people searching for your cache

[blobingob]

they should make it so you cannot see the cordinates for a cache until you click a button saying yes you would like to start your search for this cache!! so the person who made the cache can know how many people actually looked for your cache. because we all know alot of people dont report it as a no find... we all want the satisfaction of knowing are cache was really hard to find

Edited November 2, 2009 by blobingob

[+CanUK_TeamFitz]

they should make it so you cannot see the cordinates for a cache until you click a button saying yes you would like to start your search for this cache!! so the person who made the cache can know how many people actually looked for your cache. because we all know alot of people dont report it as a no find... we all want the satisfaction of knowing are cache was really hard to find

 

The big problem with this idea is for those of us who like to utilise PQs and don't necessarily look at the cache description when we're out in the field until we are at or near the cache.

[+Xaa]

Good idea! So we can have even more control about what we are doing and when! Because looking for your cache is more dangerous than crime, so it should be tracked to the exact minute!

 

(yes yes, I know you only want it because you want to know who didn't find it. But amongst so many cachers there will be owners who start nagging you because you are on that list and they want to know why and when and whatever)

[+JPatton]

I don't think you would get any useful information from something like this. A lot of people would click the button to find out where the cache really is. Once they found out, they may or may not actually search for the cache depending on where it is.

[Skippermark]

Aside from the technical reasons why it wouldn't work - people looking at the coords to decide if it's an area they want to visit (and maybe never even going there), people looking at the cache offline, and people planning caching trips months in advance and then never actually going to look for it - I don't think it's a good idea.

 

If someone looks at the cache on Tuesday at 9:45 and the cache ends up missing at 11:30 on Wednesday, what will happen? Will the person be contacted and asked what happened to the cache? What if they never even went there? Will they be a suspect?

 

What if someone looks at the cache, does go look for it but never logs a find or DNF online? Will they be contacted about why they didn't log it online?

[+StarBrand]

Actually - I WANT folks to find my caches. Not report to me how frustrated they got.

[+tozainamboku]

we all want the satisfaction of knowing are cache was really hard to find

I think StarBrand's attitude is far more common.

[+wimseyguy]

boblog-is that you again?

Edited November 2, 2009 by wimseyguy

[+Arrow42]

they should make it so you cannot see the cordinates for a cache until you click a button saying yes you would like to start your search for this cache!! so the person who made the cache can know how many people actually looked for your cache. because we all know alot of people dont report it as a no find... we all want the satisfaction of knowing are cache was really hard to find

 

Please no.

[blobingob]

well it was just an idea when i hide mine i try to make it very very hard to find because its cool to know that some one else used there brain and skills to find it

[+Crow-T-Robot]

well it was just an idea when i hide mine i try to make it very very hard to find because its cool to know that some one else used there brain and skills to find it

 

Isn't the Found It log evidence that the person used "there brain and skills to find it" [sic]? Doesn't a PMO cache already have this feature with the audit logs?

 

I'm with the majority on this one. There's no need for this type of helicopter ownership.

 

Bruce

Edited November 2, 2009 by Bassanio

[+flask]

i think it's an astoundingly bad idea.

 

i have no reasons other than what's been given, but i just wished to add my voice to the swelling chorus.

 

even if i make a really hard cache, i'm not interested in how frustrated people are; i'm interested in that moment of "aha" when they get it.

 

i will prefer cache owners to learn to use apostrophes and be able to correctly choose homophones, thereby making the cache page less painful for me to read, before i will want to add surveillance capabilities to cache pages.

[blobingob]

ok so im guessing you all misunderstood me or i said something wrong . what i meant to say is that i would like to know how many people are looking for my cache and how many people have put it on there gps but all i really want to know is the number of people who have tried to find it. i do not want to know information about the person or even there name i just want a number. because not everyone reports a did not find after attempting to search for a cache.

[+BlueDeuce]

ok so im guessing you all misunderstood me or i said something wrong . what i meant to say is that i would like to know how many people are looking for my cache and how many people have put it on there gps but all i really want to know is the number of people who have tried to find it. i do not want to know information about the person or even there name i just want a number. because not everyone reports a did not find after attempting to search for a cache.

 

Yeah, but then you post about it in the forums and the people here go look at the page. It throws the numbers way off.

[Clan Riffster]

While I agree that it "might" prove interesting for some, to know how many folks actually searched for their caches, as compared to how many logged their attempts, I don't see a way to accomplish this with any reasonable degree of accuracy using the current Groundspeak software model. There are simply too many ways for folks to obtain the coords that are outside the cache owner's control.

 

Edit to add: Another vote for Starbrand's cache owner principles.

[+flask]

if i look at your cache coordinates, it doesn't mean i'm going to look for your cache.

 

how do you propose to tell the difference between people who look at your coordinates and people who actually visit the cache location?

[+brodiebunch]

... we all want the satisfaction of knowing are cache was really hard to find

 

Not always.

 

Sometimes I get a sense of accomplishment like the geocacher does when they find one of ours.

Sometimes I placed the cache to bring a person to a little known area or a place of interest to me that I think may appeal to them.

 

When I was a kid, I liked when a teacher put a happy face on an assignment I completed well. Its the same for geocaching finding and hiding.

[sdarken]

but all i really want to know is the number of people who have tried to find it.

 

The only way to get that information would be to take a chair and a notepad and sit by your cache and make a note of the number of people that visit. I'd suggest taking some food and pillow. It going to take some time.

[+rob3k]

ok so im guessing you all misunderstood me or i said something wrong . what i meant to say is that i would like to know how many people are looking for my cache and how many people have put it on there gps but all i really want to know is the number of people who have tried to find it. i do not want to know information about the person or even there name i just want a number. because not everyone reports a did not find after attempting to search for a cache.

 

Simply can't be done considering many premium users get the cache details (including coordinates, description, last 5 logs, etc) from a pocket query. I often don't visit the cache page on geocaching.com until I am logging my find or DNF.

 

In order to implement your system, Groundspeak would need to cripple the pocket query system and I imagine nearly ever premium member would not be in favor of doing this.

Edited November 2, 2009 by rob3k

[+WRASTRO]

The OP concept will not do anything to improve the game or cause people to log a DNF. No thanks.

[glorkar]

I know it's not the same, but you could always put a hit counter on the cache page. That would tell you how many people have viewed the page. Again, not the same but I think it's as close as you'll get.

[+Jeep_Dog]

I don't think a tool as described by the OP would be remotely of interest to me.

 

This particular cache owner, unlike "the most", would like to ditto what the Starbrand dude said.

 

While I personally enjoy writing DNF logs as a cacher, as a cache owner I don't think we need DNFs to tell us a particular cache is a tricky hide.

 

Like this recent log "Finally! After being out here like 5 times... I finally found this one. TFTC SL."

 

Like Starbrand, I did not lament the lack of 5 DNF logs, but celebrated the tenacious cacher's success and was happy to know they found it.

[Skippermark]

ok so im guessing you all misunderstood me or i said something wrong . what i meant to say is that i would like to know how many people are looking for my cache and how many people have put it on there gps but all i really want to know is the number of people who have tried to find it. i do not want to know information about the person or even there name i just want a number. because not everyone reports a did not find after attempting to search for a cache.

Just because a cache is in my GPS doesn't mean I have any plans to look for it. Depending on how or where I'm caching, I'll sometimes send 1000 or more caches to it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to look for all of them. In this case, your number will be off, since it was sent to my GPS but never searched for.

 

What if someone plans to do it, but on their way to the cache, they get a call and have to go into work? What if someone plans to do it, but they run out of time and have to call it quits before they get there? Neither of those people DNFd it or find it. They just never got there to search for it, so your numbers will be off by 2.

 

What if there's a group of 5 cachers going out together and only one downloaded the cache coords? You will have no way of knowing that 5 people actually searched.

[+bittsen]

See if you can put a page counter on your cache page. Then you can see how many people looked at the cache page.

 

Other than that, I vote NO!

 

Also, I'm afraid I wouldn't want to look for your caches since you say you like to make them difficult to find.

 

I'm one of those lame cachers who like the original concept. Grab GPS, go to coordinates, find cache, sign log. I don't want to be led to a place where I am likely to NOT find a cache. I have billions of places I can go to do that.

[Skippermark]

See if you can put a page counter on your cache page. Then you can see how many people looked at the cache page.

And that will be inaccurate too because a site visit won't be registered for those who surf with an ad blocker. Yes, technically a hit counter isn't an ad, but most ad blockers still block them, so the count would be wrong right off the bat for that reason alone.

 

Also, not sure if the hit count would increase when a search engine spiders the site. I did a test on my site on a page no one would have known about, and in the first 24 hours I had over 50 visits to the page.

 

Another option is to make the cache a Premium Member only. Again, people who look at it may never attempt it, but at least you can see who looked at it...unless they looked at it through a PQ.

 

Edit: Type Oh

Edited November 2, 2009 by Skippermark

[blobingob]

my cache is exactly where the cordinates are its just i like to hide them in a place where after you find it your thinking to yourself oh ok i get it now. and for all of those saying how bad of an idea it is! dont worry its just that an idea i had that i wanted to know what other people thought not to get critasized (im pretty sure i spelled wrong) for having an idea and wanting to know what people thought so for those of you who gave me an honest opinion on how it wouldnt work thank you for those of you who toss my idea down and tell me all my flaws thank you to.............

[+tozainamboku]

I try to log all my attempts at looking for a cache. My feeling is that that most cache owners are like the OP, they would like to know that people are looking for their cache. So I see a DNF as something a cache owner would like to see. It may be that they, like the OP, want to snicker at me because I couldn't find their cleverly hidden cache; or it may be that they would like to know when someone is having trouble becauses they can either check the cache to make sure it is still there or perhaps give some hints or encouragement. Still I am surprised from time to time when a cache owner writes back wanting to know why I posted a DNF as the cache is still there. I've even had cache owners delete my DNF. So I can't even say that all cache owners even just want to know if you are searching for their cache.

 

Given the number of ways that you can get the coordinates into your GPSr (especially if you are a premium member) there isn't any way to give a number to cache owner that accurately indicates how many have searched for their cache (or even are just considering searching for it).

[+Arrow42]

its just that an idea i had that i wanted to know what other people thought not to get critasized (im pretty sure i spelled wrong) for having an idea and wanting to know what people thought so for those of you who gave me an honest opinion on how it wouldnt work thank you for those of you who toss my idea down and tell me all my flaws thank you to.............

 

There isn't a single comment here that has been about you. Some posts have dismissed your idea, some have commented on how they think it's a flawed concept and others have tried to point out what they think the consequences might be.

 

If you don't actually want honest feedback please feel free to let us know up front.

[blobingob]

sorry i meant all the flaws about my idea

[+Harry Dolphin]

ok so im guessing you all misunderstood me or i said something wrong . what i meant to say is that i would like to know how many people are looking for my cache and how many people have put it on there gps but all i really want to know is the number of people who have tried to find it. i do not want to know information about the person or even there name i just want a number. because not everyone reports a did not find after attempting to search for a cache.

Just because a cache is in my GPS doesn't mean I have any plans to look for it. Depending on how or where I'm caching, I'll sometimes send 1000 or more caches to it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to look for all of them. In this case, your number will be off, since it was sent to my GPS but never searched for.

 

Hmm... I have a heck of a lot more than that loaded in Gupy. But, I usually only put 500 into the Palm/Paw Pilot. Yes, Peeps! I'm hunting for 10000 caches! Naw. They're only there if I get lost on the way home from work. I'm not actually planning on hunting for all 10000! Not right now, at least.

So, what purpose does OP's request fill?

[+CanUK_TeamFitz]

sorry i meant all the flaws about my idea

 

Don't pet the sweaty things. Internet forums rarely reflect well or have an impact on real life. Go out find some caches and enjoy the game!

[Skippermark]

Hmm... I have a heck of a lot more than that loaded in Gupy. But, I usually only put 500 into the Palm/Paw Pilot. Yes, Peeps! I'm hunting for 10000 caches! Naw. They're only there if I get lost on the way home from work. I'm not actually planning on hunting for all 10000! Not right now, at least.

So, what purpose does OP's request fill?

The most I've ever had was when I went to GeoWoodstock. Had something like 7500 loaded.