What Is With All The "Discovered It" Geocoin/TB Posts?

[+GodinDraak]

After having good success in our first month of caching, we decided to go to our first geo-meeting to meet others in the area and drop off a Travel bug we had picked up in our recent travels. When we went to log the fact that we dropped it off at the geo-meeting, the travel bug page was loaded with "I Discovered It" posts. What is up with that? It was my impression that the 'discovered it' function was so you could notify the TB owner about their bug that has been lingering for a while in a cache, that it is still there and hasn't been muggled. Looks like this would be the best way to use this button... Is this another one of those "Numbers-Ho" things?

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

After having good success in our first month of caching, we decided to go to our first geo-meeting to meet others in the area and drop off a Travel bug we had picked up in our recent travels. When we went to log the fact that we dropped it off at the geo-meeting, the travel bug page was loaded with "I Discovered It" posts. What is up with that? It was my impression that the 'discovered it' function was so you could notify the TB owner about their bug that has been lingering for a while in a cache, that it is still there and hasn't been muggled. Looks like this would be the best way to use this button... Is this another one of those "Numbers-Ho" things?

 

It may be related to the new "Unite for Diabetes" travel bug campaign. No one is the original "owner" of these, so when you first get one in the mail and launch it into its initial cache, you have to say you "discovered" it. That may explain the big rise in "discovered"; I doubt its a "Number-Ho" thing, that usually refers strictly to cache find counts.

[Keystone]

1. "Discovering" a fresh UNite for Diabetes bug is not good advice. A new traveler should be "grabbed" to put it into the holder's inventory. Otherwise, it cannot be dropped off properly into its first cache.

 

2. The "discover" option was also developed to cut down on the grabbing and dropping of trackables onto cache pages. Use "discovered" when you only saw the trackable, and either "grab" or "retrieve" when you pick it up to move it along.

[+tenulp]

1. "Discovering" a fresh UNite for Diabetes bug is not good advice. A new traveler should be "grabbed" to put it into the holder's inventory. Otherwise, it cannot be dropped off properly into its first cache.

 

2. The "discover" option was also developed to cut down on the grabbing and dropping of trackables onto cache pages. Use "discovered" when you only saw the trackable, and either "grab" or "retrieve" when you pick it up to move it along.

 

As a newbie I too found this very confusing. I swore I wouldn't touch a TB until I knew exactly what to do about it. I thought I did but luckily someone locally caught me up and walked me through the correct steps.

I don't think it's just me that was/is confused!

[+GodinDraak]

1. "Discovering" a fresh UNite for Diabetes bug is not good advice. A new traveler should be "grabbed" to put it into the holder's inventory. Otherwise, it cannot be dropped off properly into its first cache.

 

2. The "discover" option was also developed to cut down on the grabbing and dropping of trackables onto cache pages. Use "discovered" when you only saw the trackable, and either "grab" or "retrieve" when you pick it up to move it along.

 

As a newbie I too found this very confusing. I swore I wouldn't touch a TB until I knew exactly what to do about it. I thought I did but luckily someone locally caught me up and walked me through the correct steps.

I don't think it's just me that was/is confused!

 

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the time you took to respond. I have been very careful in my handling of Travel Bugs and such, because I regard them as a huge responsibility. I have moved several of them, to include 2 diabetes tags, and even placed one of my own so far.

 

What doesn't make sense is the amount of discover-its that I run across from placing some type of traveler in a cache. For example when I placed my own TB, within a couple of hours, I had one guy tell me he 'discovered' my TB on the web page because I mistakenly had the serial number of the dogtag in the picture on the page. He then went on to say he would understand if I deleted his claim, but he did "discover" it, as if he was begrudging the loss of his 'discovered it' listing on my TB page, or something. Also, I am finding people are 'discovering' TBs and coins after I moved them to another cache, which I initially took as if they were confirming that I (the newbie) did indeed place it in the container as I said I did. Which, I now know, isn't the situation at all.

 

When I decided to check the profile of one of these mass discoverers, I saw that he has built up a large inventory of icons for TBs and coins in his 'Trackables' tab, even though he hasn't moved practically any of them. I checked the profiles of other mass discovered-it cachers and found a similar trend, that's why I ask if it's a numbers thing. You can build up a huge list of some pretty neat-looking icons in your trackables tab and not bear the responsibility of actually doing something with the trackable item, just write down the serial number, post that you discovered it, and Voila! You have another medal to pin on the washboards of your cacher's 'uniform', or rather, your profile. It looks to me that the intent for the 'discovered it' function is suffering from severe abuse. I can understand 'dunking' a trackable to help position it in a location before moving it some distance to another location in order to show the mileage on the TB page, but 'discovering it' a whole bunch of times in the same cache doesn't seem to do anything beneficial to anyone but the discoverer. It's like spamming the owner of the trackable on his TB page.

 

As you can see, I did a little research on this topic before deciding to ask this question. I don't know, it just doesn't make sense to me as to how mass-discovering benefits the sport...

[+Semper Questio]

It's just another way some people play the game, GodinDraak. Some are icon collectors who just want to get a geocoin's icon on their profile but don't want to move them. Others a what I call "bug hunters" and those come in a couple of flavors. One type actively seeks out and moves bugs. Another seeks out and steals bugs, while yet another is only interested in the number of bugs they can discover, without regard to actually moving them.

 

You'll find there are about as many different ways to play this game as there are folks playing it.

 

I use the discover option on TB's if I want to notify the owner that I did see the bug in the cache I visited but I did not choose to move it for whatever reason. I usually only do this if the cache is one that is not visited often or if the bug has been there a while. It just let's the owner know that the bug is still there.

[+BlueDeuce]

I use the 'Post a Note'. It works great for notifiying the owner and won't give me a stat for doing nothing with the bug.

[raybonz]

1. "Discovering" a fresh UNite for Diabetes bug is not good advice. A new traveler should be "grabbed" to put it into the holder's inventory. Otherwise, it cannot be dropped off properly into its first cache.

 

2. The "discover" option was also developed to cut down on the grabbing and dropping of trackables onto cache pages. Use "discovered" when you only saw the trackable, and either "grab" or "retrieve" when you pick it up to move it along.

 

As a newbie I too found this very confusing. I swore I wouldn't touch a TB until I knew exactly what to do about it. I thought I did but luckily someone locally caught me up and walked me through the correct steps.

I don't think it's just me that was/is confused!

 

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the time you took to respond. I have been very careful in my handling of Travel Bugs and such, because I regard them as a huge responsibility. I have moved several of them, to include 2 diabetes tags, and even placed one of my own so far.

 

What doesn't make sense is the amount of discover-its that I run across from placing some type of traveler in a cache. For example when I placed my own TB, within a couple of hours, I had one guy tell me he 'discovered' my TB on the web page because I mistakenly had the serial number of the dogtag in the picture on the page. He then went on to say he would understand if I deleted his claim, but he did "discover" it, as if he was begrudging the loss of his 'discovered it' listing on my TB page, or something. Also, I am finding people are 'discovering' TBs and coins after I moved them to another cache, which I initially took as if they were confirming that I (the newbie) did indeed place it in the container as I said I did. Which, I now know, isn't the situation at all.

 

When I decided to check the profile of one of these mass discoverers, I saw that he has built up a large inventory of icons for TBs and coins in his 'Trackables' tab, even though he hasn't moved practically any of them. I checked the profiles of other mass discovered-it cachers and found a similar trend, that's why I ask if it's a numbers thing. You can build up a huge list of some pretty neat-looking icons in your trackables tab and not bear the responsibility of actually doing something with the trackable item, just write down the serial number, post that you discovered it, and Voila! You have another medal to pin on the washboards of your cacher's 'uniform', or rather, your profile. It looks to me that the intent for the 'discovered it' function is suffering from severe abuse. I can understand 'dunking' a trackable to help position it in a location before moving it some distance to another location in order to show the mileage on the TB page, but 'discovering it' a whole bunch of times in the same cache doesn't seem to do anything beneficial to anyone but the discoverer. It's like spamming the owner of the trackable on his TB page.

 

As you can see, I did a little research on this topic before deciding to ask this question. I don't know, it just doesn't make sense to me as to how mass-discovering benefits the sport...

I recently discovered a geocoin and not knowing what I should do with it I logged it as discovered. Now I know to move it along so next time I'll move it. I have to say it was an impressive looking coin. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it

 

Ray

[+michigansnorkelers]

Yeah, this confused me too.

 

I was at my first geocaching event. There was a table full of TB and geocoins. And a lot of people were simply copying their numbers. That's how I learned about the discover function. Some people were REALLY into this. They would turn to me, show me a neat coin or TB, and ask if I discovered it yet. At this point in the game, I really haven't been interested in doing so.

 

 

My recent outlook on this is from several viewpoints.

 

Some people like to get credit for the stats. Fine. That's how they enjoy the game.

 

Some people like to view the coins but not take them. But they want to remember what they looked at. This way, they can always go back and look at "that cool coin" or to see if that TB with the unusual goal is any further along on its journey.

 

Some people just want you to know they enjoyed looking at the coin, but didn't take it.

 

 

I finally have two coins in circulation. Personally, I like to see ANY logs for my coins. I put them out there for two reasons. One, to send them on their journey. And two, for people to admire. Maybe someone finds it in a cache and admires it, but doesn't have a TB or coin to exchange and doesn't want to take it without an exchange. Or maybe they know they won't be able to move it to its destination. So, they "discover" it.

 

Everyone plays the game the way they derive the most enjoyment.

 

And, BTW, would someone please move my coins on?

[+BlueDeuce]

Everyone plays the game the way they derive the most enjoyment.

 

True, true.

 

Just an observation, of the bugs I own and the many more I watch, I have yet to see a good story in a Discover log.

 

I take that back, I have yet to see much of any sort of story in a Discover log. Which is odd considering the logs are great to read when the cacher took it on a trip or followed the goal/mission.

[+VO2WW]

Well if I had nothing to say about a Geocoin or Travel Bug I don't think I would DISCOVER it. If I have something to say or a picture to post, even in some silly way, related to the game but don't feel I can right than help the Geocoin or Travel Bug on it's mission I may DISCOVER it.

This is all open to change in the future as the game and the way I enjoy the different aspects of it evolves. If I lived in an area with a lot of new Geocaches turning up on a regular basis I think I would be more of a GRAB and DROP sort of Geocacher though.

[+feldtsa]

Yeah, this confused me too.

 

I was at my first geocaching event. There was a table full of TB and geocoins. And a lot of people were simply copying their numbers. That's how I learned about the discover function. Some people were REALLY into this. They would turn to me, show me a neat coin or TB, and ask if I discovered it yet. At this point in the game, I really haven't been interested in doing so.

 

 

My recent outlook on this is from several viewpoints.

 

Some people like to get credit for the stats. Fine. That's how they enjoy the game.

 

Some people like to view the coins but not take them. But they want to remember what they looked at. This way, they can always go back and look at "that cool coin" or to see if that TB with the unusual goal is any further along on its journey.

 

Some people just want you to know they enjoyed looking at the coin, but didn't take it.

 

 

I finally have two coins in circulation. Personally, I like to see ANY logs for my coins. I put them out there for two reasons. One, to send them on their journey. And two, for people to admire. Maybe someone finds it in a cache and admires it, but doesn't have a TB or coin to exchange and doesn't want to take it without an exchange. Or maybe they know they won't be able to move it to its destination. So, they "discover" it.

 

Everyone plays the game the way they derive the most enjoyment.

 

And, BTW, would someone please move my coins on?

 

 

I am going to my first Caching Event, MOGA. I have noticed all the coins and TB's being dropped at the event . Do I understand that what happens at the event is all these "dropped" coins are laid out for people to look at and "discover" if they want? Are they not put into caches in the event? What happens at the end of the event? I am trying to understand so that I don't make a geocaching blunder.

[+CACHE KRAWLER]

1. "Discovering" a fresh UNite for Diabetes bug is not good advice. A new traveler should be "grabbed" to put it into the holder's inventory. Otherwise, it cannot be dropped off properly into its first cache.

 

2. The "discover" option was also developed to cut down on the grabbing and dropping of trackables onto cache pages. Use "discovered" when you only saw the trackable, and either "grab" or "retrieve" when you pick it up to move it along.

 

As a newbie I too found this very confusing. I swore I wouldn't touch a TB until I knew exactly what to do about it. I thought I did but luckily someone locally caught me up and walked me through the correct steps.

I don't think it's just me that was/is confused!

 

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the time you took to respond. I have been very careful in my handling of Travel Bugs and such, because I regard them as a huge responsibility. I have moved several of them, to include 2 diabetes tags, and even placed one of my own so far.

 

What doesn't make sense is the amount of discover-its that I run across from placing some type of traveler in a cache. For example when I placed my own TB, within a couple of hours, I had one guy tell me he 'discovered' my TB on the web page because I mistakenly had the serial number of the dogtag in the picture on the page. He then went on to say he would understand if I deleted his claim, but he did "discover" it, as if he was begrudging the loss of his 'discovered it' listing on my TB page, or something. Also, I am finding people are 'discovering' TBs and coins after I moved them to another cache, which I initially took as if they were confirming that I (the newbie) did indeed place it in the container as I said I did. Which, I now know, isn't the situation at all.

 

When I decided to check the profile of one of these mass discoverers, I saw that he has built up a large inventory of icons for TBs and coins in his 'Trackables' tab, even though he hasn't moved practically any of them. I checked the profiles of other mass discovered-it cachers and found a similar trend, that's why I ask if it's a numbers thing. You can build up a huge list of some pretty neat-looking icons in your trackables tab and not bear the responsibility of actually doing something with the trackable item, just write down the serial number, post that you discovered it, and Voila! You have another medal to pin on the washboards of your cacher's 'uniform', or rather, your profile. It looks to me that the intent for the 'discovered it' function is suffering from severe abuse. I can understand 'dunking' a trackable to help position it in a location before moving it some distance to another location in order to show the mileage on the TB page, but 'discovering it' a whole bunch of times in the same cache doesn't seem to do anything beneficial to anyone but the discoverer. It's like spamming the owner of the trackable on his TB page.

 

As you can see, I did a little research on this topic before deciding to ask this question. I don't know, it just doesn't make sense to me as to how mass-discovering benefits the sport...

 

I too understand your questioning of the "discovered it" deal. Only once have I ever done this just to get some icons, and it was like 4 coins when I was new to the game. After that I realized that personally, I got into Geocaching because I'm an outside kinda guy, and I like going and seeing new places. Therefore I don't discover a thing. I only log what I go out and find. Personally, I don't understand the icon freaks out there, why they are addicted to an "icon", It's above me. I just went to a Coin Event Cache and the lists of coins were flying, pencils were combusting in to flames, one lady was copying a list for another guy for a half-rack of beer. What's the point? It's a bunch of colored pixels on your trackables page. Not trying to ruffle feathers here, but come on, get out there and work for them, take those wrong turns, trip over the sticks and rocks, freeze your tail off in the cold rain, and take all those mosquito bites and have a story to go along with that icon. I dareyou!

[+welch]

I am going to my first Caching Event, MOGA. I have noticed all the coins and TB's being dropped at the event . Do I understand that what happens at the event is all these "dropped" coins are laid out for people to look at and "discover" if they want?

More than likely what you are seeing is one or more persons collections of coins (Coins they bought, and activated and just keep to show others). More then likely you would will get a chance to see a binder or box or some other container full of the collection. And will likely get to discover them if you so choose. At some events the owner of the binder will give you a page of paper container the tracking number of all the stuff in the binder so you won't even have to write down the numbers.

 

Are they not put into caches in the event? What happens at the end of the event? I am trying to understand so that I don't make a geocaching blunder.

I haven't been to MOGA, but from the few smaller events I've been too any coins that come to event as traveler (ie. someone bought the coin, activated it and released into a cache with a specific goal just like travel bug) will end up being treated like the travel bugs that come threw. That may mean there's a pile of TBs somewhere at the event HQ for people to swap TBs themselves, or there might be some more complex system. I've heard some events collect the incoming TBs and 'raffle' them all back out so its random about who gets which traveler to take 'home' and put into another cache.

[+GodinDraak]

And this was my confusion. I was wondering why everybody was writing down the numbers off of the tags and coins, then when I went to the page for the travel bug I dropped at the gathering, it was loaded with the discoveries. I would hate to be the owner of the TB, because now you have all of these 'discovered it' posts like email spam, and they don't do anything to advance the object or give usable information to the TB owner. The worst part of my story is that the TB we dropped at the get-together seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth. It was passed around and so far, it hasn't been placed yet. We did pick up a freshly-minted TB while we were at the gathering and we purposely looked for a cache to put it in one the next day to move it on its way. As one of the posts above has stated, it looks like different people play the game for different reasons.

 

As for us, we will continue to work hard for our "Found-Its", we will only post a found-it if we actually sign the log in the cache and if the cache needs a little repair or additional goodies added to it to make it more desirable for the next guy, we will do that, in the hopes others will want to visit the places we have been to, even if it's for the things we have left behind. We feel this is an opportunity to enjoy a recreational hobby that can be a fun, yet honorable, experience.

 

This will most likely be my last post on this thread, as you-all have helped me to understand how the 'discovered-it' function works and how it can be used for other means too. Thanks, I appreciate it.

[+kf4oox]

Some of this is people move trackables between events. So everyone at the event then logs is a discovered. Also in some areas others are getting into caches and steeling the coins and then selling them on ebay or somewhere else. So now people keep control of the trackable and let them out under supervision at an event.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Paul

[+Morgan's Marauders]

...................I saw that he has built up a large inventory of icons for TBs and coins in his 'Trackables' tab, even though he hasn't moved practically any of them. I checked the profiles of other mass discovered-it cachers and found a similar trend, that's why I ask if it's a numbers thing. You can build up a huge list of some pretty neat-looking icons in your trackables tab and not bear the responsibility of actually doing something with the trackable item, just write down the serial number, post that you discovered it, and Voila! You have another medal to pin on the washboards of your cacher's 'uniform', or rather, your profile. ............

 

Aww, come on....

 

 

You know you want the pretty icons too...

 

Seriously, it's a cool way to see and handle new coins and trackables. I enjoy the coins I discover, whether they have a player's avatar or a state coin. It also lets me see the connections I've made with other cachers.

 

I like the pretty icons. If you don't want to participate in this aspect, that's okay too.