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Don't keep count.


gof1

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Personally I'd rather not be included in the competition. For me it IS about the journey and not the numbers.

 

you could log all your finds as notes

 

There are many cachers out there that do not log or log as notes. Lately my cache count has been getting smaller as I change fond it logs to notes. The down side is that it creates a bunch of book keeping problems keeping track of what caches we have been to and what caches are still to be found. None of them are insurmountable but it would be nice if we didn't have to mess with it.

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I see this as one of those Pascal's Wager type scenarios.

 

The Feature: the ability to hide smiley count

 

Feature Implemented:

 

If you don't want to use the feature, no gain or loss

 

If you do want to use the feature, you gain.

Feature NOT Implemented:

 

If you don't want to use the feature, no gain or loss.

 

If you do want to use the feature, you lose a bit because you have to come up with a way around it.

 

Thus, moving forward nets no loss to anybody.

 

Edit: darn typos (first day with the new fingers)

Edited by nelson crew
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Personally I'd rather not be included in the competition. For me it IS about the journey and not the numbers.

you could log all your finds as notes

Problem is that I cannot get a pocket query of all of my finds.

Problem is that I cannot get a pocket query of all of the caches I have not found.

 

I like this idea.

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Personally I'd rather not be included in the competition. For me it IS about the journey and not the numbers.

 

you could log all your finds as notes

 

There are many cachers out there that do not log or log as notes. Lately my cache count has been getting smaller as I change fond it logs to notes. The down side is that it creates a bunch of book keeping problems keeping track of what caches we have been to and what caches are still to be found. None of them are insurmountable but it would be nice if we didn't have to mess with it.

I just don't understand the issue. My find count is what it is. Your find count may or may not be what it is. Why should anyone care? I simply find counts interesting from time to time. I have no idea if they are real unless the particular cacher has made a point of stating they are not real. I am not competing with anyone so for me there is no winner and there are no losers.

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Find counts are a good thing.

 

When I'm looking at logs, especially dnf's, I'm going to give way more weight to a log from a user with 1000 finds than one with only a few finds.

 

If I see a cache with as low as 2 dnf's from experienced cachers, I'll probably think the cache is gone and won't waste my time, but even if there is a string of dnf's from low count cachers, I probably won't jump to the same conclusion.

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Personally I'd rather not be included in the competition. For me it IS about the journey and not the numbers.

 

you could log all your finds as notes

 

There are many cachers out there that do not log or log as notes. Lately my cache count has been getting smaller as I change fond it logs to notes. The down side is that it creates a bunch of book keeping problems keeping track of what caches we have been to and what caches are still to be found. None of them are insurmountable but it would be nice if we didn't have to mess with it.

I just don't understand the issue. My find count is what it is. Your find count may or may not be what it is. Why should anyone care? I simply find counts interesting from time to time. I have no idea if they are real unless the particular cacher has made a point of stating they are not real. I am not competing with anyone so for me there is no winner and there are no losers.

You are right. Why should anyone care if I don't share my numbers?

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Find counts are a good thing.

 

When I'm looking at logs, especially dnf's, I'm going to give way more weight to a log from a user with 1000 finds than one with only a few finds.

 

If I see a cache with as low as 2 dnf's from experienced cachers, I'll probably think the cache is gone and won't waste my time, but even if there is a string of dnf's from low count cachers, I probably won't jump to the same conclusion.

 

And if you saw a log that said "I found it" from someone who doesn't share their numbers it wouldn't be obvious the cache was still there? If you saw a DNF from a person who doesn't share his numbers you won't think that it may not be there? You don't recognize the names of those cachers in your area that have logged many many finds?

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I post notes on only truly note worthy caches (reminds me of a Seinfeld episode). This still gives the CO the appreciation they deserve.

 

When I find a cache, I put it on my Ignore List (faster than logging a find and it solves the PQ of caches I haven't found).

 

I use GSAK to keep track of my true finds.

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I agree with this and would use the feature.

 

You should still be able to see a list of geocaches found, along with a total, on the cachers profile; but WHY does the number have to appear next to every log?

 

I'd rather the number was not visible to anyone. Sure, if you are that much of a Nosy Nelly you could count the finds but I'd still prefer not to advertise the number.

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I just don't understand the issue. My find count is what it is. Your find count may or may not be what it is. Why should anyone care? I simply find counts interesting from time to time. I have no idea if they are real unless the particular cacher has made a point of stating they are not real. I am not competing with anyone so for me there is no winner and there are no losers.

Yes, it's not a competition, but people still like to compare, and numbers can be a source of some issues.

 

I've seen people with all different amounts of come under scrutiny. You found too many. You don't find enough. You don't do enough of this type of cache. You do too many of that type. You need to do more of this type of terrain.

 

By hiding them, it would stop things like that, and everyone would be looked at for who they are and not what types or how many caches they find.

 

Or, you can just do and find what you like and not worry about what others say and still go out and have a good time caching the way you like...

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Find counts are a good thing.

 

When I'm looking at logs, especially dnf's, I'm going to give way more weight to a log from a user with 1000 finds than one with only a few finds.

 

If I see a cache with as low as 2 dnf's from experienced cachers, I'll probably think the cache is gone and won't waste my time, but even if there is a string of dnf's from low count cachers, I probably won't jump to the same conclusion.

Faulty logic. It's my experience that some high find count cachers will actually have a harder time with certain caches than others--especially the high find count cachers that limit their time at ground zero. It's happened several times--we get a DNF by experienced, high-count cachers who insinuate the cache is missing only to go check on it and find the cache right where it's supposed to be. Therefor, the find count is near useless in determining the validity of a DNF. In fact, the higher the find count the less stock I put in a DNF that it might be missing.

 

A DNF count, on the other hand, would be much more useful--especially a link to a list of DNFs by that logger who posts a DNF. Then you could go and look at whether they've logged DNFs where the cache was later determined to be there or actually missing.

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As long as I still have access to my find counts, I would not care if we had the ability to hide them. I enjoy watching my count grow, however slowly it does so.

 

I do not compare my counts with anyone Else's. I do enjoy some milestones others pass. (The first person in Washington to pass 10,000 for example.)

 

However, it seems to me the louder some of you say find numbers don't count, the more I think they do for you. Some of you seem obsessed with numbers, to the point of no longer logging on line so numbers won't show for you. If you don't care about numbers and they don't mean anything to you, why go to extremes to hide them?

 

All that being said, if the powers that be could set it up so you can hide your numbers, I wish they would. As long as they allow me a way to keep track of mine.

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As long as I still have access to my find counts, I would not care if we had the ability to hide them. I enjoy watching my count grow, however slowly it does so.

 

I do not compare my counts with anyone Else's. I do enjoy some milestones others pass. (The first person in Washington to pass 10,000 for example.)

 

However, it seems to me the louder some of you say find numbers don't count, the more I think they do for you. Some of you seem obsessed with numbers, to the point of no longer logging on line so numbers won't show for you. If you don't care about numbers and they don't mean anything to you, why go to extremes to hide them?

 

All that being said, if the powers that be could set it up so you can hide your numbers, I wish they would. As long as they allow me a way to keep track of mine.

 

It isn't about the numbers per say, but rather the ever present competition and comparison. I'd rather be given the option to not be a part of that and still be able to manage the caches I've been to without a need to add the extra steps. I'd like to be able do do it without forcing it on other cache hiders. I log a note on my finds but that doesn't add to the caches found count. Kinda forces the CO to play my way.

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I agree with this and would use the feature.

 

You should still be able to see a list of geocaches found, along with a total, on the cachers profile; but WHY does the number have to appear next to every log?

 

Could someone who is technically inclined come up with a way (greasemonkey script, etc) to remove find counts from logs when viewing cache pages? I for one would be interested. If I'm interested in checking out someone's caching experience I usually click through to their profile anyway; the other 98% of the time I'm not too concerned about seeing find counts.

 

even better, I would be interested in having the following options, which should please everybody:

 

* Show all find counts (what we have now)

* Hide my find count from others, but show it to me

* Hide my find count from myself and others

* Do not show others find counts to me, and hide mine from all members

Edited by DavidMac
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I agree with this and would use the feature.

 

You should still be able to see a list of geocaches found, along with a total, on the cachers profile; but WHY does the number have to appear next to every log?

 

I'd rather the number was not visible to anyone. Sure, if you are that much of a Nosy Nelly you could count the finds but I'd still prefer not to advertise the number.

 

Simply the fact that you chose to not display your count would raise more curiosity about your finds than displaying them. It would be like wearing a mask while walking down the street.

 

Besides, frankly (and I know that this is a large generalization and there are exceptions!) *most* people that I have heard express this desire (and you know you are not the first) have relatively low find counts for the time they have been caching. People are naturally going to assume that you have a low find count if you have yours hidden. They may not know by how many they "have you beat", but the competition will still be there, regardless.

 

By the way, were you aware that today, flask is #.... no... I'm not going there, on 2nd thought. My reflexes aren't as fast as hers and I like my teeth. :D

 

PS: How many finds DO you have? I've never really looked.

Edited by knowschad
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Feel free to look. The number you see and reality are not acquainted. Truth is that I have only found four caches.Or was it fort? Hell, I can't remember.

 

No thanks. Between you and the GOF1 account (which I've always assumed is also you, am I correct?) I'm baffled. But it is more than 40, and "he" (GOF1) is more about the numbers than you are. I'd watch out for him if I were you.

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Actually he is from my geocaching infancy. Sometimes I think the nutcase is stalking me. This morning I caught him in my bathroom with a razor in his hand. Fortunately the only thing missing is my beard.

 

Well, if he ever gives you any trouble, you can always point to the fact that he only has 552 finds since September 06, 2005, where you have 1009 since September 24, 2006. You obviously are the superior cacher (of course, he probably only goes to scenic caches, where you obviously are a cache whore that doesn't mind dumpster diving for a smiley)

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O the powers of beer! I just had an AWESOME idea!!

 

The anti-find.

 

OK, stick with me here. We currently have what?... Found It and Did Not Found It. (forgetting for the moment about the other log types). I propose a brand new log type... the Anti-Found It. You can use it to actually REDUCE your publically visible find count. I haven't decided yet if it should be allowed to take you into the negative numbers, but I really don't see why not, if the database was designed to handle them.

 

Any time you deliberately chose to stay home and mow the lawn instead of going for that new cache down the street.... CLAIM A NEGI-FIND! Went shopping with the wife (sorry, women) and didn't load up the LPCs in the parking lot? No problem... CLAIM A NEGI-FIND!!

 

In no time at all, you won't mind a bit that your find (or, anti-find) count is there for all to see. If you worked hard enough at it, you just might have the lowest find count of anybody (another good reason to allow finds to drop below zero!)

 

Think of it, TPTB... "anti-finds". Can you just imagine the reaction when you announce the release that includes that feature? Raine... the ANTI-HERO!!!! YIPPPEEEEE!

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HOWEVER, if others are allowed to hide their find counts, I want the option to SHOW my DNF count! :D

 

Oh, yes!! Please, please, please! I badly want my DNFs to show in my public profile. What is the point of writing them up nicely and illustrating them with photos if no one gets to see them?

 

Carolyn

 

P.S. I don't care either way about the ability to hide finds, but it seems to me that if people want privacy of any sort, it should be accommodated. (I wouldn't use it because I want my friends to read about my glorious adventures and if they are not visible from my public profile it's pretty hard for them to do so.)

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O the powers of beer! I just had an AWESOME idea!!

 

The anti-find.

 

OK, stick with me here. We currently have what?... Found It and Did Not Found It. (forgetting for the moment about the other log types). I propose a brand new log type... the Anti-Found It. You can use it to actually REDUCE your publically visible find count. I haven't decided yet if it should be allowed to take you into the negative numbers, but I really don't see why not, if the database was designed to handle them.

 

Any time you deliberately chose to stay home and mow the lawn instead of going for that new cache down the street.... CLAIM A NEGI-FIND! Went shopping with the wife (sorry, women) and didn't load up the LPCs in the parking lot? No problem... CLAIM A NEGI-FIND!!

 

In no time at all, you won't mind a bit that your find (or, anti-find) count is there for all to see. If you worked hard enough at it, you just might have the lowest find count of anybody (another good reason to allow finds to drop below zero!)

 

Think of it, TPTB... "anti-finds". Can you just imagine the reaction when you announce the release that includes that feature? Raine... the ANTI-HERO!!!! YIPPPEEEEE!

 

:D:D

 

or should it be

 

:D:D

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HOWEVER, if others are allowed to hide their find counts, I want the option to SHOW my DNF count! :D

 

Oh, yes!! Please, please, please! I badly want my DNFs to show in my public profile. What is the point of writing them up nicely and illustrating them with photos if no one gets to see them?

 

Carolyn

 

 

Hey, me too. I am proud of my battle scars.

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HOWEVER, if others are allowed to hide their find counts, I want the option to SHOW my DNF count! :D

 

Oh, yes!! Please, please, please! I badly want my DNFs to show in my public profile. What is the point of writing them up nicely and illustrating them with photos if no one gets to see them?

 

Carolyn

 

P.S. I don't care either way about the ability to hide finds, but it seems to me that if people want privacy of any sort, it should be accommodated. (I wouldn't use it because I want my friends to read about my glorious adventures and if they are not visible from my public profile it's pretty hard for them to do so.)

 

I have no problem with the idea of allowing your DNF count to show. Long as it is a choice. I can see you and AZCachemeister competing to see who has the highest DNF count.

 

The idea is not to hide the find logs but to stop tallying them up. I want the numbers to go away if I tick a box in my profile options.

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Your "find" count has nothing to do with your value as a person. If you get jammed up on the "score", don't log anything. Just go out and Geocache for yourself, surely you can keep your own log of what you've found and DNF'd. My wife got so upset over her handicap being posted at the local golf club, it made the game intolerable. She felt that her handicap should be treated like her SSN. She felt that her handicap was a statement of her personal worth. We don't play golf any more. I don't take her Geocaching, now, either.

Edited by Gcap
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I have no problem with the idea of allowing your DNF count to show. Long as it is a choice. I can see you and AZCachemeister competing to see who has the highest DNF count.

 

The idea is not to hide the find logs but to stop tallying them up. I want the numbers to go away if I tick a box in my profile options.

 

The count issue doesn't mean anything to me one way or the other. What I badly want is for my DNF logs to show up on my public profile in the same way my Found logs show so that my friends can see and read them. Right now they can only read my found logs unless I send an email saying, "Go to this cache page to see my DNF log." Since some of my most glorious (and silly fun) adventures are connected with our failures, it is very disappointing.

 

If people truly want DNFs to be logged and truly want people to write good logs, the system should not punish people who write good DNF logs by hiding them.

 

Carolyn

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It's really useful to see the find counts. If I have a cache, and someone who has 2K find logs logs it, I go out and check. If someone with 10K finds but logs as notes finds it, I would assume it is still there because they only have LOGGED a few. I really hate it when people don't log. Even "We found it TFTC" is better than nothing. So it is great to see the found count. Same in the forums. Someone who hasn't logged very many+I don't care about their posts, there newbies. I don't think it should be implemented, and also think that everyone should log their finds. Seeing how many forum users alone don't log, I should probably just archive all my caches and commit geocide.

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I like to see someone find counts to help validate the advice they are giving. I recently bought a GPS off the forums (still awaiting its arrival) and when I looked at the person selling it, I checked how long they were a member and their find count to see if they were seasoned cachers. I would do that the same with advice given on the forum. I am more ready to accept and use advice from someone who has a couple hundred finds under their belts than someone who only has 3 just based on their personal experience. Doesn't work 100 percent, but it can be helpful.

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It's really useful to see the find counts. If I have a cache, and someone who has 2K find logs logs it, I go out and check. If someone with 10K finds but logs as notes finds it, I would assume it is still there because they only have LOGGED a few. I really hate it when people don't log. Even "We found it TFTC" is better than nothing. So it is great to see the found count. Same in the forums. Someone who hasn't logged very many+I don't care about their posts, there newbies. I don't think it should be implemented, and also think that everyone should log their finds. Seeing how many forum users alone don't log, I should probably just archive all my caches and commit geocide.

 

I wish I could make sense of this. If I had 2k finds and logged your cache you would run out and check it? Why? You think folks with high numbers steal caches? Truth is that what I am talking about is not logless caching. I write notes for most finds. Those people who cache in my area know my handle. They know how long I have been caching weather or not they see my numbers next to my name.

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I like to see someone find counts to help validate the advice they are giving. I recently bought a GPS off the forums (still awaiting its arrival) and when I looked at the person selling it, I checked how long they were a member and their find count to see if they were seasoned cachers. I would do that the same with advice given on the forum. I am more ready to accept and use advice from someone who has a couple hundred finds under their belts than someone who only has 3 just based on their personal experience. Doesn't work 100 percent, but it can be helpful.

I know some people with very high counts that I would not trust advice from.

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I like to see someone find counts to help validate the advice they are giving. I recently bought a GPS off the forums (still awaiting its arrival) and when I looked at the person selling it, I checked how long they were a member and their find count to see if they were seasoned cachers. I would do that the same with advice given on the forum. I am more ready to accept and use advice from someone who has a couple hundred finds under their belts than someone who only has 3 just based on their personal experience. Doesn't work 100 percent, but it can be helpful.

I know some people with very high counts that I would not trust advice from.

 

Hence the reason for the last sentence that I wrote. "Doesn't work 100 percent, but it can be helpful."

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I have no problem with the idea of allowing your DNF count to show. Long as it is a choice. I can see you and AZCachemeister competing to see who has the highest DNF count.

 

Which raises the question of arm-chair DNF'ing... :laughing:

 

I see that point.

I didn't go caching today, which means I DNFed all 9064 caches in Arizona, not to mention the rest of the world... ;)

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OK, me too.

 

Why the angst? I don't really care if I see 15 or 15,000 beside your name. Unless you write a note which I might judge differently due to your experience. As has been pointed out, for a bare DNF, experience may not mean much. (Look at Ventura_kids' description of his two-minute rule.) But if someone says they spent a lot of time looking, or that they are disappointed in the cache, I'll take a look at their finds number. Which of course means going to the web site, since the number isn't in the email.

 

Anyway, those who complain about the competition seem to be very sensitive to the competitive yet wanting to avoid it. This is different from being indifferent to the competition, which is the attitude usually made explicit here. Yet that's just different kinds of people, and we want to make as many people as possible comfortable here. So I'd support -- though somewhat reluctantly -- making the option available as long as it's fairly well buried, so that newcomers don't turn it on just because they haven't really learned what the various options do. I assume I would still be able to see a list of finds -- I enjoy reading about where other cachers have been and would be quite sad to see significant numbers hiding their hide lists -- which is exactly what happens when they log notes instead finds.

 

But I would object to making this a high priority. I would place much higher priority on an option to show DNFs and other log types in my profile. (This has to be optional too, for at least two reasons. Some cachers don't like logging DNFs and would probably log even fewer if they showed. And I've read about one cacher who now logs notes instead of finds because someone was stalking her by checking her finds.)

 

And I would place a higher priority on a "next log for this finder" button. And if I don't get my way, I will take my pony and follow flask into the sunset. Politely of course.

 

Edward

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I see this as one of those Pascal's Wager type scenarios.

 

The Feature: the ability to hide smiley count

 

Feature Implemented:

 

If you don't want to use the feature, no gain or loss

 

If you do want to use the feature, you gain.

Feature NOT Implemented:

 

If you don't want to use the feature, no gain or loss.

 

If you do want to use the feature, you lose a bit because you have to come up with a way around it.

 

Thus, moving forward nets no loss to anybody.

 

Edit: darn typos (first day with the new fingers)

 

well, not actually. there are some people who will feel very much cheated by the inability to compare their find count with those of us who wish to hide our counts.

 

i realize that this observation doesn't support my preferred position, but it's still a valid point.

 

I like to see someone find counts to help validate the advice they are giving. I recently bought a GPS off the forums (still awaiting its arrival) and when I looked at the person selling it, I checked how long they were a member and their find count to see if they were seasoned cachers. I would do that the same with advice given on the forum. I am more ready to accept and use advice from someone who has a couple hundred finds under their belts than someone who only has 3 just based on their personal experience. Doesn't work 100 percent, but it can be helpful.

 

you don't need my find count to assess whether or not i've found a few caches. my logs are public, and so is my joined date.

 

i've been at this a while, and i've written a number of logs. it would serve you better to read what i said than to count the number of finds i made.

 

whether i have found 200 or 2000 caches should matter little to you.

 

if it matters to you, i'm not interested in giving you advice anyway.

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