) and got nowhere...not gonna get personally engaged like that again...)

 

I'll do it for you. Read my next editorial in December's issue of Today's Cacher.

 

El Diablo

 

This movement doesn't need advocates. It needs a scapegoat. B)B)

 

While I've only hidden a few micros & none of them lame from all accounts, I believe I AM the single largest proliferator of micros in geocaching having dispersed 12,500+ micros into the geocaching continuum, at one time, of which over 520 have been placed so far. I have evil plans to disperse even more in the future. I should be stopped. Run and get your pitchforks and light your torches. :D:anibad:

 

Seriously though..... Someone should THINK up a better way to improve cache quality in a more positive way than downing another person's efforts to participate in geocaching or crusading to limit further the choices other people have to choose from.

 

"The hider is playing a game called geocaching. They are evidently playing it right because their cache was approved.

 

You are also playing a GAME (sport/hobby/obsession/etc.) evidently called MY version of Geocaching 1.5, or maybe even 2.O. You seem to be failing at your game if you are not able to enjoy it." Me-awhile back.

 

"Failure is a hard pill to swallow until you realize the only failure you can really have in this sport is the failure to enjoy yourself."

TotemLake 4/26/04

 

I truly see these complaint threads about, lame caches, bad caches, and the ever popular redheaded micro stepchildren to be manifestations of people's own willingness to place blame rather than accept responsibility for failing to enjoy themselves.

 

Do something constructive FOR ONCE. Come up with a POSITIVE plan or campaign. Endless complaining never fixed a leaky bucket. :o

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Do something constructive FOR ONCE. Come up with a POSITIVE plan or campaign. Endless complaining never fixed a leaky bucket. :anibad:

I did. Published my articles with my opinions on Geocache Hiding on my web site. Got (and still get) scads of positive feedback that it's great advice that all new cachers should read and heed. Many local orgs link to it on their regional web sites. And still the bucket leaks. It's why I gave up fighting back in June (I know you remember). I may even reconsider this toe I've dipped back into the Forum Waters this week.

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is micro spew ... getting worse? :D

Yes.

 

(Anyone wanna dare me to start my campaign again?) B)

 

(Don't worry, I won't...I gave my heart and soul to it back in June (and before) and got nowhere...not gonna get personally engaged like that again...)

 

I'll do it for you. Read my next editorial in December's issue of Today's Cacher.

 

El Diablo

 

This movement doesn't need advocates. It needs a scapegoat. B)B)

 

While I've only hidden a few micros & none of them lame from all accounts, I believe I AM the single largest proliferator of micros in geocaching having dispersed 12,500+ micros into the geocaching continuum, at one time, of which over 520 have been placed so far. I have evil plans to disperse even more in the future. I should be stopped. Run and get your pitchforks and light your torches. :D:anibad:

 

Seriously though..... Someone should THINK up a better way to improve cache quality in a more positive way than downing another person's efforts to participate in geocaching or crusading to limit further the choices other people have to choose from.

 

"The hider is playing a game called geocaching. They are evidently playing it right because their cache was approved.

 

You are also playing a GAME (sport/hobby/obsession/etc.) evidently called MY version of Geocaching 1.5, or maybe even 2.O. You seem to be failing at your game if you are not able to enjoy it." Me-awhile back.

 

"Failure is a hard pill to swallow until you realize the only failure you can really have in this sport is the failure to enjoy yourself."

TotemLake 4/26/04

 

I truly see these complaint threads about, lame caches, bad caches, and the ever popular redheaded micro stepchildren to be manifestations of people's own willingness to place blame rather than accept responsibility for failing to enjoy themselves.

 

Do something constructive FOR ONCE. Come up with a POSITIVE plan or campaign. Endless complaining never fixed a leaky bucket. :o

 

I would very much enjoy the opportunity to consolitdate them in to one dumpster. Is that more positive?

Edited by D@nim@l
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I so want to make holocaust references right now.......musssst....sit onnnnn......handsssss. :o:anibad:

Wise move. B)

 

Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to tell you this for quite some time: I lived in Houston for 6 years and I don't think it's the armpit of the universe at all...I loved it there. Seriously.

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hmm, lets see if we can stick more to discussion of any actual trend or lack thereof.

 

In this area, micros are 'taking over' as most new placements are micro caches. This may be good, this may be bad, that's not really the issue. The issue is whether that is a new thing, it's not new, or perhaps it's just a temporary trend and in the future most new placments will be full or real caches.

 

some people prefer micros, some people prefer fullsize, doesn't really matter. either way, do you notice a trend towards a few people spreading (or 'spewing' lots and lots of micros in your area? And if so, is it recent, or has it always been that way?

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This movement doesn't need advocates. It needs a scapegoat. :DB)

 

Run and get your pitchforks and light your torches. B):anibad:

 

Seriously though..... Someone should THINK up a better way to improve cache quality in a more positive way than downing another person's efforts to participate in geocaching or crusading to limit further the choices other people have to choose from.

 

 

"Do something constructive FOR ONCE. Come up with a POSITIVE plan or campaign. Endless complaining never fixed a leaky bucket. :o

 

No, it does need advocates. Also I already have a pitchfork, I just need to light the torch. :D

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with micro caches. The problem is how they are placed. Of course the same can be said with traditional caches, but that's not what we are being overrun with. The only positive campain we can do is to stop hunting and logging them. Besides that only TPTB can stop the insainity like they did with Locationless caches. Handing out 12,500 micros at GW4 certainly didn't help the problem.

 

The sad part is that most new cachers that come to this sport/game/hobby actually think these lame micros are SOP. I wonder how many quit because they don't know better? B)

 

You just got a sneak preview of my editorial.

 

El Diablo

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some people prefer micros, some people prefer fullsize, doesn't really matter. either way, do you notice a trend towards a few people spreading (or 'spewing' lots and lots of micros in your area? And if so, is it recent, or has it always been that way?

It's a trend that dates back to '03-'04 (most famously: Nashville, Jacksonville) and has continued to grow in intensity in a large number of other areas since then.

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hmm, lets see if we can stick more to discussion of any actual trend or lack thereof.

 

In this area, micros are 'taking over' as most new placements are micro caches. This may be good, this may be bad, that's not really the issue. The issue is whether that is a new thing, it's not new, or perhaps it's just a temporary trend and in the future most new placments will be full or real caches.

 

some people prefer micros, some people prefer fullsize, doesn't really matter. either way, do you notice a trend towards a few people spreading (or 'spewing' lots and lots of micros in your area? And if so, is it recent, or has it always been that way?

 

Yes, it is a trend. People will emulate what they see. If they look at the listings and see spew, they will think that that is the way the game is supposed to be played, so they will hide more spew in turn. Add the notion that doing so will escalate their find counts and the nonsense will really begin, but god forbid you speak out about such silliness because that would be blasphemy. "Many drops make a bucket, many buckets make a pond, many ponds make a lake, and many lakes make an ocean" and pretty soon we're all drowing in it and from hence the death of caches.

Edited by D@nim@l
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I so want to make holocaust references right now.......musssst....sit onnnnn......handsssss. :o:anibad:

Wise move. B)

 

Yes it would do a disservice to the real world victims to point out the parallels to fascist thinking.

 

Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to tell you this for quite some time: I lived in Houston for 6 years and I don't think it's the armpit of the universe at all...I loved it there. Seriously.

 

Believe it or not, I don't hate Houston. (I'll take the Eastern Sierra over it any day though.)

 

Geocaching has shown me that there are good facets to life here other than a really good job and a comfortable lifestyle.

 

Even the non-geocaching population are generally more friendly and helpful than mannnny other regions of the country I have visited. There really is such a thing as Southern Hospitality.

 

Still, I have an analogy that sticks in most people's minds about Houston....

 

If you take your left arm, hold it straight out to your side, bend 90 degrees at the elbow and point your fingers down at the ground, you will make an inverted "U" shape that can be used to represent the Gulf Coast.

 

If the fingers on your left hand represent the tip of Florida and your left hip represents the Texas-Mexico border, then Houston IS the armpit.

Edited by Snoogans
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Still, I have an analogy that sticks in most people's minds about Houston....

 

If you take your left arm, hold it straight out to your side, bend 90 degrees at the elbow and point your fingers down at the ground, you will make an inverted "U" shape that can be used to represent the Gulf Coast.

 

If the fingers on your left hand represent the tip of Florida and your left hip represents the Texas-Mexico border, then Houston IS the armpit.

Heh, and all this time I thought you were just referring to the sweat... :anibad: (which didn't (and still doesn't...look where I live now!) bother me...that's what A/C is for!)

Edited by drat19
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The sad part is that most new cachers that come to this sport/game/hobby actually think these lame micros are SOP. I wonder how many quit because they don't know better?

Fortunately, my first finds were regulars. Had I started this game by finding a hundred or so film canisters tucked into the shrubbery of local eating establishments, I would've quit a long time ago. Obviously I can only speak for my particular geographic location, so don't assume this is a blanket statement; It's been my experience that it's some individual hiders who are uninspired, (AKA: Lame), not the containers themselves. These uninspired hiders tend toward things like hide-a-keys and film canisters in great proliferation. The end result is, when a local cache page says "Film Canister", chances are greater than 75% that it's lame. Naturally what's lame for me might be great for somebody else. Obviously somebody loves the idea of film canisters on dumpsters.

 

To answer your question, yes, in my opinion, the ratio of uninspired micros is increasing rapidly.

 

El D, looking forward to your editorial.

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I so want to make holocaust references right now.......musssst....sit onnnnn......handsssss. :o:anibad:

Wise move. B)

 

Yes it would do a disservice to the real world victims to point out the parallels to fascist thinking.

 

 

No, its a disservice to equate the extermination of 35mm film cansisters to humans by some giant leap in logic.

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I so want to make holocaust references right now.......musssst....sit onnnnn......handsssss. :D:anibad:

Wise move. B)

 

Yes it would do a disservice to the real world victims to point out the parallels to fascist thinking.

 

 

No, its a disservice to equate the extermination of 35mm film cansisters to humans by some giant leap in logic.

 

Didn't equate.

 

Parallel.

 

The geocaching continuum seems to be a parallel testbed for outdated thinking. It doesn't fly with everyone here, but its interesting to see the illogic of those that embrace it.

 

Whatever happened to judging each cache by its own merits and taking responsibility for our own choices to hunt or not?

 

B):D:o

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Once upon a time geocaching appealed mostly to tech savvy outdoorsy types (who like traditional ice cream flavors). There were a few who prefered urban park and grab types (and unusual ice cream flavors) and even the traditionalists would enjoy finding a few caches hidden in urban settings since they couldn't always get time to hike (and were willing to try something besides vanilla an chocolate once in a while). Overtime, urban hiders found that smaller containers were less likely to get muggled in the urban environment. Some people even appreciated some of the new hiding techniques and tried them in non-urban caches as well. (They didn't mind being seen eating Cherry Fudge Ripple ice cream in an area that previously only knew chocolate and vanilla). Some chocolate and vanilla eaters would complain the Cherry Fudge Ripple was OK for the urban environment, but would cause those looking in non-urban settings to tear up all the bushes looking for something so small.

 

As time went on, geocaching began to attract other people: retiries, parents with small children, people who didn't have as much time to go caching, students and others without cars who could only cache where they could bike or take public transportation. These people prefer more urban type hides (and like some pretty unusual ice cream flavors). The traditional chocolate and vanilla eaters saw unusual flavors predominating in the local area. And perhaps they saw a slight increase in non chocolate and vanilla flavors even on some of the hiking trails. They felt their world was threatened by the new people and the new ice cream flavors. But strangely, there are also many more opportunities for eating chocolate and vanilla as well, you just have to bypass the flavors you don't like. (Or eat more ice cream :anibad:)

 

Complaining that there are too many caches of one type or another that are lame in your opionion is like complaining about there being too many flavors of ice cream that you don't like. You have every right to complain. But to the people who like those ice flavors that you don't like, you are going to sound pretty silly. "Why are you complaining?" they will ask, "You can still get chocolate and vanilla."

 

Edit to add: Analogies to eating ice cream are far better than analogies to the Holocaust when posting on the internet.

Edited by tozainamboku
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Once upon a time geocaching appealed mostly to tech savvy outdoorsy types (who like traditional ice cream flavors). There were a few who prefered urban park and grab types (and unusual ice cream flavors) and even the traditionalists would enjoy finding a few caches hidden in urban settings since they couldn't always get time to hike (and were willing to try something besides vanilla an chocolate once in a while). Overtime, urban hiders found that smaller containers were less likely to get muggled in the urban environment. Some people even appreciated some of the new hiding techniques and tried them in non-urban caches as well. (They didn't mind being seen eating Cherry Fudge Ripple ice cream in an area that previously only knew chocolate and vanilla). Some chocolate and vanilla eaters would complain the Cherry Fudge Ripple was OK for the urban environment, but would cause those looking in non-urban settings to tear up all the bushes looking for something so small.

 

As time went on, geocaching began to attract other people: retiries, parents with small children, people who didn't have as much time to go caching, students and others without cars who could only cache where they could bike or take public transportation. These people prefer more urban type hides (and like some pretty unusual ice cream flavors). The traditional chocolate and vanilla eaters saw unusual flavors predominating in the local area. And perhaps they saw a slight increase in non chocolate and vanilla flavors even on some of the hiking trails. They felt their world was threatened by the new people and the new ice cream flavors. But strangely, there are also many more opportunities for eating chocolate and vanilla as well, you just have to bypass the flavors you don't like. (Or eat more ice cream :o)

 

Complaining that there are too many caches of one type or another that are lame in your opionion is like complaining about there being too many flavors of ice cream that you don't like. You have every right to complain. But to the people who like those ice flavors that you don't like, you are going to sound pretty silly. "Why are you complaining?" they will ask, "You can still get chocolate and vanilla."

 

You really like ice cream don't you? B)

 

The problem is that people don't even realize that chocolate and vanilla exists anymore. The newbies come here and find tootie fruity, banna orange, etc... Now they think this is the standard flavors. After sampling pineapple grits, and pepsi squash, they either decide that these flavors aren't for them and leave, or worse yet they hide butterscotch grits. I'm just trying to explain the problem using you analogy. :anibad:

 

El Diablo

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Seriously though..... Someone should THINK up a better way to improve cache quality in a more positive way than downing another person's efforts to participate in geocaching or crusading to limit further the choices other people have to choose from.

 

I have. No one else except a few seems to want it, so I've stopped campaigning for it.

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I so want to make holocaust references right now.......musssst....sit onnnnn......handsssss. :D:anibad:

Wise move. B)

 

Yes it would do a disservice to the real world victims to point out the parallels to fascist thinking.

 

 

No, its a disservice to equate the extermination of 35mm film cansisters to humans by some giant leap in logic.

 

Whatever happened to judging each cache by its own merits and taking responsibility for our own choices to hunt or not?

 

B):D:o

 

Numbers.

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but god forbid you speak out about such silliness because that would be blasphemy.

But forbid you speak out against such bad attitudes because that would be considered to be personal attacks.

 

Why is it a bad attitude for wanting to keep people away from guardrails, parking lots and dumpsters?

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but god forbid you speak out about such silliness because that would be blasphemy.

But forbid you speak out against such bad attitudes because that would be considered to be personal attacks.

 

Why is it a bad attitude for wanting to keep people away from guardrails, parking lots and dumpsters?

It is the way you guys go about it. And also, what right in this sport do you have for keeping people away from these places if they so obviously want to go there?

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but god forbid you speak out about such silliness because that would be blasphemy.

But forbid you speak out against such bad attitudes because that would be considered to be personal attacks.

 

Why is it a bad attitude for wanting to keep people away from guardrails, parking lots and dumpsters?

 

Where is the logic in implying that those are the only places micros are hidden? :anibad:

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The problem is that people don't even realize that chocolate and vanilla exists anymore. The newbies come here and find tootie fruity, banna orange, etc... Now they think this is the standard flavors. After sampling pineapple grits, and pepsi squash, they either decide that these flavors aren't for them and leave, or worse yet they hide butterscotch grits. I'm just trying to explain the problem using you analogy. :anibad:

Are you really seeing this? Because I'm not. When a newbie that likes hiking and outdoors starts I assume they do what I did when I started. I looked for caches in areas where I knew there were hiking trails. I looked for caches with terrain 2 or higher. I probably even looked for caches with regular sized containers. I went for a few months before I started looking for urban micros. When I did start doing urban micros, I found that most were uninspired and boring, but every once and a while I would see a hiding technique I hadn't seen before. This was often enough in the beginning to make it worthwhile to look for urban micros. As I have gotten more experienced, it is much rarer to find one something unique. But I know that there are always newbies who can enjoy the opportunity to find their first lamp post hide.

On the other hand, when what I refer to as an urban cacher starts, they probably look for the closest to their home. Suppose they do find a magnetic hide-a-key on a dumpster. Chances are they will think that geocaching is cool because you have things hidden right down the street. You may be right that they then go out and hide another hide-a-key in an unispired location. It may take a while till they discover that you can hide a cache in a "better" location. Or for them, the location is not so important as much as having something that can be found. It doesn't bother me that some people like butterscotch grits ice cream. I know for a fact that I can still find chocolate and vanilla.

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I so want to make holocaust references right now.......musssst....sit onnnnn......handsssss. :D:anibad:

Wise move. B)

 

Yes it would do a disservice to the real world victims to point out the parallels to fascist thinking.

 

 

No, its a disservice to equate the extermination of 35mm film cansisters to humans by some giant leap in logic.

 

Whatever happened to judging each cache by its own merits and taking responsibility for our own choices to hunt or not?

 

B):D:o

 

Numbers.

 

Ummmm, ya lost me??? Uh, unless you're saying that people are forced to hunt mass quantities of micros to attain great (in their minds) numbers.

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hmm, lets see if we can stick more to discussion of any actual trend or lack thereof.

 

In this area, micros are 'taking over' as most new placements are micro caches. This may be good, this may be bad, that's not really the issue. The issue is whether that is a new thing, it's not new, or perhaps it's just a temporary trend and in the future most new placments will be full or real caches.

 

some people prefer micros, some people prefer fullsize, doesn't really matter. either way, do you notice a trend towards a few people spreading (or 'spewing' lots and lots of micros in your area? And if so, is it recent, or has it always been that way?

 

OK, I guess I have to put down my popcorn. Of course it hasn't always been that way. When I started, The only 4 micros within 40 miles of me were tiny bison tubes placed by the same guy, and meant to be incredibly devious. Most were part of puzzle caches. And oh yeah, they were all in parks, because who would have thought to put a cache in someones parking lot? And I haven't even been around that long by most standards :anibad: Drat19, what was that official date for the Micro Spew era? Sometime Spring of '04, I think?

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