The Point of "Premium" Membership?

[+MadFist_and_Midge]

Okay, I'm confused... I understand the idea behind 'premium' membership. If any Muggle with a GPS and a couple of hours to blow can thoughtlessly come to the site and find and destroy a TRUE cacher's hard work, then it makes total sense to have some caches that require a 'cash deposit' if you will. In theory a membership fee creates a buffer to boost the confidence of more dedicated cachers that their hard work will not end up in the hands of some bored teenager that has absolutely no interest in the sport.

 

That said, I paid my $30, and of the hundreds and hundreds of caches in my area, there are maybe, MAYBE half a dozen that are member-only caches, but at the same time, the MAJORITY (easily 75%) of the Cachers that I'm seeing online in my neck of the woods are Premium members.

 

With as much effort as my daughter and I are putting into our caches, I cannot see posting them without having the tiny bit of security that the member-only designation brings. Which leads me to my question...

 

Why are so many members (at least in Central Oklahoma) reluctant to use that security after paying for it? Is there a benefit to keeping it public other than increased accessibility for the minority?

 

Again, we're not talking about 'keeping it free for the masses' (I'm all for it, if there's another way to guarantee the safety of the cache; maybe a points system? You find X number of caches and a member vouches for you?). No, as I stated, the MAJORITY of those that I see online are already premium members. They're just not using the privacy screen.

 

Any constructive discussion will be appreciated.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

I think you'll find that people do not go "premium" to keep cachers away. They generally prefer more caches visit their hides.

 

You may be missing the point behind premium membership. Certainly some feel that their cache will be "protected", but I think that is false security. More importantly, premium membership helps to maintain the "game". There are added benefits to premium membership; PQ, email notification, etc., perhaps that is what your 2.50/month is going towards.

[+MadFist_and_Midge]

I think you'll find that people do not go "premium" to keep cachers away. They generally prefer more caches visit their hides.

 

You may be missing the point behind premium membership. Certainly some feel that their cache will be "protected", but I think that is false security. More importantly, premium membership helps to maintain the "game". There are added benefits to premium membership; PQ, email notification, etc., perhaps that is what your 2.50/month is going towards.

 

Fair enough, but why do you see it as 'false' security? And yes, I do see the value in the other benefits that membership offers, but no I don't see it as 'missing the point' when it was a publicized benefit. I still see the money as well-spent, and will, in time, learn to get the same benefit from the features that you find most attractive.

 

I saw the ability to have access to caches that others didn't as intriguing. It's always nice to be in on the secret, right? Oh well, come to find out there is no secret, after all. I've been there before.

 

Peace!

[Motorcycle_Mama]

My purchase of a Premium Membership had absolutely nothing to do with having access to finding nor hiding Premium Member Only caches.

 

I became a Premium Member primarily in order to get Pocket Queries, which are to me by far the greatest benefit of Premium Membership.

 

In addition, Bookmark Lists and Caches along a Route (a specialized Pocket Query) are great benefits, in my opinion.

 

As to Premium Member Only caches being "more protected" than non-PMO caches, I would say that, to me, that would be a false sense of "security" because there's nothing to say that someone who pays their $30 a year or $10 every three months is less likely to "muggle", damage, or steal a cache or the cache contents. The same way that non-Premium Members are not in any way more likely to "muggle", damage, or steal cache or cache contents.

 

Also, it is the individual cachers who determine whether the caches that they place are PMO or not. Being a PMO does not mean that one would necessarily be inclined to place only PMO caches. Nothing wrong with those who choose to do so at all either.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Motorcycle_Mama

[+MadFist_and_Midge]

Okay, that makes sense. I have not tried the Pocket Queries yet, but will this week. Thanks for the insight!

[namiboy]

Okay, I'm confused... I understand the idea behind 'premium' membership. If any Muggle with a GPS and a couple of hours to blow can thoughtlessly come to the site and find and destroy a TRUE cacher's hard work, then it makes total sense to have some caches that require a 'cash deposit' if you will. In theory a membership fee creates a buffer to boost the confidence of more dedicated cachers that their hard work will not end up in the hands of some bored teenager that has absolutely no interest in the sport.

 

That said, I paid my $30, and of the hundreds and hundreds of caches in my area, there are maybe, MAYBE half a dozen that are member-only caches, but at the same time, the MAJORITY (easily 75%) of the Cachers that I'm seeing online in my neck of the woods are Premium members.

 

With as much effort as my daughter and I are putting into our caches, I cannot see posting them without having the tiny bit of security that the member-only designation brings. Which leads me to my question...

 

Why are so many members (at least in Central Oklahoma) reluctant to use that security after paying for it? Is there a benefit to keeping it public other than increased accessibility for the minority?

 

Again, we're not talking about 'keeping it free for the masses' (I'm all for it, if there's another way to guarantee the safety of the cache; maybe a points system? You find X number of caches and a member vouches for you?). No, as I stated, the MAJORITY of those that I see online are already premium members. They're just not using the privacy screen.

 

Any constructive discussion will be appreciated.

 

do you know how geocaching got started? basically when gpsr's first became usable for the general public a guy hid a geocache and announced it for anyone to go find. kind of a fun thing to do. now, i'm not saying nothing should ever change, but i don't think only 'members only' caches is in the spirit of the whole thing. i'm not a premium member only because i don't geocache enough. i would probably never go out and look for 20 in a day, for example. i also think from my experience on this website that 'members only' caches are not why most people become premium members, i think they do it for all the other perks. i also think that it's more likely a geocache will be muggled by being accidentally found rather than someone logging on here with the purpose of finding geocaches to go mess up.

Edited December 7, 2009 by namiboy

[+MadFist_and_Midge]

Good feedback. You may be right.

 

My daughter and I, like you, are unlikely to ever get to numerous caches a day, but we live pretty close to a really large lake and there are numerous caches around it. Add to that the fact that we spend about 156 days a year kayaking and it made for an easy, inexpensive, and educational (not to mention really dadgum FUN) addition to family time.

 

Now, for fairness sake, I never claimed that I believed it was the reason that 'most people' became premium members, I was merely inquiring as to why so few people used the feature. Though you are correct that it is possible that a fair chunk of Muggled caches are done so by chance rather than design.

 

That said, there is a great possibility for mischief inherent in the system as it is set up, and one of the reasons that the website owners claim to have 'membership' as an option is because numerous users were declaring their desire for privacy. Not my words ~ Theirs. I have no clue as to whether that's true or if they just wanted me to feel better about separating me from thirty bills, but there you have it.

 

I felt pretty good about the investment going in.

[+BlueDeuce]

Thanks for the insight!

 

If you want a fun read try these:

 

Members Only = Elitist?

 

Logic behind "Premium members only" caches, benefits

 

Premium Member Only caches are elitist!

 

oh and:

 

 

Be aware that this topic is one of the most heated topics in the forum.

 

What's the Beef about PREMIUM MEMBERS ONLY caches?

 

Premium member cache questions.

 

Deleting Logs of Premium Members -- is this allowed?

 

Should more caches be made members only?

 

Economics 101

 

Premium Membership Exclusivities

 

Member only caches and why I hate them

 

Caches for premium members only

 

Why have the premium membership?

 

Members only caches

 

Subscription Only Caches--grrrrrrrrrr!

 

Member Only Caches, Should I or shouldn't I?

 

Caches for Premium members only

 

Members only caches

 

"members only" caches rant

 

The First "no Members" Cache

 

Change Moc Suggestion, need only normal account to view

 

Northeast Premium Member Only Caches, What are your thoughts?

 

When To Hide A Premium Member Cache, What is the culture of Member Only cache

 

Members Only Cache Hides, Members Only Cache Hides

 

Members Only, Premium Member Cache

 

And from across the pond

Members Only Caches, Is there a point anymore ?

Edited December 7, 2009 by BlueDeuce

[+MadFist_and_Midge]

LOL!! Wow, there are some really ANGRY people in the world! It does help to set my expectations however... Not of caching, mind you, but of posting to forums. There are trolls everywhere.

 

My favorite of all of the posts was a reply that read "To the OP : you may not mean it, but threads like this almost always spin out of control when the lovers and haters of PMO caches jump in and slug it out."

 

Wow, truer words were never spoken.

 

Peace out ~ Keep the blood pressure low!

[+Annie & PB]

The 'point' of Premium membership for me is that I can do Pocket Queries. Really, that's it.

 

I would not know if a cache I found was a PM only cache, I just find them all. And I can't see a situation where I would place a PM only cache. I won't say never, but at present Idon't see it as likely.

 

Annie

[+Woodstramp]

Madfist,

 

One thing I've noticed locally is some will make a new cache a PM only for just a while. It's like they want to give paying members a first chance. We have quite a few FTF hounds that are friends. Most of the PM only hides end up public after while.

[+MadFist_and_Midge]

Good feedback ~ Thanks Annie!

[+MadFist_and_Midge]

I see, so making a cache publicly accessible is a feature that you can change after the fact? Okay! That does clear up the question of how a cache can be listed for 5 minutes and already have 6 logs! Thanks for that!

[+welch]

I see, so making a cache publicly accessible is a feature that you can change after the fact? Okay! That does clear up the question of how a cache can be listed for 5 minutes and already have 6 logs! Thanks for that!

Another benefit of the a 'premium' member is the insta-notices, An email sent out by the site as soon as a cache is published.

Some of the crazy people trying to be the first to find will carry their gear with them always, and have those notices sent to their cell phones etc, so they can go seek new nearby caches.

[+MadFist_and_Midge]

I keep my kayaking and now my caching gear in my truck.

 

How do you set that up? The website is informative, but about as intuitive as making a quiche.

[Motorcycle_Mama]

www.geocaching.com/notify

 

Note that you can access all your Premium Member features from the links on the right side of your My Account page.

[+Chrysalides]

How do you set that up? The website is informative, but about as intuitive as making a quiche.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Broccoli...che/Detail.aspx

 

You're welcome

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

When I got my PM, it was so that I could pan around on the geocaching.com maps looking for Caches to seek where ever I was going. That has always been my preferred method of picking Caches. I think that can now be done with the free membership, but I've kept my PM just to suttort the business that keeps our game so easy to play. It's so little money.

Edited December 8, 2009 by WRITE SHOP ROBERT

[+tlap]

I subscribed to a Premium Membership because it seemed the polite thing to do. I'm sure this site costs a fair penny to run. I appreciate that Groundspeak give the option of a free membership that's not limited to the point of being useless. I suspect that this model works because those who can afford to pay, do.

 

As for the Members Only caches, I can't say that I've see listings for any in my area. I suspect they would be very high difficulty if anyone made one.

[+Scubasonic]

I subscribed to a Premium Membership because it seemed the polite thing to do. I'm sure this site costs a fair penny to run. I appreciate that Groundspeak give the option of a free membership that's not limited to the point of being useless. I suspect that this model works because those who can afford to pay, do.

 

As for the Members Only caches, I can't say that I've see listings for any in my area. I suspect they would be very high difficulty if anyone made one.

 

I am a premium member because I use the Geocaching site for my finds and hides, as well as the forum and I realize that someone has spent money and a lot of time giving me this playground to play in. So I feel that the least I could do is support it by paying the P Membership every year. If I didn't I would feel like a "FREELOADER" ..............But hey that's just me.

 

Scubasonic

[+MadFist_and_Midge]

[+WRASTRO]

We became premium members after about three months of enjoying the game. Coming up on six years now. Our reason for paying? We love the game and believe the minimal $30/year cost is an easy way for us to support it. Everything else is just gravy.