Discovery ethics

[drock2]

Im fairly new to geo, and like many other posts iv'e seen i to am addicted. My question is what is (if any) the ediquette on discoverying a tracable as opposed to logging it. I recently saw that someone had discoverd 6 coins in one cache, should one discover it in a cache?, or is it ok to discover it in another persons postion? or is it just bad altogether? Im just wondering every one take on this matter. TY

[+BlueDeuce]

Discovered is a common and acceptable practice and something I won't do. I either move them or leave them. I don't want a stat for doing nothing to assist the traveler.

Edited May 7, 2007 by BlueDeuce

[+Renegade Knight]

Im fairly new to geo, and like many other posts iv'e seen i to am addicted. My question is what is (if any) the ediquette on discoverying a tracable as opposed to logging it. I recently saw that someone had discoverd 6 coins in one cache, should one discover it in a cache?, or is it ok to discover it in another persons postion? or is it just bad altogether? Im just wondering every one take on this matter. TY

 

Discovery is intended for event caches where a lot of people can bump into a lot of trackables but it doesnt' actually move much.

 

If you find a coin or travel bug in a cache and can help it on it's journey you should take it and move it on and log it normally. Not with the discovery log. If you can't help it and know that moving it would move away from it's goal...a discovered log may be the way to go.

[+Chuy!]

If you take a trackable coin or TB, you should update the webpage as soon as possible. This alerts cachers that me be heading to the cache specifically to grab the coin/TB.

 

Disovering a coin/TB can be done pretty much anytime. It just means you saw it but didn't take it for whatever reason. Some cachers will discover a coin just to get the unique icon to show on their profile, but that is for another thread .

[drock2]

Now if two of us are out cacheing and one of us finds a coin or something, then can one find it and one discover it. It almos doesn't seem fair because if I made a phone call I could discover 5 coins. (not right??)

[+StarBrand]

Discover is for when you see them (or a photo or a number with the tracking id). I have never used it. Seems pointless. Some use it to collect icons in thier profile.

 

I only log things I actually help to move on.

[+BlueDeuce]

Now if two of us are out cacheing and one of us finds a coin or something, then can one find it and one discover it. It almos doesn't seem fair because if I made a phone call I could discover 5 coins. (not right??)

 

Just so you know.

 

If you log a bogus virtual log on a TB, or offer your own TB up for virtual logging you will risk having that TB page locked forever. This means, if you never saw a bug, but got the bug number and you log it, that bug is in risk of being taken out of the game. Don't do this to TB owners who inadvertently might post a photo, or someone else posts a photo, of their TB number. Don't log it virtually. It's considered abuse of the system. And it's not fair play.

 

This post has been edited by Eartha

 

As for the two cachers if I wasn't the one who moved it, I don't log it. But yes you could Discover it if you wish.

Edited May 7, 2007 by BlueDeuce

[drock2]

I undestand discovery on the trail. It just seems that it's a way to inflate your profile.

[+flask]

some trackables aren't intended to move. i have some in my personal collection that i will allow you to discover if you happen to see them (not me, them).

 

and i'll be happy to discover whatever's in your collection if your collection is out and we play with it.

 

there are some people who will hand out lists of everything in their collection to whoever they meet as if it's a prize for meeting them. you don't even have to see the coins. kind of like pocket caches, i guess.

 

but yes, if i go out with crashco and we find a cache with a good trackable in it, one of us will move it and the other will discover it. we used to try to coordinate moving it, but we never got the hang of gettign all the drops and handoffs right.

[drock2]

That's my thought on it also. If we are out on the trail and we discover it then so be it but not at the end of the night, while showing off our caches. I just wanted to make sure I was on the same page.

[+Mudfrog]

I use the discover method for coins when i come across one that i like, but can't help move along. For me, i have to see and hold it. Not actually seeing it, getting the number from a friend, or from a picture isn't kosher for me on this. I haven't ever done this with a regular travelbug though.

[Keystone]

Moving from the Geocaching Topics forum to the Travel Bug forum.

[+briansnat]

I think discovering is useful if you find a coin or TB in a cache and you can't help it on its mission so you don't want to take it. It's also useful for instances like Flask's coin, or other personal coins that people carry around (I know one guy who has a "Buy me a beer" coin and if you meet him and buy him a beer you can log it).

 

What I really don't get are the people who "discover" coins and TBs that they've never seen. Some people trade tracking numbers and pass lists of tracking numbers around. The tracking number of one of my coins somehow wound up on one of these lists. I noticed it because it was getting a bunch of "discovered" logs at an event in Fla even though the coin was actually in California. When I asked some of the people who logged it, they said they got the number from a list given out at the event. I really don't get the point of that.

[drock2]

A freind of mine recently discovered a bug and one oof its missions was to meet its , i'll call them it's brothers. (there were four in the series) I happened to now that one of it's (the bugs) brothers was near buy in a cache he had previously found so he went back and snapped a pic of the two bugs together, he did not take that bug but instead left it for someone else to enjoy he mearly went back for the pic being a goal of the bug. In this instance I was with him when he obtained the bug and I to had seen the brother in the cache hence i knew where it was (i chose to take a different bug out of that cache) What are your thoughts on #1 him discovering the brother and #2 me discovering both, being i was with him when he got the one and physically saw the other one.

[+Eartha]

If you saw it and want to discover it, do so. It tells the owner their bug is still alive and well in the cache. It's OK to do that. It is not OK to log something you never saw. That's virtual logging and is an unacceptable practice here.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I undestand discovery on the trail. It just seems that it's a way to inflate your profile.

 

Or another reason is that with so many types of coins and trackables out there now, you just want to record that you've seen it. Not too often will I discover a TB, but a Coin is another matter. If you don't have anything to say to the owner in your log, that's one thing, but if you want to let the owner know, "Hey, I saw your coin, and think it's cool." Or "it's still in good shape in the cache" etc, That's another situation

 

Never have I logged a traveler just to see it show up on my list

[+BlueDeuce]

nevermind...

Edited May 10, 2007 by BlueDeuce

[+caver53]

I've occasionally logged a discovery if I see that a TB has been sitting in one cache for a long time without moving, and I don't plan to or are unable to move it along myself. I'm sure we're all well familiar with travel bugs that are listed as being in a cache, but that are not really there. Discovering a TB lets the owner know that the TB is still there and all is well.

[+scnascar]

If you saw it and want to discover it, do so. It tells the owner their bug is still alive and well in the cache. It's OK to do that. It is not OK to log something you never saw. That's virtual logging and is an unacceptable practice here.

 

That's exactly why I use the discovery feature when I find coin or tb's in caches. I can't always help them move but at least I can do something to let the owner know they are still alive.

[+Still_Avatar]

I was FTF on a cache yesterday that had 3 TBs starting a race. I took 1 and discovered the other two so now I can find them again easily from my profile. (The other two have since moved on.) I do still browse to see where some of the trackables I've seen end up. It's interesting to see how things move some times.

 

I have one TB that's managed to move 3400 miles in two hops.

 

But I certainly never discover anything I've never seen...