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Announcing.....The Pocket Decoder

The Caching Place

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The Caching Place

+The Caching Place

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Posted

I just went to the Caching Place to find out what was going on with The Pocket Decoder because I didn't see anything mentioned lately. The last I heard was it was postponed until further notice. However, when I went there to see if there was any update-to my surprise and disappointment, I found they were sold out! I thought this was going to be a regular stock item so that all who wanted one could get one. So, I guess I was wondering how everyone knew about this except me! :D:blink::laughing: Does anyone know what the problem was and when they went on sale? And more importantly, when will there be more?

The sale went on the 15 I think any way I got mine today, if you are signed up there you get emails telling you when things are up for sale. Beautiful, It's really a piece of work. USA 45

 

Thanks USA45. I thought I was on their email list. I got the email about it originally, but I didn't get any information about it this time. Oh well, I hope they will get more in soon.

The newsletter did go out last week, we're sorry you didn't get it Degai :D

The Pocket Decoders went on sale Friday the 16th. Because this is an "open stock" item, we thought 800 coins would be plenty to start with, well....we guessed wrong! The reason that we had the "updating inventory" message up is that when ever you have a crazy sale like this there will be folks who place double orders, or others who cancel for one reason or another. When this happens, and coins become available, we add them back into the inventory and if you happen to be "lurking" at the right time, you'll score <_<

 

We will be placing another order ASAP - and we will most likely add a "pre-order" page for those who want to make sure they get one in the next batch. Please understand the production time for this coin is 48 + days. We are also placing the order for the 2nd series center wheel, it will also be available to "per order" all of the details will be posted in the 'other' Pocket Decoder' thread once we have the details.

 

Eartha....we need another merge here please :laughing:

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nashuan

+nashuan

Posted
Posted

Anybody know where you can download the middle wheel symbols or am I going to have to get my graphics program out?

 

The decoder comes with one, but they will be offering additional wheels in the future. Hold up on your graphics program unless you wanted to submit ideas (which they are accepting).

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nashuan

+nashuan

Posted
Posted

Just got mine in the mail today :D . My first geocoin. I can see how this is going to get very addicting.

 

Any of you that are buying one of these.....are you planning on activating it or not?

 

_______________________________________________________________________

 

I got mine in yesterday. Pretty cool, and I like that you will be able to swap out the center wheel.

 

I'd say not to activate it unless you're planning to set it free to travel. Some people don't like to buy or trade activated coins and since you can't easily (if not next to impossible) unactivate it, there isn't much of a benefit to activate the coin. the only thing activating would do for you is to help prove ownership if you lost the coin or it got stolen. I've heard some people say that they activate their coins if they are going to take them to shows in case they fall out of a binder or something. My opinion - don't activate.

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LadyBee4T

+LadyBee4T

Posted
Posted

 

The Pocket Decoders went on sale Friday the 16th. Because this is an "open stock" item, we thought 800 coins would be plenty to start with, well....we guessed wrong! The reason that we had the "updating inventory" message up is that when ever you have a crazy sale like this there will be folks who place double orders, or others who cancel for one reason or another. When this happens, and coins become available, we add them back into the inventory and if you happen to be "lurking" at the right time, you'll score :D

 

We will be placing another order ASAP - and we will most likely add a "pre-order" page for those who want to make sure they get one in the next batch. Please understand the production time for this coin is 48 + days. We are also placing the order for the 2nd series center wheel, it will also be available to "per order" all of the details will be posted in the 'other' Pocket Decoder' thread once we have the details.

 

 

Checked the Cachingplace.com seems the decoders are sold out. - Anyone know when I can order one?

 

See the above quote. Maybe you will get lucky and grab one that is added back into the inventory!

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Frankie.Knuckles

+Frankie.Knuckles

Posted
Posted

_______________________________________________________________________

 

I got mine in yesterday. Pretty cool, and I like that you will be able to swap out the center wheel.

 

I'd say not to activate it unless you're planning to set it free to travel. Some people don't like to buy or trade activated coins and since you can't easily (if not next to impossible) unactivate it, there isn't much of a benefit to activate the coin. the only thing activating would do for you is to help prove ownership if you lost the coin or it got stolen. I've heard some people say that they activate their coins if they are going to take them to shows in case they fall out of a binder or something. My opinion - don't activate.

 

Thanks for the tip. In order to get an activation code for this coin I have to enter some info on their website. Will this activate my coin or just give me a code to activate it?

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MommyFinder

+MommyFinder

Posted
Posted

_______________________________________________________________________

 

I got mine in yesterday. Pretty cool, and I like that you will be able to swap out the center wheel.

 

I'd say not to activate it unless you're planning to set it free to travel. Some people don't like to buy or trade activated coins and since you can't easily (if not next to impossible) unactivate it, there isn't much of a benefit to activate the coin. the only thing activating would do for you is to help prove ownership if you lost the coin or it got stolen. I've heard some people say that they activate their coins if they are going to take them to shows in case they fall out of a binder or something. My opinion - don't activate.

 

Thanks for the tip. In order to get an activation code for this coin I have to enter some info on their website. Will this activate my coin or just give me a code to activate it?

You go to TheCachingPlace.com to retrieve your activation code. To actually activate it, you go to Geocaching.com, click on "Trackable Items", then "Activate Trackable Item".

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MommyFinder

+MommyFinder

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

The Pocket Decoders went on sale Friday the 16th. Because this is an "open stock" item, we thought 800 coins would be plenty to start with, well....we guessed wrong! The reason that we had the "updating inventory" message up is that when ever you have a crazy sale like this there will be folks who place double orders, or others who cancel for one reason or another. When this happens, and coins become available, we add them back into the inventory and if you happen to be "lurking" at the right time, you'll score :D

 

We will be placing another order ASAP - and we will most likely add a "pre-order" page for those who want to make sure they get one in the next batch. Please understand the production time for this coin is 48 + days. We are also placing the order for the 2nd series center wheel, it will also be available to "per order" all of the details will be posted in the 'other' Pocket Decoder' thread once we have the details.

 

 

Checked the Cachingplace.com seems the decoders are sold out. - Anyone know when I can order one?

 

See the above quote. Maybe you will get lucky and grab one that is added back into the inventory!

 

They said they thought their initial order of 800 would last a little longer in the store. (Apparently, these are more popular than they expected! Go figure!) Anyway, they will be placing another order very soon, probably doing a pre-sale. Then it will take about 48 days for the coins to arrive at their shop. They do plan on keeping these in stock in their shop.

 

Edited because I'm not paying attention:

 

Oh, duh! I just quoted what they (The Caching Place) quoted!

 

So, I'll go quietly back to my corner and patiently wait for mine to arrive in the mail! :D

Edited by MommyFinder
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dflye

+dflye

Posted
Posted
So, I'll go quietly back to my corner and patiently wait for mine to arrive in the mail! :)

You can always make a paper one to play around with for their online Hobbit game, that's what I was doing yesterday while waiting for the real coin to show up. :D

 

Made it all the way to the final puzzle with no mistakes using a combination of reverse-puzzling and brute force (woo for perl scripting :laughing: ), then screwed up by coming up with the wrong answer, which was a big OW, as the penalty for a wrong choice had escalated from an hour timeout to 24 hours! :D:D

 

I think the real coins are likely to arrive in my mailbox before I get past the @#$*#! Wizard! :laughing:

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Theotokos

Theotokos

Posted
Posted
So, I'll go quietly back to my corner and patiently wait for mine to arrive in the mail! :)

You can always make a paper one to play around with for their online Hobbit game, that's what I was doing yesterday while waiting for the real coin to show up. :D

 

Made it all the way to the final puzzle with no mistakes using a combination of reverse-puzzling and brute force (woo for perl scripting :D ), then screwed up by coming up with the wrong answer, which was a big OW, as the penalty for a wrong choice had escalated from an hour timeout to 24 hours! :D:laughing:

 

I think the real coins are likely to arrive in my mailbox before I get past the @#$*#! Wizard! :laughing:

 

I can't wait to try this. I've never done any kind of puzzles (games or caches) like this before and other than the hints on cache pages, didn't know what the decoder coins were for. Do they require much experience or can a total rookie pick this up alright?

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dflye

+dflye

Posted
Posted
I can't wait to try this. I've never done any kind of puzzles (games or caches) like this before and other than the hints on cache pages, didn't know what the decoder coins were for. Do they require much experience or can a total rookie pick this up alright?

They provide great descriptions, examples and animated images showing how to use the decoder for the various encryption types used in the game. :)

 

The challenge is trying to figure out what the "key" is for each puzzle, as it may not be displayed initially, and you have to wait an hour or more before it is revealed in some cases. :D

 

Once you get the hang of using the decoder and do some pattern analysis (well at least for the earlier puzzles :D ), you can guess which blocks of encrypted text should translate to a word or phrase you expect in the "plain" text, and attempt to reverse that to figure out the key. :laughing:

 

Not sure if that description of attacking the cypher to determine the key makes sense or not, but once you have the key, in general it is simply a matter of spinning the wheel and figuring out the translation for each encrypted letter.

 

Their keys are pretty good on the later puzzles, so even using a dictionary-based brute force attack may not always work (I should know, got stuck on the 6th puzzle and couldn't brute-force my way past! :laughing: )

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MustangJoni

+MustangJoni

Posted
Posted
So, I'll go quietly back to my corner and patiently wait for mine to arrive in the mail! :)

You can always make a paper one to play around with for their online Hobbit game, that's what I was doing yesterday while waiting for the real coin to show up. :D

 

Made it all the way to the final puzzle with no mistakes using a combination of reverse-puzzling and brute force (woo for perl scripting :D ), then screwed up by coming up with the wrong answer, which was a big OW, as the penalty for a wrong choice had escalated from an hour timeout to 24 hours! :D:laughing:

 

I think the real coins are likely to arrive in my mailbox before I get past the @#$*#! Wizard! :laughing:

 

I can't wait to try this. I've never done any kind of puzzles (games or caches) like this before and other than the hints on cache pages, didn't know what the decoder coins were for. Do they require much experience or can a total rookie pick this up alright?

 

The game is so fun!

 

I've brute forced several of the puzzles. I got stuck at stage 6 also. But if I would have been paying attention, I had gotten several of the words right.

 

Now I'm on a break! I hope to finish up sometime this weekend.

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Western Mass Clan

+Western Mass Clan

Posted
Posted (edited)

The SALE is on!!! Those of you who get our newsletter know that already!! :D Not to worry, even though they are selling FAST, there are still plenty!!

 

ATTENTION INTERNATIONAL BUYERS:

Due to the recent increase in postal rates, there is a slight problem with the calculations of international flat rate priority mail. Our system is charging a much higher rate than it should, we will be refunding the difference at the time we ship your order. The actual cost for flat rate priority is $9.95 for Canada and $11.95 for all other countries.

 

Thanks everyone!!

 

AAAAAAAAUUGGHHHH!!!

 

I MISSED IT!!!! DARNNIT DARNNIT DARNNIT!!!

 

:laughing::D:laughing::):D:D:D

 

Being a fan of puzzle caches (both solving and creating them), I literally feel sick to my stomach having missed this neat coin idea. I was watching this thread hoping not to miss out when these finally went on sale. But my son and I both had our birthdays bookend this past weekend (Mine was Friday the 16th when the announcement was made and his was Monday the 19th) and between plans with friends and my son's birthday party, I wasn't watching. I didn't see Friday's announcement and they were all snapped up before I realized it.

 

DARNNIT DARNNIT DARNNIT!!! I'm REALLY disappointed to have missed out on this coin. Nuts.

 

Anybody buy some extras for trade / sale?

 

Romo

Edited by Western Mass Clan
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MustangJoni

+MustangJoni

Posted
Posted

The SALE is on!!! Those of you who get our newsletter know that already!! :D Not to worry, even though they are selling FAST, there are still plenty!!

 

ATTENTION INTERNATIONAL BUYERS:

Due to the recent increase in postal rates, there is a slight problem with the calculations of international flat rate priority mail. Our system is charging a much higher rate than it should, we will be refunding the difference at the time we ship your order. The actual cost for flat rate priority is $9.95 for Canada and $11.95 for all other countries.

 

Thanks everyone!!

 

AAAAAAAAUUGGHHHH!!!

 

I MISSED IT!!!! DARNNIT DARNNIT DARNNIT!!!

 

:laughing::D:laughing::):D:D:D

 

I was watching this thread hoping not to miss out when these finally went on sale. But my son and I both had our birthdays bookend this past weekend (Friday the 16th and Monday 19th respectively) and between plans with friends and my son's birthday party, I wasn't watching. I didn't see Friday's announcement and they were all snapped up before I realized it.

 

DARNNIT DARNNIT DARNNIT!!! I'm REALLY disappointed to have missed out on this coin. Nuts.

 

Anybody buy some extras for trade / sale?

 

Romo

 

They are going to restock this coin. So you'll have another chance.

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Western Mass Clan

+Western Mass Clan

Posted
Posted

They are going to restock this coin. So you'll have another chance.

 

I know. It's not the same, though ... IMHO. It's like getting the second edition of a collectible. 1st editions are orders of magnitude better. Sure, there's probably no way to tell the 1st and 2nd editions apart when it comes to geocoins - but in my mind I'd rather have a first-run coin. That's just me though. Others may not be so picky.

 

Ah well. Live and learn.

 

:laughing:

 

Matt

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Theotokos

Theotokos

Posted
Posted

 

The game is so fun!

 

I've brute forced several of the puzzles. I got stuck at stage 6 also. But if I would have been paying attention, I had gotten several of the words right.

 

Now I'm on a break! I hope to finish up sometime this weekend.

 

So I'm still not sure I understand it fully so it's probably best I just jump in. I was wondering though, when you start a stage do you have to finish it in a session or can you just go look around and 'pause' it without penalty?

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MustangJoni

+MustangJoni

Posted
Posted

 

The game is so fun!

 

I've brute forced several of the puzzles. I got stuck at stage 6 also. But if I would have been paying attention, I had gotten several of the words right.

 

Now I'm on a break! I hope to finish up sometime this weekend.

 

So I'm still not sure I understand it fully so it's probably best I just jump in. I was wondering though, when you start a stage do you have to finish it in a session or can you just go look around and 'pause' it without penalty?

 

Once you open a puzzle the clock is running. Now you can go and to other things while the clock is running. I usually wait till I have about an hour to work on the puzzle. Looks like for the last stages, I'll need a weekend! LOL

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backhiker

+backhiker

Posted
Posted

 

They provide great descriptions, examples and animated images showing how to use the decoder for the various encryption types used in the game. :)

 

The challenge is trying to figure out what the "key" is for each puzzle, as it may not be displayed initially, and you have to wait an hour or more before it is revealed in some cases. :D

 

Once you get the hang of using the decoder and do some pattern analysis (well at least for the earlier puzzles :unsure: ), you can guess which blocks of encrypted text should translate to a word or phrase you expect in the "plain" text, and attempt to reverse that to figure out the key. ;)

 

Not sure if that description of attacking the cypher to determine the key makes sense or not, but once you have the key, in general it is simply a matter of spinning the wheel and figuring out the translation for each encrypted letter.

 

Their keys are pretty good on the later puzzles, so even using a dictionary-based brute force attack may not always work (I should know, got stuck on the 6th puzzle and couldn't brute-force my way past! :D )

 

Congrats on finishing dflye! You are in Leader board position 2 :lol:

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dflye

+dflye

Posted
Posted

Congrats on finishing dflye! You are in Leader board position 2 :unsure:

Thanks, definitely a challenge to complete all the puzzles, especially before the keys are given! :)

 

Now just have to figure out the puzzle on the "congrats" page.. ;):D

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Theotokos

Theotokos

Posted
Posted (edited)

Wow, this is fun!! Playing the Hobbit game and so far it's a blast and I actually finished 2 levels. I'm sure the these levels were pretty basic but for me, I wasn't sure what to expect. This is my first time using a decoder (the home made version) and playing one of these games. I can see where this can get pretty addicting.

 

By the way. what does the little icon of the bird mean beside my name in the leaderboard?

Edited by Theotokos
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MustangJoni

+MustangJoni

Posted
Posted

Wow, this is fun!! Playing the Hobbit game and so far it's a blast and I actually finished 2 levels. I'm sure the these levels were pretty basic but for me, I wasn't sure what to expect. This is my first time using a decoder (the home made version) and playing one of these games. I can see where this can get pretty addicting.

 

By the way. what does the little icon of the bird mean beside my name in the leaderboard?

 

I saw that you jumped in and did quite well! I'm going to work on it some this weekend. My boyfriend is in the Wizards Chamber, and is stuck. He won't let me look at it, but I'm sure I'll get stuck there too!

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dflye

+dflye

Posted
Posted
My boyfriend is in the Wizards Chamber, and is stuck. He won't let me look at it, but I'm sure I'll get stuck there too!

Other than the one person (SEWdaugh, future CIA/NSA agent? :( ) who shot straight through without pausing or getting locked out at the Wizard's Chamber, pretty much everyone seems to hit the wall when arriving at the Wizard's chamber. I sure did! :grin:

 

Just a matter of banging your head on the wall long enough to knock a hole big enough to climb through! :D Oh, and those nice 24 hour recovery periods when you click in the wrong place, that'll give you PLENTY of time to reconsider your initial choice!! :D:huh:

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nashuan

+nashuan

Posted
Posted

I'm confused as to how 800 of these coins were sold, but so many people here are looking for them. When the manufacturers release new coins, don't they normally offer something closer to 250 mintings before re-ordering? Where have all these coins gone?

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MustangJoni

+MustangJoni

Posted
Posted

I'm confused as to how 800 of these coins were sold, but so many people here are looking for them. When the manufacturers release new coins, don't they normally offer something closer to 250 mintings before re-ordering? Where have all these coins gone?

 

I think alot of people were waiting for this one! I think also that The Caching Place has alot of fans who might not be coin collectors, but who love to play their games.

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Degai

+Degai

Posted
Posted

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for you know what, Georgia and Sharon! :rolleyes:;):mad:

 

Also, for those of you playing the Hobbit game; Are you supposed to be able to look at the "cipher" and tell what the keyword is? This is the first time I have ever played any of these games and I don't seem to have any problems decoding the cipher once I get the keyword, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to figure out what the keyword is. The only keyword I figured out was in #4, but the time was up anyway by the time I got it.

 

Any hints on what I am doing wrong?

 

Wow! This is so much fun playing this game. I wish I had played the others, now.

 

Who thinks up all of these games? Whoever does it, KUDOS to them!

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LionsLair

+LionsLair

Posted
Posted

Wow! Got mine today and I'm very impressed with the work that went into this, the pics do it no justice. It's way better than I imagined. Now I've got to find time to play 'hobbits mystery quest'. I'm already busier than a cat trying to cover two piles, so I don't know how much I'll get to play, but I did want to say thanks for a great caching tool!(I agree with others, it's not really a coin) This one will stay in my collection and never see the inside of a cache.

Thanks B)

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