Including hides/finds by owner in cache listing

[+Zor]

I've been caching for awhile now and as many people have probably seen, there are sometimes newcomers to the game who get so excited about hiding caches, that they start hiding them before they have really had the opportunity to know what makes a good hide and what doesn't. This isn't always the case, but I'm sure we have all seen newcomer caches that could have been better if they had seen more caches.

 

When I see a cache placed in my area by someone I don't recognize, I usually open up their profile and look at their hides/finds count to see if they are new or just not as active as other cachers. Just the other day I saw a new one posted and didn't recognize the name. When I saw how low their numbers were, I didn't think any less of them, but did wonder how good the cache was. I arrived at the cache and definitely saw the inexperience showing it's head.

 

It would be nice that when a cache is listed, either beside their name or near it, contains a simple display of their finds vs hides. Something as simple as this:

 

^Zor^ (506/32)

 

That way you would know immediately what their experience is based on counts. Now I know that counts do not mean a person is a good cacher as there are plenty of experienced cachers who place crap caches, but generally speaking, those numbers are reflective of how many caches a person has seen and are more likely to place a cache in a good location, or at least have a better idea of what makes a good container. Like I said, there's always exceptions.

[+trainlove]

I had also asked for the stats next to your Find or DNF or Note to include not just your total (today) finds, but the number of finds that you had logged at the time you posted that DNF. I.E. (1988/502) where today I have 1988 finds but when I logged a particularily memorable DNF I was at 502 finds. So in reading someones DNF you can see, oh yes, he was a newbie then, and seeing a DNF with 2000+ finds when the DNF was made is more grounds to pay attention to that DNF...

 

And there was a forum thread on posting more than just the numbers as stats, well a couple related ones:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=184785&hl=

 

Well I can't find that ONE that I was looking for, but it went something like this

Trainlove [1300Trad, 275Unknown, 150Multi, 125Event, 28Virtual, 27 Letterbox...]

Someone had posted a nice image of his 'crrent' stats at that time. I'll spend the next 2 days reading through 48 pages of my posts, and some hundreds of pages of others replys to various posts to find that one.

[Mushtang]

That way you would know immediately what their experience is based on counts.

What if you see an owner's stats on a cache page that you think has an acceptable number and go to find their cache, but it turns out it was their first cache they hid back when they'd only found 2 and hidden 5?

 

Numbers of finds and hides rarely reflect someone's ability to hide a cache you'd enjoy. I don't think this would work very well.

[+StarBrand]

If you are using those numbers for some kind of "read" on the quality of the cache - then it really makes no sense. I've seen vetrans place many bad caches and newbies place many good ones. Sort of irrelevant as to how good a particular new hide is - at least to me.

[+Zor]

If you are using those numbers for some kind of "read" on the quality of the cache - then it really makes no sense. I've seen vetrans place many bad caches and newbies place many good ones. Sort of irrelevant as to how good a particular new hide is - at least to me.

 

Maybe it's a regional thing. In the area where I live, and places I have cached as well, it's pretty much a given that you see the veterans place more quality caches than the newbies. Ya, it does happen that veterans place crappy caches but at least here, it's far less likely.

 

I've pretty much seen anyone who was a new cacher (less than 50 finds) place crappy hides. Bad locations, bad containers, poorly thought out contents, etc. It's more common for me to see that than to see a veteran cacher here place a bad cache.

[AZcachemeister]

As mentioned above, the owners apparent experience may not coincide with the quality of their cache.

The numbers might give an indication that an in depth look at their profile is in order, but if you don't recognize their Geo-handle, you already know that.

 

Someone might have been caching since 2001, have thousands of finds, but they don't log online. If they suddenly decide to hide one, their count would be 0/1. Or, maybe they entered a pseudonym in the 'Hidden By' text area when writing up the cache, or maybe they're using a separate account for their hides, or....