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"Discovering" TB's


Pinster56

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If you know what cache it's in go head and retrieve it and post a note on the cache and drop it. Then delete the cache note.

 

Hi BlueDeuce,

 

Thanks, good plan, hadn't thought of that :-)

 

Can you answer another question I have?

 

If I want to change the origin of my TB (See my other post for this) how can I do this?

I want to do it because I would like to log it's correct miles from birth (as it were), not just from where I first took it.

 

Matt.

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The main advantage of a 'Discover' feature is if you pick up a TB before the previous carrier has had a chance to log the drop.

 

Too often people will be impatient and will pick up a recently dropped travel item and log. Unless they are so set on dropping it again that day, I do not understand why except they are just apathetic or simply ignorant. They thereby cut out an entire portion of the TB journey and do not allow someone to share their part of the story.

 

If you find a TB that has been dropped in a cache but is not officially in the inventory, then please wait a few days (even a week) so the previous carrier has time to get to a computer and make the drop. That way the mileage tracking is accurate and they have a chance to share the story. I will make a 'discovered' log to let the TB owner know that the bug has been found and will place a 'watch' on the TB. when dropped, I can delete my discovered log, and make the pickup.

 

It is simple, quick, and lets everyone enjoy the experience.

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1 Wait for when the TB is sitting in a cache (not in someone's inventory - otherwise they will not be able to drop it later and the mileage will be even more messed up).

 

2 Go make a 'find' log in the TB tracking page so it is now in your inventory.

 

3 Go make a 'note' entry in the intended cache log page for the intended date and deposit TB from your inventory.

 

4 Make a 'pickup' entry in the TB log page.

 

5. Make 'note' entry using current date in the cache the TB currently physically sits (from step 1). Place TB from your inventory into that cache.

 

6. Delete your note entry from step 5. Delete the logs on your TB page that showed you picking up and dropped the TB into the cache from step 1 and 5.

 

Result: the mileage will update itself within a day or so. the result in the tracking page will still show the most recent carrier as dropping it in the current physical cache. the cache will show it as being in inventory and ready to be picked up.

 

 

If I want to change the origin of my TB (See my other post for this) how can I do this?

I want to do it because I would like to log it's correct miles from birth (as it were), not just from where I first took it.

 

Matt.

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I have been watching this thread and listening to the angst for a while now. I will again say my piece here.

I don't think "discovery" is a dirty word. Then again, if that is what you think, play your way. Everyone should be allowed to play the game the way they want as long as it is acceptable in terms of Groundspeak rules.

My first event was GW4, and I was relatively new at caching. I had never seen a TB before. I sat by the Travel Bug Festival enthralled. I was hooked. Since then, I have been to a lot of events around my area, even some "impromptu" unofficial gatherings, and been caching with my good friends I made through events. At all of these gatherings, even when we are having lunch or hanging out with each other, we always share our bugs. Most of the people I cache with do the same thing I do - we share the bugs, we marvel over them, we talk about them, we write down the numbers, and we discover. We do this because we love bugs. Sometimes we exchange them and sometimes we don't, depends on who is going where. Of course we move bugs, too. If we are caching together, maybe one takes the bug and the others discover it. I like discovering, personally. I like to have the bug on my list of bugs moved/discovered and go back time and again to look at where they've been.

It seems like a lot of people on this thread are anti-discovery, but that has not been my experience at all where I live and with the people I know. Most of us have personal TBs or coins that are for discovery only, and I personally love the discover logs on my TBs out there as much as the movement. It is all part of the story, to me.

I don't think people should try to force others to play the game according to their own preferences, nor whine if others aren't doing it the way THEY do it. If you don't like the logs, delete them, and if you don't like the emails, filter them.

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First of all, I would like to say that there are many different ways to play this game, and all of them deserve respect. My friends that I have met through caching and I like to go to events, and when we are there we like to discover both coins and bugs. I don't mind at all when either my bugs and coins are discovered. I can see how it is irritating to have them be sitting in a cache and get discovered and never moved. However, some people are not into moving them for whatever reason, and I do find it comforting to know they are still there. Much more comforting than checking the last logs on the cache where your trackable was, only to see the logs state something about "muggled" and "missing". I haven't lost any TBs yet but I have lost a lot of coins this way. I personally am really into trackables, even if I just discovered them at an event, and frequently check my list of trackables I have found/discovered to see where they are now. That is one advantage to discovering them - being able to watch them easily after that.

 

Ty Hardings, I'm glad people discover as it lets me know if my TB is alive and well. I was at a meeting and I had 19 discoverys on a few things coin-and TB and it only took me 1 min to delete all of them as they came in as soon as I open my mailbox. When you discover a TB it cahanges you TB total, so I think that is why we all do it,besides letting people know it's alive and well. Thanks again you said it best. Dilligas45

Edited by Dilligas45
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When you discover a TB it cahanges you TB total, so I think that is why we all do it,besides letting people know it's alive and well.

I like to discover simply because it gives me a list of all the Travel Bugs and coins I have seen. I like the fact that my profile shows all the caches I have found, all the Travel Bugs and Coins I have moved and all I have not moved. It is a record of my caching. I don't compete with others on the numbers. I think this might be why some don't like others discovering. They want to compete on numbers and feel that I am cheating. I don't see how finding a TB can be a competition. I can understand that some people don't like to discover. I don't understand the displeasure shown over others that like to do it. :laughing:

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I can understand that some people don't like to discover. I don't understand the displeasure shown over others that like to do it. :anibad:

 

The point of travel bugs is to travel.

 

Now the site may allow people to claim a stat for simply coming across a TB, but honestly you don't understand why TB owners would have an issue with the Discover option?

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I can understand that some people don't like to discover. I don't understand the displeasure shown over others that like to do it. :anibad:

 

The point of travel bugs is to travel.

 

Now the site may allow people to claim a stat for simply coming across a TB, but honestly you don't understand why TB owners would have an issue with the Discover option?

Your point of view shows in your words "claim a stat". I do not claim a stat. I place a link to the bug in my profile. I could care less if it was counted or not. I am a TB owner and I don't have an issue with the Discover option. I recently visited a TB hotel that had 20 bugs in it. I was not about to take all 20 bugs. I took a few and discovered the rest. Even if I never moved a bug and only discovered them, how does that cause an issue. If I never moved a bug and never discovered them, the bug would still be sitting in the cache. It seems that there is an assumption being made that because a discover was done, a bug move was somehow prevented.

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Your point of view shows in your words "claim a stat". I do not claim a stat. I place a link to the bug in my profile. I could care less if it was counted or not. I am a TB owner and I don't have an issue with the Discover option. I recently visited a TB hotel that had 20 bugs in it. I was not about to take all 20 bugs. I took a few and discovered the rest. Even if I never moved a bug and only discovered them, how does that cause an issue. If I never moved a bug and never discovered them, the bug would still be sitting in the cache. It seems that there is an assumption being made that because a discover was done, a bug move was somehow prevented.

 

I'm very new to geocaching and didn't realize that this was even a concern. I saw the option and felt it was a nice way to log my experiences. I enjoy finding TB's and coins and I like to move them when I can. But I also like to keep a record for myself of my geocaching experience. Like traildad, I really have no interest in the stats - I only want to be able to look back months or even years from now and remember the things I've seen and found. This is a good way for me to keep a log and I thought that's what the discovery option was for. My children also love to go back and look at all the fun TB's we've found especially if one of the kids couldn't make it that day.

 

This seems rather trivial (no offense) considering that more often than not when I go to a cache that says it has a TB or coin - it's gone. That to me is a real problem and I wonder where they all go.

 

When I release my first TB, I hope it gets discovered, moved, enjoyed and photographed as often as possible. I know TB's are meant to move but aren't they also meant to be enjoyed by people they meet along the way? I would be happy to know about everyone that comes across my bug? I'm very sorry if it is bothersome to people when I do discover a TB and I really do try to move as many as I can when I do find them but I will use the discover function as well but not for my stats.

Edited by Theotokos
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I can understand that some people don't like to discover. I don't understand the displeasure shown over others that like to do it. :)

 

The point of travel bugs is to travel.

 

Now the site may allow people to claim a stat for simply coming across a TB, but honestly you don't understand why TB owners would have an issue with the Discover option?

 

Actually, the point of travel bugs is individual according to the user.

Snipped from the gc website:

"The Travel Bug is a trackable tag that you attach to an item. The item becomes a hitchhiker that is carried from cache to cache (or person to person) in the real world and you can follow its progress online.

 

It's really up to the owner of the bug to give it whatever task they desire. Or no task at all. The fun of a travel bug is inventing new goals for the Travel Bug to achieve. One Bug's goal may be to reach a specific country, or travel to 10 countries.

 

Travel Bugs are tracked with the help of users who go online and "grab" them from caches, or receive them from users. The idea is by picking up and dropping off Travel Bugs on the web site you are mirroring the Bug's real world adventures. Each Travel Bug has its own "diary" that follows its movements."

 

To me, meeting new people is like traveling. To me, my bug meeting new people is another way I can live vicariously through the travel bug.

 

I understand that YOU seem to have a big issue with people getting a stat for discovering.I understand the person who started the thread was annoyed with the emails and people discovering and not moving. But overall, should people stop discovering because you and some others out there think it is akin to cheating? I don't think so. Do what makes you happy.

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I think that there's an assumption that if there were no "discover" option, people would be more likely to move every bug they meet. I'm not convinced that that is a true or reasonable assumption.

 

If there were no way to log the TB without moving it, would you move more TBs?

 

Has the rate of TB movement decreased since the introduction of the "discover" option?

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I understand that YOU seem to have a big issue with people getting a stat for discovering.I understand the person who started the thread was annoyed with the emails and people discovering and not moving. But overall, should people stop discovering because you and some others out there think it is akin to cheating? I don't think so. Do what makes you happy.

 

I (sorry I can't capitalize "I" to make a point) have a big problem with a lot of things, one of which is people assuming I am accusing other people of cheating. I would appreciate that you don't put words in my mouth.

 

If you think that is what I am saying then please ask for clarification.

 

Thanks.

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I can understand that some people don't like to discover. I don't understand the displeasure shown over others that like to do it. :)

 

The point of travel bugs is to travel.

 

Now the site may allow people to claim a stat for simply coming across a TB, but honestly you don't understand why TB owners would have an issue with the Discover option?

Your point of view shows in your words "claim a stat". I do not claim a stat. I place a link to the bug in my profile. I could care less if it was counted or not. I am a TB owner and I don't have an issue with the Discover option. I recently visited a TB hotel that had 20 bugs in it. I was not about to take all 20 bugs. I took a few and discovered the rest. Even if I never moved a bug and only discovered them, how does that cause an issue. If I never moved a bug and never discovered them, the bug would still be sitting in the cache. It seems that there is an assumption being made that because a discover was done, a bug move was somehow prevented.

 

I think both of us know that both of us think there is a benefit in having the Discover option. For example Geocoins shared at an event. To me that functionally was truly necessary. (Thank you gc.com)

 

I'm having more than a little trouble believing the same thing was essential for Travel bugs traveling via caches. If you haven’t noticed I tend to (zealously) put the care of a TB over the needs of the finder.

 

My concern is whether or not the Discover option supports a TB.

 

 

Edit: spelling

Edited by BlueDeuce
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I have scanned this thread....didn't read every word, but I'm pretty sure I got the main idea.

 

I believe in everybody playing the game anyway that they feel like playing....as long as you are having fun.

I will not bash anybody for discovering trackables.

 

Me personally, since I am an avid trackable handler....I see good and bad in the discover feature. My opinion is that the discover feature is necessary for trackable owners to know that the item they own is still safe and active. This is done by somebody visiting a cache somewhere and upon seeing a trackable inside of it, they will log a discover log if they didn't want to take it.

 

I also see the discover log necessary as a time efficient substitute for logging trackables seen at an event. It used to be where we retrieved a travel bug from the event, and then posted a note to the event page to place it back. Discover logs eleminate the trackable from going into your inventory.

 

I personally never discover trackables. 100% of the trackables on my stats are trackables that I picked up from a cache and dropped in another one somewhere else.

 

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, so kudos to all you discoverers out there.

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I think both of us know that both of us think there is a benefit in having the Discover option. For example Geocoins shared at an event. To me that functionally was truly necessary. (Thank you gc.com)

 

I'm having more than a little trouble believing the same thing was essential for Travel bugs traveling via caches. If you haven’t noticed I tend to (zealously) put the care of a TB over the needs of the finder.

 

My concern is whether or not the Discover option supports a TB.

 

Yes. I think that the 'Discover' option has proven to be a good thing for Geocoins.

I'm not sure that I've ever 'discovered' a TB. (It's only one icon after all!) :)

The disadvantage is that some people think that that is the proper way to Pick up a bug. (Perhaps if the nomenclature were changed from "Discovered" to "Saw" that might make a difference?)

But I do see some advantages. I was at an event where we picked up a TB. We logged it out a week later, and dropped it into a cache. A late logger 'grabbed' it from the cache, and dropped it back into the event. "Discovering" resolves that problem. (Okay. So I don't understand why anyone would want to log every TB that they've ever seen...) The other advantage is knowing that my bug is still in that cache in the Netherlands, even if no one wants to move it. (Hey! It's trying to get to Maine!) But, it's alive and well!

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My concern is whether or not the Discover option supports a TB.

 

I think it does. Maybe not to the level that moving it does. I moved a coin into a cache of mine. There has been no mention of the coin in the finders logs and it has not been moved or discovered since I left it there. I am a little worried that someone might have taken the coin. Even though it is not my coin, I wish someone had discovered it so I would know it is there. Since there is no cute icon to be added for discovering a TB, I don't think anyone will choose to discover when otherwise they would have moved it.

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