Unethical to change Found date?

[+chrisrayn]

Okay, so for whatever reason, it seems like us Geocachers are particularly interested in having meaningful milestones. Yesterday, I logged my 300th find at my first Letterbox cache find. Yay, right?

 

Well, I ran FindStatGen3 on GSAK, and it said something I never noticed before. "303 finds on 301 unique caches." I used the small logic portion of my brain and figured out that mean I had found 2 geocaches more than once, which isn't exactly fair.

 

So...through GSAK's filters I actually managed to FIND the caches I'd found multiple times, and then had to figure out what to do to keep my milestones in place.

 

I decided to take my two most recent finds and log them on the same day I logged the double logs, and change the double logs into notes, as they should have been.

 

So, my finds are the same, but the dates are now different.

 

Anyone else done something like this before? Is it wrong, ethically?

[jholly]

Anyone else done something like this before? Is it wrong, ethically?

 

???? your being a bit anal. Some never log, or if they do they use a date they think is close.

 

It's a game, it is meant to be fun. Your making it far to complicated.

 

Jim

[+The Blorenges]

You know you've just warped the whole geocaching space time continuum, don't you?

 

MrsB

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

OMG, not another timewarp. This is beginning to happen all too frequently.

[+WRASTRO]

There is no right or wrong ethically here in my opinion. Milestones are like the FTF game since they are made up statistics that many cachers make a big deal about. I wouldn't bother to change dates on finds in order to make my artificial milestone line up with my sense of order. I would rather keep the dates and order of my finds correct.

 

Just my opinion. YMMV.

[knowschad]

OMG, not another timewarp. This is beginning to happen all too frequently.

 

Not really. That perception is due to the time warp itself.

[+Mredria]

I don't understand what you posted so I'm going to go out on a limb and say if the cache owners don't fuss about it, you're probably fine.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

OMG, not another timewarp. This is beginning to happen all too frequently.

 

Not really. That perception is due to the time warp itself.

 

'Tis I what meant. Or was that, meant what I 'tis?

[+Knight2000]

One good reason is that you can wreak havoc on the area where the micro is allegedly hidden.

I don't understand milestones. They are all caches. Change the date on all of them or log some twice. As long as you are having fun that is all that matters [to me].

[+Hrethgir]

The stats are basically meaningless in reality, so ethics isn't really involved. And like you said, all you really did was correct a mistake, so I see nothing wrong with that, either.

[+Col. Flagg]

OK, apparently I can't read today, my original post was way off(this is what happens when you opt to read the forums instead of sleeping) I see what the OP is saying, I don't have a problem with moving the dates of recent finds to keep his milestones.

Edited October 5, 2009 by Col. Flagg

[+bittsen]

The universe will survive if you change the dates, or if you delete your second logs, or if you find two more and never log them.

 

The univese is resilient. Don't lose sleep over it.

[+Cache O'Plenty]

The OP isn't claiming multiple finds. In fact, he's deleting the erroneous logs to make the count correct (his count). The problem to him is that his 300th find is now only his 298th find and any interim milestones are now off by two. It's important to how he plays the game.

 

I wouldn't have changed the dates of the other finds - that just messes with the history of the caches you found. But, FYI, the cache owner won't get an e-mail about the edit changes unless you delete the "Find" logs and enter new "Note" logs.

[+NanCycle]

Problem is--you will always know that your "300th find" was not really your 300th Find.

And nobody else will even care what your 300th find was.

[+Chrysalides]

Problem is--you will always know that your "300th find" was not really your 300th Find.

And nobody else will even care what your 300th find was.

Couldn't say it better myself, so I won't

 

Personally, having accurate "found" dates is more important to me than milestone finds. But that's just me. I don't have any problem with doing what you did, so long as the dates are too far off. I do feel it is being a bit obsessive compulsive (to use a nicer word) but again it is harmless, and all of us are to a certain degree. If you feel better about it, go for it.

[+Sol seaker]

I'm not sure what just happened either (except the part about distorting the space time continum, I get that), but I'm just glad no one is running in here crying FOUL for thinking you've logged twice.

 

I'm not sure myself whether you have or not, but I don't care either. However you want to play the game is OK with me.

 

You're welcome to log any of my caches as many times as you like.

 

As long as you're having a good time.

[+Keith Watson]

Be honest with yourself and you won’t have to worry about it. I have found glitches with my numbers some times and don’t care if I was off a few finds after fixing the numbers. After I hit 1,000, I only knew when I hit a milestone when I was doing my logging and saw the number beside the smiley. If fixing the finds to correctly represent what you did changes your milestone, then use the new milestone and live guilt free. I know cachers that make it a big deal to mark milestones at events and plan their caching months ahead of time to achieve that. Never been a thing for me. I have even seen cachers play with the finds or even lie about the order they found the caches just to make a milestone line-up with a specific cache. If that is the way they want to play, then they have to live with it.

 

To Thine Own Self Be True - William Shakespeare

[+chrisrayn]

I got the answer I wanted. Let me give you a rundown of how I feel, personally.

 

I don't feel bad about what I'm doing, but understand that some others might.

 

Even though I know what I found wasn't my TRUE 300th, I still PLANNED for it to be deliberately, and that's what matters...that it shows up visually.

 

I felt like I might get a number of tongue-in-cheek answers, and that really eases my mind that I'm not hurting anyone's feelings or making them angry.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

/thread

[AZcachemeister]

I don't care what your milestones are.

If you need to manipulate the find dates to make a certain cache be a certain milestone because you (politely) MESSED UP and logged some caches more than once, then you are only fooling yourself...or are you?

If it isn't your 10,000,000,000th find, nobody is likely to care.

[+webscouter.]

If it isn't your 10,000,000,000th find, nobody is likely to care.

 

I remember my 10,000,000,000th find, it passed without anyone even mentioning it.

[4wheelin_fool]

Okay, so for whatever reason, it seems like us Geocachers are particularly interested in having meaningful milestones. Yesterday, I logged my 300th find at my first Letterbox cache find. Yay, right?

 

Well, I ran FindStatGen3 on GSAK, and it said something I never noticed before. "303 finds on 301 unique caches." I used the small logic portion of my brain and figured out that mean I had found 2 geocaches more than once, which isn't exactly fair.

 

So...through GSAK's filters I actually managed to FIND the caches I'd found multiple times, and then had to figure out what to do to keep my milestones in place.

 

I decided to take my two most recent finds and log them on the same day I logged the double logs, and change the double logs into notes, as they should have been.

 

So, my finds are the same, but the dates are now different.

 

Anyone else done something like this before? Is it wrong, ethically?

Ethically, you fixed one issue and created another. There is nothing wrong with it, but your milestones are still off.

 

You should wait for a wormhole to open to let you back thru time to fix it. They are not difficult to find, as most people mistake them for UFOs...

[+The Jester]

You don't have to fiddle with dates, there is a milestone editor in FindStatsGen3 to help with jus this situation. After starting FSG3, go to Options, then click the Edit button next to the Milestone Separation. You can put in the correct cache for whatever number you want.

[+popokiiti]

All I can say on this issue is "Congratulations on your 300th find!"

[+Chrysalides]

I remember my 10,000,000,000th find, it passed without anyone even mentioning it.

But.. but.. I sent you a congratulations card with a diamond encrusted Garmin 60csx. You don't remember that? I'm appalled!

[Clan Riffster]

I remember my 10,000,000,000th find, it passed without anyone even mentioning it.

I remember! It was on a Tuesday... It was raining... Toz was rambling on about puritans...

 

Back on topic: A while back I opted against logging stinkers. As such, my find stats, such as they are, will likely never be accurate. Still, I enjoy the camaraderie of milestone celebrations, and participate in them as both the receiver and the giver, as the situation warrants. It matters not to me that my 2000th find is gonna be more like my 2032nd find. I still have fun. As the Great & Powerful Snoogans once opined, "If you ain't havin' fun, you're doing something wrong". Sounds like you're having fun, doing things your way, and harming no one.

 

Dude! You're golden!

[+sbell111]

If it isn't your 10,000,000,000th find, nobody is likely to care.

 

I remember my 10,000,000,000th find, it passed without anyone even mentioning it.

I logged my 10,000,000,000th find a few months ago. I'm now backdating all of my subsequent cache finds so that my numbers will be 'correct'.

[+Cedar Grove Seekers]

Problem is--you will always know that your "300th find" was not really your 300th Find.

And nobody else will even care what your 300th find was.

Couldn't say it better myself, so I won't

 

Personally, having accurate "found" dates is more important to me than milestone finds. But that's just me. I don't have any problem with doing what you did, so long as the dates are too far off. I do feel it is being a bit obsessive compulsive (to use a nicer word) but again it is harmless, and all of us are to a certain degree. If you feel better about it, go for it.

Couldn't say it better myself, so I won't

[+Castle Mischief]

I don't personally count multiple trips to the same cache as multiple "finds" but what you do is your business.

 

They are just numbers.

[+Rockin Roddy]

I got the answer I wanted. Let me give you a rundown of how I feel, personally.

 

I don't feel bad about what I'm doing, but understand that some others might.

 

Even though I know what I found wasn't my TRUE 300th, I still PLANNED for it to be deliberately, and that's what matters...that it shows up visually.

 

I felt like I might get a number of tongue-in-cheek answers, and that really eases my mind that I'm not hurting anyone's feelings or making them angry.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

/thread

 

If I'm understanding this right, I'd bet, if you ran the numbers again, you'd see that your finds are now correct. Also, since you can't actually "find" the same cache twice, they are correct in my eyes and should be in yours as well.

 

As for upsetting others, they'll get over it or not, I wouldn't worry about that!!

[knowschad]

 

A milestone is just a round number in the base-10 numbering system - Firsbass

 

 

You don't have to fiddle with dates, there is a milestone editor in FindStatsGen3 to help with jus this situation. After starting FSG3, go to Options, then click the Edit button next to the Milestone Separation. You can put in the correct cache for whatever number you want.

 

Thanks for saving me the trouble of pointing that out. That sounds like the perfect answer to me.

[AZcachemeister]

OOOPS!

I forgot to congratulate you on your 300th find!

However you worked it in, it's cool that you got there!

[+ArcherDragoon]

 

A milestone is just a round number in the base-10 numbering system - Firsbass

 

 

You don't have to fiddle with dates, there is a milestone editor in FindStatsGen3 to help with jus this situation. After starting FSG3, go to Options, then click the Edit button next to the Milestone Separation. You can put in the correct cache for whatever number you want.

 

Thanks for saving me the trouble of pointing that out. That sounds like the perfect answer to me.

Ha...a Milestone is just a really big stone!!!

[+DanOCan]

I'm a big fan of accuracy so I would log the caches using the date when they were actually found and not sweat the milestones.

[+Unkle Fester]

I remember my 10,000,000,000th find, it passed without anyone even mentioning it.

I remember! It was on a Tuesday... It was raining... Toz was rambling on about puritans...

 

Back on topic: A while back I opted against logging stinkers. As such, my find stats, such as they are, will likely never be accurate. Still, I enjoy the camaraderie of milestone celebrations, and participate in them as both the receiver and the giver, as the situation warrants. It matters not to me that my 2000th find is gonna be more like my 2032nd find. I still have fun. As the Great & Powerful Snoogans once opined, "If you ain't havin' fun, you're doing something wrong". Sounds like you're having fun, doing things your way, and harming no one.

 

Dude! You're golden!

Sorry, I was in the bathroom for the last three months, did I miss something?

[+Unkle Fester]

 

A milestone is just a round number in the base-10 numbering system - Firsbass

 

 

You don't have to fiddle with dates, there is a milestone editor in FindStatsGen3 to help with jus this situation. After starting FSG3, go to Options, then click the Edit button next to the Milestone Separation. You can put in the correct cache for whatever number you want.

 

Thanks for saving me the trouble of pointing that out. That sounds like the perfect answer to me.

Ha...a Milestone is just a really big stone!!!

Out here we use little green metal sign posts.

[+Chrysalides]

Out here we use little green metal sign posts.

"signpost cache" doesn't have quite the same ring to it..

[Skippermark]

I decided to take my two most recent finds and log them on the same day I logged the double logs, and change the double logs into notes, as they should have been.

 

So, my finds are the same, but the dates are now different.

 

Anyone else done something like this before? Is it wrong, ethically?

I don't think it's really a question of being ethical, but it will show that you found caches on a certain date when you really didn't. Does it effect anyone? Not really, but ultimately, the cache that you did for your 300th milestone was really find 298.

 

If "getting it right" is the most important thing, after removing the 2 duplicate finds, I would have let the numbers fall wherever they fell rather than moving caches around to make the numbers work. If it turns out that the true #300 wasn't a great cache and you want to do special caches on your milestones, I'd just pick an extra special one for #400.

Edited October 9, 2009 by Skippermark