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Request change to cache listings of coin icons


ThePetersTrio

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There has been a rather lively discussion on the geocoin section of the forums and an idea was proposed which I will quote here:

 

I've trekked through some pretty unfavorable terrain and weather to get a glimpse of a special coin as well ... only to discover that it's already been nabbed by another cacher and not logged yet. It's disappointing, frustrating even, but I don't blame the other cacher for getting there first.

 

I don't like proxies either, but as someone who has essentially seen about $100 of coins get stolen, I understand why people do it. I haven't done it, and I hope I won't get to that point ... I'm more likely to just save my money and stop buying and releasing coins altogether.

 

I would personally rather see Groundspeak take the little coin icons off of the cache pages. Let a coin be a surprise. By advertising that a coin is there, the coin thieves are more easily enticed. Yes, there are people such as yourself and myself who will visit a cache just because of a coin, but really I'd be just as content to be surprised by a coin find. It would be more in the tradition of discovering treasure.

 

Bold added by me.

 

I think this is an excellent idea. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be alone in this. I have released several coins now. One was stolen after the first person placed it into the next cache. I want to release many more coins as they are a passion of mine, I like to share them, and I like to watch them travel. That being said, I don't like my coins essentially being advertised on the cache listing page for thieves to swipe easily.

 

Would there be any chance of making the coin icon in the cache listing invisible? I honestly believe this would greatly reduce the chance of theft.

 

Thanks!

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I love this idea. I think a simple checkbox when you activate a trackable to make it "geonymous" so it does not show up in the cache page inventory would be a very very nice addition to the website.

That would work for me. what about doing the same for TBs. Sometimes it is nice to get notes from players to let you know it's missing, but with this change, no one would know that it was supposed to be in there.

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Interesting idea, but on the down side you would not know if the coin you found is activated or not. If it's not activated I would feel obligated to trade fairly for it, if it were activated and traveling, I'd make a lesser trade in order to just move it.

Edited by CM-14
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Interesting idea, but on the down side you would not know if the coin you found is activated or not. If it's not activated I would feel obligated to trade fairly for it, if it were activated and traveling, I'd make a lesser trade in order to just move it.

 

I hadn't thought of that and you bring up a good point. It makes it hard to know what to do at the cache location, that's for sure. Obviously when you got home you'd be able to tell if it was activated or not.

 

I know that my coin travellers are attached to a laminated card that explains their goal so it would be easy to tell it was activated but I realize not everyone does this.

 

So how often do people find unactivated coins in caches that aren't meant for FTF prizes?

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Let me ask this a little differently: Why did the coin icons show up in the first place? I've been caching for only a little over a year, so wasn't here when trackables started. When did TPTB decide to add the icons, and why? Was it to 'lure' people to the caches, or some other reason?

 

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The problem I see with this idea is that newbies may not know what's up with coins or TBs in caches. 'Is it a trade item?' 'Can I keep it?' etc...

 

That said, it may also help knock bug thieves down.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about the idea.

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Let me ask this a little differently: Why did the coin icons show up in the first place? I've been caching for only a little over a year, so wasn't here when trackables started. When did TPTB decide to add the icons, and why? Was it to 'lure' people to the caches, or some other reason?

 

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The problem I see with this idea is that newbies may not know what's up with coins or TBs in caches. 'Is it a trade item?' 'Can I keep it?' etc...

 

That said, it may also help knock bug thieves down.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about the idea.

 

I was wondering too about when the icons became available to cache pages and why.

 

As far as newbies not knowing if coins/TBs are swag or not - sadly I think this happens a lot now. I've gotten into the habit of watching the cache where my trackable is placed so that if people log finds but do not mention seeing or logging the coin or TB, I can contact them and ask them if they saw it. Once this prompted the person who took my TB to log it as they had just forgotten to do it.

 

I wish there was a streamlined way to log a cache and a trackable all at the same time. The drop off part is so easy. But people often forget to take the extra step of logging the pick up of the trackable it seems.

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I am not in favor of this idea. On the contrary, I want more ways to search for caches with coins and TBs in them.

 

I realize that there might be coin thieves out there, but that is life.

 

Coin owners can take measures on the coin's page to discourage thieves (e.g., mention that the coin is drilled, etc.).

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So how often do people find unactivated coins in caches that aren't meant for FTF prizes?

In over 800 caches, I've found one. I think the practice might be growing though. I have left a few.

 

We do it quite often....15+ between Christmas Eve and News Years Eve, at least 1 on every caching weekend run. Its really fun to do, makes you feel warm and fuzzy. Its nice to see the logs from the people that find them also.

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What about all the money spent by people making these coins just to have a custom icon?

Isn't it a $1.50 a coin or $150 for a certain number? Can't remember which.

 

The icon could still show up once you log the coin. I'm just talking about the cache listing page. Which acts sort of like a beacon to coin thieves...

 

Question to Uncle Jimbo - if the trend toward proxies continued due to theft, a trend I think you said you didn't like - would you be willing to entertain the change as a sort of compromise for people who want to release the real deal and yet have less risk to their investment? Just curious.

Edited by ThePetersTrio
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Question to Uncle Jimbo - if the trend toward proxies continued due to theft, a trend I think you said you didn't like - would you be willing to entertain the change as a sort of compromise for people who want to release the real deal and yet have less risk to their investment? Just curious.

I am not in favor of proxies at all and would be happy if they were banned altogether, but I don't think that is going to happen.

 

I suppose I would not be opposed to letting coin owners have the option of "keeping their coin invisible" in cache listings. This way it is the coin owner making the decision, not a blanket removal.

 

It is a lot of fun to find coins/TBs, and I would hate for all of them to be hidden/invisible.

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I don't like the idea of hiding/not showing the coin icons. I have many times gone to pick up coins and TBs before a trip to move to a different state for miles. Most of these cacehes are ones I've already found and if the icon was not listed on the cache page I would not revist these caches hoping a coin might be there. Yes if the icon doesn't show in searches it may keep some out of thieves hands. One the other hand if I was looking to move coins and a coin was listed in a 4/5 star puzzle cache I might make a special trip just to help it move.

 

I have a few missing coins and understand the frustration when they go missing. TBs also go missing and can cost about the same or more for the tag and item attached. Should we not show that icon also? I've had as many TBs go missing as coins. One TB was lost to a muggled cache, another one was in someone backback that was stolen from their car. One was picked up over a year ago but the cacher could not be contacted and recently showed up in a cache a year later.

 

Would this really help or is this wishful thinking?

 

We still have the issue with newbies not knowing that a TB or Coin is a trackable item. Hopefully if they keep caching they will realize that was a tackable geocoin and not just swag and log it eventually.

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You'd have to do it a while to gather some stats. My bet is that it wouldn't impact coin disappearance at all, or would make it worse.

 

I strongly suspect that the majority of coins that disappear are picked up by novice cachers who simply don't understand what they are. Having no icon for them would actually make this worse.

 

I too leave unactivated coins in caches as swag on a semi-regular basis. They're always marked as such.

It's interesting to watch how that's handled by cachers. Remarkable how often they're taken with no trade. Just taken. I've decided theis is related somehow to the notion that an unactivate coin is a FTF "premium" and if one is left in a cache at some other time, it's still "premium" and not swag. Anyway, I do leave them.

Edited by Isonzo Karst
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We still have the issue with newbies not knowing that a TB or Coin is a trackable item. Hopefully if they keep caching they will realize that was a tackable geocoin and not just swag and log it eventually.

 

Personally I think that is the biggest problem, not sure how to combat that! When we have a TB or geocoin stuck with a cacher for an extended period of time (a month or more) I will send them an email to see if they still have it and if they do could they please help it get back in its travels....its worked a couple of times, sometimes you just get no response. Then again we just had a TB show up after an 8 month absense...get a bunch out there traveling and don't stress when one takes an extended vacation seems to be the best advise! :(

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You'd have to do it a while to gather some stats. My bet is that it wouldn't impact coin disappearance at all, or would make it worse.

 

I strongly suspect that the majority of coins that disappear are picked up by novice cachers who simply don't understand what they are. Having no icon for them would actually make this worse.

I agree.

Until someone does the statistics, it will be hard to judge how much overt theft is taking place.

 

I have started inserting "geocoin buddies" or the equivalent with many of the coins I release, just to inform finders that they are not supposed to be kept.

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You'd have to do it a while to gather some stats. My bet is that it wouldn't impact coin disappearance at all, or would make it worse.

 

I strongly suspect that the majority of coins that disappear are picked up by novice cachers who simply don't understand what they are. Having no icon for them would actually make this worse.

I agree.

Until someone does the statistics, it will be hard to judge how much overt theft is taking place.

 

I have started inserting "geocoin buddies" or the equivalent with many of the coins I release, just to inform finders that they are not supposed to be kept.

Unfortunately, we have had a "coin thief" around here . . . :( Three coins I returned to the wild went missing almost immediately. One had traveled more than 20,000 miles before it was stolen . . . ;) Had I known about the problem, I would not have logged them into the caches. I would have left a note saying I would log them when the next finder was retrieving them.

 

Right now I have a Green Jeep sitting in a cache and I have not logged it into the cache. I'll do that when someone finally finds the cache and retrieves the Jeep.

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Right now I have a Green Jeep sitting in a cache and I have not logged it into the cache. I'll do that when someone finally finds the cache and retrieves the Jeep.

 

This would seem doable for the initial drop. It would be easy enough to attach a tag saying to email you when you find the coin so you can drop it into the cache before the finder logs it - but then what? That finder drops it into the next cache and then the same problem exists as before.

 

I'm seriously considering making the request on my travel buddy tag say to please only drop the coin into premium caches but the reality of that working over time is probably pretty small too.

 

I hate to say it - but the idea of proxies are becoming more appealing to me because with prices of everything going up around me (gas, groceries, etc.) the idea of throwing away $10 on a coin that gets stolen within a matter of weeks is getting harder for me to come to terms with. :(

 

There has to be a solution.....maybe if someone's profile shows they've logged 25 coins/TB moves then they could see the icons on the cache page when everyone else sees nothing? Is that even possible?

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