Completing the D/T "grid"

[+stonefielders]

i decided to have a go at completing our Difficulty / Terrain "grid" i.e. a cache with every possible combination of Difficulty / Terrain.

We've only got 10 to do, but they all look like they need a bit of work

Is there any form of recognition once its done - eg anyone got a cache which can only be logged once you submit your completed "bingo" card?

If there isn't I may well set one up myself.

[+JeremyR]

Sounds a bit like the "well rounded cacher" type caches that are around on this side of the pond (example). I don't believe there are any outside the USA.

 

I suspect such a thing might need some close work with one of the lovely reviewers though, since they tend to work by means of satisfying the requirements, emailing the cache owner to say you're ready and then receiving the coords/access code/whatever, which I believe is normally frowned upon...

 

[edit to fix broken link code]

Edited November 8, 2008 by JeremyR

[+overanout]

Seeing as I have been working towards filling my 'Bingo' card for a few weeks now, I may get a First to Find on your prospective cache. I hope you manage to create one.

 

He Hee!

 

OVERANOUT

[+The_Westies]

Take a look at cache GC1EXVK (sorry can't do links) which was recently set-up on on this exact idea. It's certainly proved a hit in the North Wales area with loads of us currently working on our bingo cards:D

[+Amberel]

i decided to have a go at completing our Difficulty / Terrain "grid" i.e. a cache with every possible combination of Difficulty / Terrain.

We've only got 10 to do, but they all look like they need a bit of work

Is there any form of recognition once its done - eg anyone got a cache which can only be logged once you submit your completed "bingo" card?

If there isn't I may well set one up myself.

I'm too far off completing mine to even think about that at present, but one thing that has crossed my mind when I've looked at mine is that presumably it is affected when people retrospectively edit the cache difficulty/terrain?

 

OK, I know it's not something done frequently, but a couple of times I have edited mine own caches when the expected rating when I set the cache proved to be way out in practice.

 

Rgds, Andy

[+HazelS]

Take a look at cache GC1EXVK (sorry can't do links) which was recently set-up on on this exact idea. It's certainly proved a hit in the North Wales area with loads of us currently working on our bingo cards:D

 

Ahh yes - but don't forget that you can only include caches completed since the cache went live (14 October 2008)

 

The idea was to get the newer cachers out there caching with the idea that they may be able to get an FTF - as Philpamandrob would find it harder to get an FTF!!!

 

Great idea, it certainly caused a stir amongst us for a few weeks!!

[+stonefielders]

Take a look at GC1JTG4 NineSquared just published

 

Once your profile shows you've done all 81 Diff / Terr combinations, you can log this cache.

Oh & you've got to travel to the Lake District & climb a hill.

[+qrang]

Many congratulations to MBFace for a FTF on NineSquared.

 

We have 3 D/T combos still to do but hope to complete fairly soon.

[+purple_pineapple]

Many congratulations to MBFace for a FTF on NineSquared.

 

We have 3 D/T combos still to do but hope to complete fairly soon.

 

bah - 19 to go here, and most of them are impossipuzzles in the North Surrey area! I always see what's available in an area when I'm on hols though!

 

For anyone interested, there is a macro available in GSAK which will filter a database to show any cache with a D/T rating that you still need to get - most useful! I'll post details later if anyone is interested...

 

Dave

[+MBFace]

Many congratulations to MBFace for a FTF on NineSquared.

 

We have 3 D/T combos still to do but hope to complete fairly soon.

 

Thanks and make sure you pick a nice day. It's a truly superb cache.

 

MBF

[+Stuey]

I have seven 4.5 D's and T's to go, and three 5's. I must try harder!

[+stonefielders]

I placed NineSquared in the Lake District because you can pick up many of the D/T combinations close by.

We've got 5 to go - all but one can be bagged in the Lake District.

 

And its there because if you've never been, you're missing a treat.

[+MBFace]

Congratulations to qrang on the 2TF . Glad we didn't leave it until next weekend .

 

MBF

[+maxkim]

i decided to have a go at completing our Difficulty / Terrain "grid" i.e. a cache with every possible combination of Difficulty / Terrain.

We've only got 10 to do, but they all look like they need a bit of work

Is there any form of recognition once its done - eg anyone got a cache which can only be logged once you submit your completed "bingo" card?

If there isn't I may well set one up myself.

Well looks like it's time to set one up in Yorkshire then... LOL. Cheers MaxKim.

[+martlakes]

Presumably this will fall foul of the ALR change in the guidelines.

[+JeremyR]

I don't think so.

 

Challenge caches incorporate special logging requirements and are listed as Mystery/Puzzle caches. Typically they require the seeker to have previously met a reasonable geocaching-related qualification (Waymarking and Wherigo qualify too, of course) such as first finding a cache in every county in your state. If you are thinking of creating such a cache, please include a note to the reviewer demonstrating either that you have met the challenge yourself, or that a substantial number of other geocachers would be able to do so.

 

Seems perfectly clear to me that special challenge caches like LQ and NineSquared are still allowed.

 

I think special care will be needed from now on though, to stop the final coords getting into the wild. Otherwise there will doubtless be a flurry of logs that should be there and that the CO would be risking a lot by removing...

[+martlakes]

I think there's a big difference between the LQ final and the 9 Squared. The first you have to actually discover the co-ords to enable you to get to the cache. A 'challenge' cache indeed and definitely ok under the new rules.

9 squared is, however, at the published co-ords. The only think stopping someone from logging it is the CO's 'threat' to delete logs of people who haven't completed the ALR. This seems to be exactly what the new rules ban.

M

[Keystone]

I think there's a big difference between the LQ final and the 9 Squared. The first you have to actually discover the co-ords to enable you to get to the cache. A 'challenge' cache indeed and definitely ok under the new rules.

9 squared is, however, at the published co-ords. The only think stopping someone from logging it is the CO's 'threat' to delete logs of people who haven't completed the ALR. This seems to be exactly what the new rules ban.

M

Yes, there's a difference, but nothing to worry about. LQ is a series final. 9 Squared is a Challenge Cache. Across the Pond we call 9 Squared a "Fizzy Challenge," after FizzyMagic, the geocacher who wrote the first program that took your finds and gave you back a grid showing the Difficulty/Terrain combinations that you had completed. I've been working on this challenge for two years now, and I still have ten combinations left.

 

A Fizzy Challenge/ 9 Squared Challenge is precisely the type of cache intended to be covered under the new section of the guidelines about Challenge Caches, helpfully quoted above. Have fun with it; I know I am.

[+stonefielders]

i decided to have a go at completing our Difficulty / Terrain "grid" i.e. a cache with every possible combination of Difficulty / Terrain.

We've only got 10 to do, but they all look like they need a bit of work

Is there any form of recognition once its done - eg anyone got a cache which can only be logged once you submit your completed "bingo" card?

If there isn't I may well set one up myself.

Well looks like it's time to set one up in Yorkshire then... LOL. Cheers MaxKim.

 

wondered how long it would take

franchise rates are very reasonable

Edited April 7, 2009 by stonefielders

[+martlakes]

 

Yes, there's a difference, but nothing to worry about. LQ is a series final. 9 Squared is a Challenge Cache. Across the Pond we call 9 Squared a "Fizzy Challenge," after FizzyMagic, the geocacher who wrote the first program that took your finds and gave you back a grid showing the Difficulty/Terrain combinations that you had completed. I've been working on this challenge for two years now, and I still have ten combinations left.

 

A Fizzy Challenge/ 9 Squared Challenge is precisely the type of cache intended to be covered under the new section of the guidelines about Challenge Caches, helpfully quoted above. Have fun with it; I know I am.

 

Ok, that's great!

Not at all clear to me from the wording but thanks for clarifying it.

Better keep working on my grid then!

[+Guanajuato]

Better keep working on my grid then!

Tsk. This isn't on. Shouldn't you be out placing more local caches, rather than frequenting forums?

I'd hazard a guess you're closer to completing the D/T grid with placed caches rather than finds!

 

Now THERE'S a challenge - first to place a cache for every D/T combination. Obviously, the D/T combinations would have to be vetted by experienced independent cachers before it could be claimed.

[+stonefielders]

Better keep working on my grid then!

Tsk. This isn't on. Shouldn't you be out placing more local caches, rather than frequenting forums?

I'd hazard a guess you're closer to completing the D/T grid with placed caches rather than finds!

 

Now THERE'S a challenge - first to place a cache for every D/T combination. Obviously, the D/T combinations would have to be vetted by experienced independent cachers before it could be claimed.

 

Quoted from NineSquared, not that I'll ever need to apply it...

"You must have the Difficulty / Terrain grid in your profile so I can check that you've completed the challenge & done it in the right spirit. I will delete any logs not meeting this criteria."

[+JeremyR]

Yes, there's a difference, but nothing to worry about. LQ is a series final. 9 Squared is a Challenge Cache. Across the Pond we call 9 Squared a "Fizzy Challenge," after FizzyMagic, the geocacher who wrote the first program that took your finds and gave you back a grid showing the Difficulty/Terrain combinations that you had completed. I've been working on this challenge for two years now, and I still have ten combinations left.

 

A Fizzy Challenge/ 9 Squared Challenge is precisely the type of cache intended to be covered under the new section of the guidelines about Challenge Caches, helpfully quoted above. Have fun with it; I know I am.

LQ is a challenge cache too, by the very definition of the guidelines:

 

Challenge caches incorporate special logging requirements and are listed as Mystery/Puzzle caches. Typically they require the seeker to have previously met a reasonable geocaching-related qualification [...] such as first finding a cache in every county in your state.

 

Which is precisely the task you must complete to legitimately obtain the co-ordinates for LQ:Final. So why is LQ not a challenge cache in your eyes?

[Keystone]

LQ is not a Challenge Cache because there are specific caches which must be found, one per county, that once found yield clues to the final LQ cache. That is no different for Guidelines purposes than a ring of ten caches around a lake, leading to an 11th bonus cache. It is just much bigger and, well, more "challenging."

 

In a typical challenge cache, the seeker selects which caches they will use in order to complete the challenge. I am a co-owner of the Pennsylvania All Counties Challenge, which requires one cache in each of my state's 67 counties. The finder chooses which ones to visit. Nobody has ever selected the same 67 caches to qualify.

 

Or, a challenge can be set up to connect a defined set of otherwise independent caches together. A "History Challenge" might require finding the 50 oldest active caches in a state, province or country. Certainly the many different hiders weren't thinking about contributing to a challenge when those caches were hidden between 2000 and 2002. In contrast, the LQ hiders banded together to create a unified series.

 

I hope that this is helpful. The best news is, neither the LQ series nor the Nine Squared challenge are affected by last week's guidelines update!

[+maxkim]

i decided to have a go at completing our Difficulty / Terrain "grid" i.e. a cache with every possible combination of Difficulty / Terrain.

We've only got 10 to do, but they all look like they need a bit of work

Is there any form of recognition once its done - eg anyone got a cache which can only be logged once you submit your completed "bingo" card?

If there isn't I may well set one up myself.

Well looks like it's time to set one up in Yorkshire then... LOL. Cheers MaxKim.

 

wondered how long it would take

franchise rates are very reasonable

It's here now...GC1PCZV.... An easy drive by with lots of parking... Cheers MaxKim.