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Puzzle cache and Subculture etiquette


uminski

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Greetings

 

I just have to vent some frustration here.

I have been trying to solve a series of caches in the in Roxboro North Carolina area and was stumped by the multi step process and the lack of clues provided by the cache owner. I made some progress and asked the cache owner for some clues. I was told basically the subculture in the area does not provide clues.

This made me feel like dirt. Is is wrong to ask for clues? I wish I had a brain to solve the cache.

 

Has anyone else felt disappointed when the cache owner will not help solve a difficult puzzle?

 

Regards

Uminski

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My cluttered brain can't do many crossword puzzles because I see too many possibilites and use a pen - so I tend to skip all puzzle caches.

 

Not much point in trying a puzzle if you expect somebody to help you solve it. Then it just becomes a joint venture. Owner can and will choose how much information to give out. Don't worry about it and move on to the next one.

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When I first started caching, I used to look at the Puzzle cache pages and really, really try to figure out where to start. :unsure: The only kind I could sort of get were the "logic" ones.

 

I finally realized that, since I cannot even do the Monday crossword puzzle, I probably shouldn't even try to figure out the Puzzle caches.

 

I've been much happier since I made that decision. :lol:

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I guess that I don't understand why OP thinks that the CO should give away the mystery. Isn't that why it's a mystery? I will admit to giving extra hints to cachers who ask. But I'm looking at ten or fifteen that I have not figured out yet. (Hey, I've even brute-forced a few!) Okay, I've folded the origami box. Now what?!? Ask me at an event, and I'll probably give lots of hints! But don't expect me to give it away to anyone who asks.

Don't like mysteries? Ignore them. Like a challenge? Keep trying.

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I have one true puzzle cache - 3 year birthday is just around the corner. I am always glad to help someone solve it, give hints nudges whatever you want. I've given up on trying to make stumpers, that sucks the fun out of things.

 

There was one that drove me insane for a few months and I still never figured it out. The cache is now archived but every now and then I pull out my old files for fun. I called in some outside sources but I just got some blank stares.

 

I can understand the frustration but there are some very goos sites on the net that help explain how some puzzles are made and there are some puzzles that no amount of searching will turn anything. How determined are you?

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It's likely that there are quite a few other cachers in your local area that could also use some help on some puzzles. Would it be possible for you to get together with some of them (either in person or by email) to bounce ideas off of each other for some of the puzzles that have you all temporarily stumped?

 

I wouldn't think that this would be against the "local subculture", since no one in your brainstorming group would be giving away answers -- you'd all be trying to come up with them together.

 

Or does the "local subculture" require all eyes to be on one's own desk, and no talking, or you get your hand slapped with a ruler? :unsure:

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I had one I couldn't get approved because the reviewer couldn't solve it and I wouldn't give her the method to solve it. I don't give out hints or extra information to anyone for any of my caches, but certainly not on a puzzle cache I may have spent hours encrypting.

 

It might have been different if the reviewer wasn't local to the cache and an active cacher under another name.

 

AK

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The pervious post in this topic are probably right on mark. If the CO wants to be tight with his/her clues they have the right. However, perhaps the CO is suspecious of your intentions?

Why would a out of towner be looking for clues?

Might this out of towner be feeding hints and solutions to a local?

 

I know Uminski's integrity and now this is not the case.

 

However Uminski, you have one of the best secret weapons. Some of the finest puzzle cache solvers live in your area. Perhaps you can team up with one from this group of "secret agents". :o

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I had one I couldn't get approved because the reviewer couldn't solve it and I wouldn't give her the method to solve it. I don't give out hints or extra information to anyone for any of my caches, but certainly not on a puzzle cache I may have spent hours encrypting.

 

It might have been different if the reviewer wasn't local to the cache and an active cacher under another name.

 

AK

You do realize that the reviewer can see the final coordinates, right? So if a reviewer wanted to cheat, they wouldn't need to know how it's solved. They already have the solution.

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Greetings

Thanks for the reassuring comments.

Maybe now I can sleep at night not trying to figure out the UTM cooridinate system.

Regards

Uminski

 

UTM is another coordinate system - your GPS (and map software) should be able to convert between the two. I have a Garmin Vista with Garmin Mapsource. Helped me out on a puzzle cache. Take a look at that.

 

As for puzzles where the owner doesn't help weven with honest effort - Decide for yourself what you want to do. There is one here the owner is no help on so I will skip that one for a while. Maybe a geobuddy can help me out. As an owner of puzzles, I will provide hints if a cacher gives it an honset effort first. Like tell me their method or where they are stuck. Afterall, we all like to find caches, and I like to read their (adventure) logs.

 

just my $0.02 worth.

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I had one I couldn't get approved because the reviewer couldn't solve it and I wouldn't give her the method to solve it. I don't give out hints or extra information to anyone for any of my caches, but certainly not on a puzzle cache I may have spent hours encrypting.

 

It might have been different if the reviewer wasn't local to the cache and an active cacher under another name.

 

AK

You do realize that the reviewer can see the final coordinates, right? So if a reviewer wanted to cheat, they wouldn't need to know how it's solved. They already have the solution.

 

Actually reviewers have to wait before finding puzzle caches. And I doubt they would "cheat". At least n our area that is how it appears. Would degrade the integrity of the game otherwise.

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Greetings

 

I just have to vent some frustration here.

I have been trying to solve a series of caches in the in Roxboro North Carolina area and was stumped by the multi step process and the lack of clues provided by the cache owner. I made some progress and asked the cache owner for some clues. I was told basically the subculture in the area does not provide clues.

This made me feel like dirt. Is is wrong to ask for clues? I wish I had a brain to solve the cache.

 

Has anyone else felt disappointed when the cache owner will not help solve a difficult puzzle?

 

Regards

Uminski

 

Wrong to ask? Not at all.

Wrong to expect a clue? Yes.

Feeling like dirt is optional.

 

Some areas if one person solves the puzzle everone finds it. Some have a little more honor than that.

If puzzles were easy, they would not be puzzles. Keep that in mind if you want to keep working on those kinds of caches. When you finally crack one you will feel great and it's a find well earned.

 

If you find that puzzles are not your thing, then stick to regualar caches.

 

I don't feel dissapointed when an owner won't help me with a clue. That's their choice.

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We have a very active group here in Fort Worth that love puzzle caches. I guess that's what we get for having

 

lots of Lockheed geeks...umm, I mean engineers in the area. Most of the puzzle caches I wouldn't be able

 

solve in a million years. My brain just doesn't work the same as the puzzle lovers. But I haven't asked for a

 

hint on any of them yet. It just doesn't seem in spirit of the game, but if a hint is freely offered you better

 

believe I'll use it. One of the greatest things with having a membership is the ability to ignore caches. I use it

 

quite frequently and quite freely on puzzle caches.

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Get out and meet other local cachers - make friends.

Then when you need a helping hand you can ask OTHER cachers that have solved the puzzle!

 

My problem is I'll solve them, but it takes me so long to get to the actual cache I forget the solution!

 

Common things i've seen used: comments embedded in the HTML of the cache page, in the comment fields of pictures attached to the page (even the backgrounds) or the size of an image on the web page. For some googling works well and for others, not at all. Some are coded into the words on the page - first letter of each word, or last, or line...etc.

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I don't feel the cache owner is required to give clues unless they want to. And yes, some of these puzzles are tough. I've looked at a few puzzle pages and not even been able to tell where to start in order to find the answer or even what form the answer might be in :o . I figure when I find all the other caches out there, I can go back and find all the puzzles (that oughta keep me busy).

 

DCC

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I had one I couldn't get approved because the reviewer couldn't solve it and I wouldn't give her the method to solve it. I don't give out hints or extra information to anyone for any of my caches, but certainly not on a puzzle cache I may have spent hours encrypting.

 

It might have been different if the reviewer wasn't local to the cache and an active cacher under another name.

 

AK

You do realize that the reviewer can see the final coordinates, right? So if a reviewer wanted to cheat, they wouldn't need to know how it's solved. They already have the solution.

 

Sure, they have the coordinate solution, but as an ALR finders had to answer a question built into the puzzle or I would delete the log. That is why I think she was so insistant about knowing how to solve the puzzle. Maybe she couldn't go find the puzzle for 2 weeks (I think that is the limit placed on reviewers) but there was nothing stopping freinds she gave the information to from doing it, or herself claiming to have "solved" the puzzle under her caching name after the two weeks was up. She is a well known member of the local phone-a-freind clique.

 

AK

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Maybe she couldn't go find the puzzle for 2 weeks (I think that is the limit placed on reviewers) but there was nothing stopping freinds she gave the information to from doing it, or herself claiming to have "solved" the puzzle under her caching name after the two weeks was up. She is a well known member of the local phone-a-freind clique.

 

AK

That's quite a charge you're making against a reviewer. I hope you're prepared to back it up.

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However Uminski, you have one of the best secret weapons. Some of the finest puzzle cache solvers live in your area. Perhaps you can team up with one from this group of "secret agents". :D

He's got puzzle loving locals? Who are these people?? :D;)

 

If the response from the CO was nasty, well, i'd take it personally because theres no need for nastiness. But, if it was just a no and an explanation then it was within his rights not to want to give a hint.

 

Personally I want my puzzles to be found, even if the cache page doesn't make it look that way :D

 

That's not to say hand out the solution to everyone you know, but little pushes in the right direction are no problem..

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Personally I want my puzzles to be found, even if the cache page doesn't make it look that way :lol:

 

That's not to say hand out the solution to everyone you know, but little pushes in the right direction are no problem..

 

Then, this wouldn't be the proper place to say that I brute-forced one of your puzzle caches? :lol:

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I was told basically the subculture in the area does not provide clues.

Some folks feel the mental part of finding caches should be just as hard as the physical part. No one expects for the cache owner to bulldoze the mountain if someone can't climb it or build a bridge to the island if they don't have a boat. Why are puzzle caches any different?

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