Why do they break your goal?

[+Matt_B_Good]

I don't understand why some caches feel the need to mess up your geocoin's goal? You can put a paper with the thing stating the goal and that helps to some extent but there is always these caches that disregard the goal and do whatever they want with it. If I see a geocoin or TB in a cache and cannot help it fill it's realistic goal I leave it be. I don't feel a need to grab every single one. No wonder there are so many out there with no goal at all. It gets so frustrating to see your geocoin fulfilling it's goal five times and then the sixth person kills that goal but I guess that is part of the challenge huh?

[+burgessfour]

Some cachers feel their need to get the icon outweighs your mission for your coin/TB.......I don't really understand it myself, but it happens.

[+BRoKeN W]

I have a geocoin that was supposed to visit NASCAR race tracks around the U.S..... It's in Portugal now...

[+goosefraba1]

I have a geocoin that was supposed to visit NASCAR race tracks around the U.S..... It's in Portugal now...

 

Ha... that made me chuckle. Maybe it is on its way to an indy race.

[+IBcrashen]

I`ve picked up many TB`s and coins with no paper, its been lost, destroyed and/or you cant read it and dont know the goal until you log it.

What I dont understand is on a lot of mine I state no TB Hotels but cachers still place them in there.

[+t4e]

I don't understand why some caches feel the need to mess up your geocoin's goal? You can put a paper with the thing stating the goal and that helps to some extent but there is always these caches that disregard the goal and do whatever they want with it. If I see a geocoin or TB in a cache and cannot help it fill it's realistic goal I leave it be. I don't feel a need to grab every single one. No wonder there are so many out there with no goal at all. It gets so frustrating to see your geocoin fulfilling it's goal five times and then the sixth person kills that goal but I guess that is part of the challenge huh?

 

would you rather have your coin/TB sit in a cache for months until and if someone happens to visited that can help it on its goal or have the trackable on the move to new locations and hopefully meet the cacher that can truly help it on its goal?

 

a goal/mission is not something that happen over night, you have to be prepared that it will take time

 

personally i rather see it moving along than rotting in one place for weeks or even months

 

I`ve picked up many TB`s and coins with no paper, its been lost, destroyed and/or you cant read it and dont know the goal until you log it.

What I dont understand is on a lot of mine I state no TB Hotels but cachers still place them in there.

 

because hardly anyone reads the TB page...but tbh at least it has a chance to be moved along, which is a lot better than being misplaced or MIA

Edited March 23, 2010 by t4e

[tommytrojan360]

I don't understand why some caches feel the need to mess up your geocoin's goal? You can put a paper with the thing stating the goal and that helps to some extent but there is always these caches that disregard the goal and do whatever they want with it. If I see a geocoin or TB in a cache and cannot help it fill it's realistic goal I leave it be. I don't feel a need to grab every single one. No wonder there are so many out there with no goal at all. It gets so frustrating to see your geocoin fulfilling it's goal five times and then the sixth person kills that goal but I guess that is part of the challenge huh?

 

would you rather have your coin/TB sit in a cache for months until and if someone happens to visited that can help it on its goal or have the trackable on the move to new locations and hopefully meet the cacher that can truly help it on its goal?

 

a goal/mission is not something that happen over night, you have to be prepared that it will take time

 

personally i rather see it moving along than rotting in one place for weeks or even months

 

I`ve picked up many TB`s and coins with no paper, its been lost, destroyed and/or you cant read it and dont know the goal until you log it.

What I dont understand is on a lot of mine I state no TB Hotels but cachers still place them in there.

 

because hardly anyone reads the TB page...but tbh at least it has a chance to be moved along, which is a lot better than being misplaced or MIA

I still think the one in Portugal is pretty funny though, lol

[+dfx]

I still think the one in Portugal is pretty funny though, lol

i may be able to beat that

 

while not one of my own TBs, TB158ZP (i'm watching it because i moved it once, and it's funny) used to be in a TB race. it was supposed to travel in and around austria, visiting each district/county (or whatever you wanna call it) of austria and a few certain special places in austria. the goals specifically stated to stay in austria.

 

you'll laugh when you see where it is now and has been for two years now.

 

after a while, the owner obviously realized that it's totally useless to keep it in the race and has changed the description to what you see now.

[+t4e]

 

I still think the one in Portugal is pretty funny though, lol

 

it is lol

 

what about people that replace your original item with something not even remotely related?

 

my inukshuk magically morphed into a frog, come to think of it kinda looks like a drunken relative of Signal though

 

http://www.geocaching.com/track/gallery.aspx?ID=1724345

[+Woyi and Waya]

I still think the one in Portugal is pretty funny though, lol

i may be able to beat that

 

while not one of my own TBs, TB158ZP (i'm watching it because i moved it once, and it's funny) used to be in a TB race. it was supposed to travel in and around austria, visiting each district/county (or whatever you wanna call it) of austria and a few certain special places in austria. the goals specifically stated to stay in austria.

 

you'll laugh when you see where it is now and has been for two years now.

 

after a while, the owner obviously realized that it's totally useless to keep it in the race and has changed the description to what you see now.

 

"every other place away from austria" lol!! that is too funny!

[+wolfslady]

I always try to help items acheive their goals but sometimes I pick them up only to find out later that I can't. Others the thing seems to have gotten so far off track that you wonder how you ended up with it in the first place. It seems like some people take pleasure in moving things in the wrong direction. I found a TB in San Antonio (I think) TX that wanted to visit the Grand Canyon. It had actually been in AZ at one time but it never made it there. I started to drop it right back off, but I decided that if I got it closer to Houston were a lot of people stop to cache before they fly maybe it would have a better chance of making it back in the right direction. I just wish I could have dropped it closer to the airport. But my son got ill and it would have taken much too long.

[+GATOULIS]

I had similar problems with my travellers....

 

One that supposed to travell only in greece... actually only started from here and went straight to other countries... an other that was coming here so I would adopt it (the trackable had my name)... came until athens and then left again....

 

But!!!! I have to say that some geocachers are so great! I recently had an email from a geocacher from the Netherlands who was asking me if he had permision to take my coin to Bonaire, where he was going, even if the goal was to come to Greece, or just to drop it in a cache in the Netherlands!! I gave him the ok of course, and thanked him for emailing me first! It was the first time I had such an email and this really shows respect for the owner and the goal a trackable has! WOW!!

[+Eartha]

Keep your expectations low and you'll never be disappointed.

Not everyone can help, not everyone reads the page, and any movement means it's traveling. Sometimes people will think they can help and then their plans change, through no fault of their own. As long as it's still moving, it's a good thing. It might just have to go all the way around the world to get to its goal.

[+opalsns]

Just be happy it isn't in a muggles collection.

[+Matt_B_Good]

I don't understand why some caches feel the need to mess up your geocoin's goal? You can put a paper with the thing stating the goal and that helps to some extent but there is always these caches that disregard the goal and do whatever they want with it. If I see a geocoin or TB in a cache and cannot help it fill it's realistic goal I leave it be. I don't feel a need to grab every single one. No wonder there are so many out there with no goal at all. It gets so frustrating to see your geocoin fulfilling it's goal five times and then the sixth person kills that goal but I guess that is part of the challenge huh?

 

would you rather have your coin/TB sit in a cache for months until and if someone happens to visited that can help it on its goal or have the trackable on the move to new locations and hopefully meet the cacher that can truly help it on its goal?

 

a goal/mission is not something that happen over night, you have to be prepared that it will take time

 

personally i rather see it moving along than rotting in one place for weeks or even months

 

Yes, I would rather it sit for a year than have the goal broken. I do not put impossible missions on them.

[+t4e]

Yes, I would rather it sit for a year than have the goal broken. I do not put impossible missions on them.

 

to each their own and good luck with that

[+Matt_B_Good]

Keep your expectations low and you'll never be disappointed.

Not everyone can help, not everyone reads the page, and any movement means it's traveling. Sometimes people will think they can help and then their plans change, through no fault of their own. As long as it's still moving, it's a good thing. It might just have to go all the way around the world to get to its goal.

 

I understand things happen but some of these people just blatantly disregard the goal. I put a paper with each one stating the goal as well as list it on the site. They apparently don't care enough to read that paper either sometimes or seem to assign their own goal to it. One common thing I noticed is dipping for miles when there is absolutely nothing about that in the goal and is not at all the intent of things. Why would they assume you want it moved many miles? Some I do, some I would prefer moving less than 20 miles each jump. Most cachers that participate in trackables are pretty good about it but some just don't care. Yes at least it is not lost or stolen but still it is disappointing. Every once in awhile things will go exactly as planned.

[+Matt_B_Good]

Yes, I would rather it sit for a year than have the goal broken. I do not put impossible missions on them.

 

to each their own and good luck with that

Thanks, I think. What I am looking for here is anyone have any suggestions to maybe make my goals more likely to be filled? I put a paper with each one stating the goal and also list it on the coin's page. I make it as understandable as I can. I feel this is the best I can do. So far only one of my trackables has been lost but I did just start last year.

 

Question for all of you. One of my trackables has been listed as retrieved from the same cache by two different cachers. How is this possible? If it was handed off it should state that it went from the hands of one cacher to another not from the same cache right? i am confused.

[+BlueDeuce]

Question for all of you. One of my trackables has been listed as retrieved from the same cache by two different cachers. How is this possible? If it was handed off it should state that it went from the hands of one cacher to another not from the same cache right? i am confused.

 

That's a known bug in the system that shows the previous cache when Grabbed. I'd have to go look for the thread in the website forum.

[+dfx]

Yes, I would rather it sit for a year than have the goal broken. I do not put impossible missions on them.

One common thing I noticed is dipping for miles when there is absolutely nothing about that in the goal and is not at all the intent of things. Why would they assume you want it moved many miles? Some I do, some I would prefer moving less than 20 miles each jump.

so how are the cachers supposed to know that you want it that way without saying so in the TB's goal? seriously, isn't the whole point of a trackable to have it travel? traveling = miles, and it also means that if a cacher sees a TB in a cache that gets onty a couple of visits per year or so, they should dadgum well take it and put it somewhere else even if it goes against the TB's goal, instead of letting it rot in that cache waiting for a cacher able to properly help it, who may never come!

 

at least that's how the majority of cachers sees TBs. if you think otherwise, it means you're an exception, which is fine of course, but you have to realize that other people won't know this unless you tell them, explicitly.

[+Kabuthunk]

I`ve picked up many TB`s and coins with no paper, its been lost, destroyed and/or you cant read it and dont know the goal until you log it.

What I dont understand is on a lot of mine I state no TB Hotels but cachers still place them in there.

Same here. 95% of any coins or TB's are just that, a coin or TB lying in a cache container. Don't know its goal until I'm sitting at my computer.

 

Worst thing I've done is that I found a cache at some provincial park by a lake, and it had a TB in it that was taking up like... 90% of the cache. Took it home (several hours drive), only to realize it had been AT its destination waiting to be picked up by the cache owner. Although in my defense, aside from having no clue it had reached its goal, it had also been sitting there for like... a week. If it was so vitally important, I'd think they should have picked it up sooner, or had someone else retreive it sooner.

[+t4e]

Yes, I would rather it sit for a year than have the goal broken. I do not put impossible missions on them.

 

to each their own and good luck with that

Thanks, I think. What I am looking for here is anyone have any suggestions to maybe make my goals more likely to be filled? I put a paper with each one stating the goal and also list it on the coin's page. I make it as understandable as I can. I feel this is the best I can do. So far only one of my trackables has been lost but I did just start last year.

 

 

the paper certainly helps, at least it has a better chance that people will read it at the cache location, but given what others have said...the mentality of most cachers is to move them rather than letting them sit in the same place too long

 

as for making your goals attainable, well i don't have an answer for that, i don't think anyone has...to me anything reasonable is attainable, some might be achieved sooner and some may take longer, and worst case scenario it will never happen...for your own sanity just be mentally prepared that the goal you set for you trackable is going to take a long time, meanwhile enjoy every log you get which means its alive an well, and think of it as that TB's destiny

[+BlueDeuce]

Yes, I would rather it sit for a year than have the goal broken. I do not put impossible missions on them.

 

to each their own and good luck with that

Thanks, I think. What I am looking for here is anyone have any suggestions to maybe make my goals more likely to be filled?

 

A clear instruction tag is always helpful but that still is no guarantee people will follow the goal. I try to stay away from goals that require people to do to much involving moving the traveler. My angst is much lower if I don't have to deal with direction or distance. I do have a couple Homeward Bound bugs that the mission is to reach Eastern Iowa. One got to middle Iowa and was picked up and moved to the West coast. The instructions were clearly stated on a large tag, and it was already in Iowa so I have no idea what they were thinking.

 

I have one bug that you can move anywhere and can answer three of any questions listed on the bug. These Questions Three

 

Ironically the only angst is that it hasn't moved in close to a year, even with the last finder moving it to a new cache in September.

Edited March 23, 2010 by BlueDeuce

[+dfx]

I do have a couple Homeward Bound bugs that the mission is to reach Eastern Iowa. One got to middle Iowa and was picked up and moved to the West coast. The instructions were clearly stated on a large tag, and it was already in Iowa so I have no idea what they were thinking.

maybe they thought the TB already (kinda) reached its goal and so it would be ok to move it elsewhere?

 

i don't know but seriously, that's another problem i had with some TBs that i moved. a TB that had obviously reached its goal quite some time ago already, and the owner didn't bother to update its page and put a new goal, or at least a note, or anything. the goal still said it wanted to go where it's been for a while, so what to do?

 

or as a variation of that theme: a TB that had already reached its goal and now should be on its way back home, but the attached paper tag still said it wanted to reach its first goal. so people would move it away from the goal, towards home, only to have somebody else move it back away from home and towards their first goal, because they thought that's where it wanted to go. not the owner's fault of course, but usually people don't bother to put a note on the TB itself or attach another paper or whatever, saying that it should rather go back home instead of going towards its listed goal.

 

I have one bug that you can move anywhere and can answer three of any questions listed on the bug. These Questions Three

a european swallow or an african swallow?!

Edited March 23, 2010 by dfx

[ELTADA]

 

I`ve picked up many TB`s and coins with no paper, its been lost, destroyed and/or you cant read it and dont know the goal until you log it.

What I dont understand is on a lot of mine I state no TB Hotels but cachers still place them in there.

 

because hardly anyone reads the TB page...but tbh at least it has a chance to be moved along, which is a lot better than being misplaced or MIA

 

Well, to be honest, many times having your TB placed in a hotel is equal to sending out an advertisement to TB thieves that there is a new bug/coin to be had!!! Or just as bad, it turns out that it's a PRISON not a hotel and your bug doesn't move...but that is opening another can of worms...

 

So cachers who ignore goal tags on TB items and place them in TB hotels (when the owner wants to avoid them), they are doing much more harm in many cases. Because often if they don't read a TB goal sheet, they often don't read a TB hotel page to see how many bugs/coins have been muggled or imprisoned there.

 

I don't stress if my TB's mission is not being met if the cachers who are placing my coin/TB are doing so after careful consideration of WHERE they are placing it. If my goals can't be met, my second choice is for my travellers to be as safe as possible (there are of course, no guarantees).

[+Matt_B_Good]

maybe they thought the TB already (kinda) reached its goal and so it would be ok to move it elsewhere?

 

 

That is not the case for most of mine. Two I plan to set free are to go in opposite directions. One to be placed in a cache east of the one it was found in one west of the cache it was found in. the idea is the two will circle the globe always traveling in one basic direction. Someone is sure to mess that up three or four listings later like they always do but you never know. At least there is a 50/50 chance o matter who it goes to unless that person intentionally disrupts the goal. Large bodies of water will be the biggest challenge. Two others will be released one with the goal of getting to the arctic circle and the other the antarctic circle. that will be a challenge but if everyone keeps moving them the correct direction it can happen. Yes I did check. There are caches they will fit in in both the arctic and antarctic.

[+Borst68]

I saw a TB log recently where the goal was to placed in a certain cache in Wisconsin. It started out in Arizona, moved to Texas, Colorado and eventually to Wisconsin but not to the desired cache. Then it was dropped off in Maryland. It made its way south and eventually back to Arizona. I guess if you are going to launch a TB, you have to have a sense of humor about it. Its like a message in a bottle cast into the sea. You may want it go to the Bahamas but it could end up in Iceland. Just like poster above with the Geocoin in Portugal...

[+BlueDeuce]

maybe they thought the TB already (kinda) reached its goal and so it would be ok to move it elsewhere?

 

Well it did also list two specific caches near Cedar Rapids. So I was thinking General Location - Specific city - very specific cache could be followed by anyone based on how close they were to the goal.

[+BlueDeuce]

... I guess if you are going to launch a TB, you have to have a sense of humor about it. Its like a message in a bottle cast into the sea. You may want it go to the Bahamas but it could end up in Iceland. Just like poster above with the Geocoin in Portugal...

 

ayep.

[+aka Momster]

On the moving end, I find these useful:

 

Especially if a goal is complex, it helps a lot if the gist of the goal is bolded or in ALL CAPS. Or both. Actually, that goes for on the TB page, too. If the instructions are very long, put the gist and important information in the Current Goal section, and the details in the About section.

 

At the cache, while the non-cachers are waiting for me, I will try to read the unique eight sentence mission written in tiny fancy font on a mutilated, molded, water spotted, ripped sliver of paper, and assist your traveler to move in the correct direction. Sometimes I have to just guess what those =-^x-~=/_-> symbols may have been at the original drop. If I read =-^xCALIFORNIA-~=/_->, the traveler will likely soon be on its way to CA.

 

Put a clear photo of what the traveler looks like on the cache page. If I scout what travelers are listed as being in a cache, and I discover Jungle Bratlet can be helped, cool. At the cache I find seven travelers inside. One looks just like the photo on Jungle Bratlet's page, and I grab that bug. If I have no idea what Bratlet looks like and get to the cache, and none of the items have a name tag, do I grab the monkey, snake, Tarzan or melted piece of plastic?

[+Toojin]

Somebody may already have said this, but you might think about laminating the goal in a luggage tag type label and firmly, permanently attaching it to your bug. Attach as securely as you attached the bug tag (better than those chain thingies).

 

A label in a bag is not necessarily going to stay with the bug. There may be an emergency need for the ziplock bag.... you just never know.

 

I don't pick up bugs anymore unless it clearly needs to get out of the cache (I found one in January that was swimming in the bottom of a cache) or it has an easy to read and easily findable label telling me what it wants to do. I do not wish to inadvertently upset and owner and I have done that...

Edited March 23, 2010 by Toojin

[+LadyBee4T]

One of my coins had the specific goal to reach a certain cacher in Canada. It was within about 25 miles when somebody picked it up and said he was taking it to Japan. I emailed him and asked him not to drop it there. He dipped it in a cache for miles and then brought it back to Canada. Unfortunately it disappeared a short time later but at least he did bring it back.

[rickctroop13]

Gave this one 2 & 1/2 years plus to achieve it's special (to me) goal..

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=941499

Clearly stated, laminated goals attached, good sized print. Set loose in CT and bummed around there for a bit. Picked up and brought to IDAHO! Bopped around there for 9 months then on to Utah & California, where it was picked up- log said to be moved to Florida ( Yippie!!!!). Instead placed? in a MICRO in Texas from which it was marked missing by the C/O. (no reply to emails sent to dropper). Maybe it was a miss drop, and will show up again, hopefully. If not, I have the logs to prove to better half (should that be CAPITALIZED? ) that I tried and maybe get a laugh!

Can empathize with the frustration of OP, but knew it was a long shot to have goal followed and while frustrated as I got logs from everywhere but, I can't let myself get mad and dwell on something that I knew would probably end up disappeared.

(I actually released 2, hoping to increase the odds - other one lasted a week before disappearing from a muggled cache).

[+aka Momster]

Gave this one 2 & 1/2 years plus to achieve it's special (to me) goal..

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=941499

Clearly stated, laminated goals attached, good sized print. Set loose in CT and bummed around there for a bit. Picked up and brought to IDAHO! Bopped around there for 9 months then on to Utah & California, where it was picked up- log said to be moved to Florida ( Yippie!!!!). Instead placed? in a MICRO in Texas from which it was marked missing by the C/O. (no reply to emails sent to dropper). Maybe it was a miss drop, and will show up again, hopefully. If not, I have the logs to prove to better half (should that be CAPITALIZED? ) that I tried and maybe get a laugh!

Can empathize with the frustration of OP, but knew it was a long shot to have goal followed and while frustrated as I got logs from everywhere but, I can't let myself get mad and dwell on something that I knew would probably end up disappeared.

(I actually released 2, hoping to increase the odds - other one lasted a week before disappearing from a muggled cache).

 

Log into a cache in Jamaica, pick up some sand, then return to Connecticut before July 2010.

 

The goal may be clear, but if this TB is picked up in Texas, how is the geocacher supposed to know if it is on the to Jamaica or the to Connecticut part of its journey? But your frustration is understandable. I try to release enough travelers so that the few enjoying great journeys overshadow the ones that vaporize. Yesterday I grabbed from one of my California caches a TB dropped in New York in July 2009 with a goal of home So I am leaning towards the optimistic side of bugging right now.

[+Matt_B_Good]

So, anyone know how two users can pull a geocoin from the same cache? I was expecting to see it passed from the hands of one to another instead the record shows they both pulled it from the same cache. Huh? I emailed both users but neither one has yet replied.

[+Eartha]

One of them retrieved it, and one of them grabbed it, but I'm not sure why it shows that they grabbed it from the cache and not from the cacher who retrieved it. That could be a glitch in the system. They frequent these forums, perhaps they can come in and let you know if they have it.

You really can't expect every single cacher who moves your trackable to exactly follow its goal. If you get 3 goal logs out of 15, you're doing great.

[+BlueDeuce]

One of them retrieved it, and one of them grabbed it, but I'm not sure why it shows that they grabbed it from the cache and not from the cacher who retrieved it. That could be a glitch in the system. They frequent these forums, perhaps they can come in and let you know if they have it.

 

TB page bug?, Grabbing from cache, not holder

 

We have a plan to fix these insensible "grab" logs, hopefully for the next release.

[DannyCaffeine]

I think some people are kinda forgetful or just don't pay attention. Or mabey they think I can help it to its goal and then realise that they cannot so they decide to just put it back into circulation. In any case its better than in someone's back pocket.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I've pretty much learned to stay away from goals that can be broken. Most of the goals I set on travelkers now tend to be vague, and can't really be broken. Half the fun of travelers is to watch HOW they get where they are going, not just to see them get there. I've seen people offer to "Mail this thing to it's final destination". but the real goal if to meanter around getting there, otherwise the owner could just have done it themselves.

 

To the OP, if you tell us what traveler you're talking about, we'll all be able to share in your pain.

[+Matt_B_Good]

I've pretty much learned to stay away from goals that can be broken. Most of the goals I set on travelkers now tend to be vague, and can't really be broken. Half the fun of travelers is to watch HOW they get where they are going, not just to see them get there. I've seen people offer to "Mail this thing to it's final destination". but the real goal if to meanter around getting there, otherwise the owner could just have done it themselves.

 

To the OP, if you tell us what traveler you're talking about, we'll all be able to share in your pain.

 

I post this by saying first my apologies to the person who has my trackable if anything I said in this thread has been offensive to you. That is not my intent of the thread but not everything comes across as intended in mediated conversation. My intent is to get a better understanding of how I can get my trackables to achieve their goals and a better understanding of how the majority thinks because I always tend to be a person who thinks of things differently than others. Here is the trackable. http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.as...60-370e157ba86a

I want to note that I did add some further instruction to the trackable's page. I figured the goal was very very simple. It was to go into cemetery caches only. If the cache was not in a cemetery it was not to be placed in the cache. So far it has actually met that goal as far as the logs go but the last web log threatened to dip it in a non cemetery cache for miles. Um, why for miles? i couldn't care less about it getting alot of miles. I just want it to keep going from cemetery cache to cemetery cache. This is the traveler I was speaking of mostly but I also I wanted to know what to do in the future and with my other travelers. I just really find it annoying to have my goal completely disregarded over the assumption I want many miles on it. I must note I added the please no dipping after the fact. Had it been dipped in a micro I would not be so annoyed. However some micros this would fit into. I started it in a cache listed as micro. So far no foul but it looks like it is intended. It is clear the holder knows the goal. i have a hard time understanding then why they want to disrupt it? The idea is I wanted to look at all the places it has been and see the placement of cemeteries off of that. A non cemetery cache will kind of mess that up. I guess the main thing is it didn't vanish but it still is disappointing. perhaps the holder will listen and not dip it but wait for a cemetery cache. Then again they could listen and the next person messes it up. I guess I can't worry too much about it.

[+dfx]

It was to go into cemetery caches only. If the cache was not in a cemetery it was not to be placed in the cache. So far it has actually met that goal as far as the logs go but the last web log threatened to dip it in a non cemetery cache for miles. Um, why for miles? i couldn't care less about it getting alot of miles. I just want it to keep going from cemetery cache to cemetery cache. This is the traveler I was speaking of mostly but I also I wanted to know what to do in the future and with my other travelers. I just really find it annoying to have my goal completely disregarded over the assumption I want many miles on it. I must note I added the please no dipping after the fact. Had it been dipped in a micro I would not be so annoyed.

ok, so somebody didn't read, didn't care, couldn't be bothered, maybe misunderstood, or maybe even just tried to do something nice (yeah, most people are happy if their TB gets many miles). sorry if i appear to be blunt, but... what's the big deal? why make a big fuss about it?

[+BlueDeuce]

sorry if i appear to be blunt, but... what's the big deal? why make a big fuss about it?

 

I don't think Max is making a big fuss, sometimes you just need to come here and release the angst by commiserating with others who have had the same thing happen to their coin. Maybe share some advice to help our travelers.

 

We chat, shake our heads at the situation, and move on.

Edited March 24, 2010 by BlueDeuce

[+Matt_B_Good]

sorry if i appear to be blunt, but... what's the big deal? why make a big fuss about it?

 

I don't think Max is making a big fuss, sometimes you just need to come here and release the angst by commiserating with others who have had the same thing happen to their coin. Maybe share some advice to help our travelers.

 

We chat, shake our heads at the situation, and move on.

 

Well put

[Pajaholic]

On the other side of the coin (pun intended), sometimes you can't help the goal and you (the finder) feel like the coin owner is having a laugh at your expense.

 

Unknown to me until too late, one UK cacher released a large series of coins, each with the name 'keyword "xxx"' where "xxx" is the keyword. The goal is to only visit caches with that keyword in their name. YT picked up keyword "hall" a few weeks ago. I didn't know its goal until I got back home and looked up the traveller's page. Now there are no suitable caches to match that goal within my caching distance except for one it had already visited. So I wrote to the coin's owner to ask what he wanted me to do with the coin. I even considered naming my next cache something to further this coin's goal ... until I received the owner's reply. Apparently, by picking up the coin I'd unwittingly entered some kind of competition and it was OK for me to dump the coin in a non-compliant cache if I didn't mind minus points against my name I dumped it in a non-compliant cache a couple of weeks later.

 

To be honest, that coin has ruined the traveller aspect of caching for me. I don't mind helping travellers in their goal, but I feel as though that coin was booby trapped and I doubt that I'll pick up another traveller unless I know its goal in advance - which means that I probably won't pick up any more travellers.

 

Geoff

[+goosefraba1]

On the other side of the coin (pun intended), sometimes you can't help the goal and you (the finder) feel like the coin owner is having a laugh at your expense.

 

Unknown to me until too late, one UK cacher released a large series of coins, each with the name 'keyword "xxx"' where "xxx" is the keyword. The goal is to only visit caches with that keyword in their name. YT picked up keyword "hall" a few weeks ago. I didn't know its goal until I got back home and looked up the traveller's page. Now there are no suitable caches to match that goal within my caching distance except for one it had already visited. So I wrote to the coin's owner to ask what he wanted me to do with the coin. I even considered naming my next cache something to further this coin's goal ... until I received the owner's reply. Apparently, by picking up the coin I'd unwittingly entered some kind of competition and it was OK for me to dump the coin in a non-compliant cache if I didn't mind minus points against my name I dumped it in a non-compliant cache a couple of weeks later.

 

To be honest, that coin has ruined the traveller aspect of caching for me. I don't mind helping travellers in their goal, but I feel as though that coin was booby trapped and I doubt that I'll pick up another traveller unless I know its goal in advance - which means that I probably won't pick up any more travellers.

 

Geoff

 

Oh no... minus 3 points! Say it isn't so.... lol. That is like "who's line is it anyway". The Points Don't Matter!

 

That is really an absurd way of attempting to keep your trackable moving.

[+GeocoinGuy]

<snip>

Worst thing I've done is that I found a cache at some provincial park by a lake, and it had a TB in it that was taking up like... 90% of the cache. Took it home (several hours drive), only to realize it had been AT its destination waiting to be picked up by the cache owner.

</snip>

 

Now.... THAT's FUNNY!

 

~J

[+BlueDeuce]

On the other side of the coin (pun intended), sometimes you can't help the goal and you (the finder) feel like the coin owner is having a laugh at your expense.

 

Unknown to me until too late, one UK cacher released a large series of coins, each with the name 'keyword "xxx"' where "xxx" is the keyword. The goal is to only visit caches with that keyword in their name. YT picked up keyword "hall" a few weeks ago. I didn't know its goal until I got back home and looked up the traveller's page. Now there are no suitable caches to match that goal within my caching distance except for one it had already visited. So I wrote to the coin's owner to ask what he wanted me to do with the coin. I even considered naming my next cache something to further this coin's goal ... until I received the owner's reply. Apparently, by picking up the coin I'd unwittingly entered some kind of competition and it was OK for me to dump the coin in a non-compliant cache if I didn't mind minus points against my name I dumped it in a non-compliant cache a couple of weeks later.

 

To be honest, that coin has ruined the traveller aspect of caching for me. I don't mind helping travellers in their goal, but I feel as though that coin was booby trapped and I doubt that I'll pick up another traveller unless I know its goal in advance - which means that I probably won't pick up any more travellers.

 

Geoff

 

First of all I cache slow enough that I check the goal well in advance of visiting the cache. I also know if it's been reported as missing or at least dropped recently and likely to be there.

 

This minus-point owner is very rare. Most people, and by most I mean everyone else, want you to enjoy their coin and help it along in its journey.

 

 

edit: it's/its

Edited March 25, 2010 by BlueDeuce

[Pajaholic]

Oh no... minus 3 points! Say it isn't so.... lol. That is like "who's line is it anyway". The Points Don't Matter!

 

That is really an absurd way of attempting to keep your trackable moving.

Even though the points don't matter you (or at least I) can't help some feeling of denigration. BTW, it was minus ten, FWIW

 

However, from the tone of the owner's reply to my email, it seemed that he couldn't care less what happened to his coin but now that I'd taken it I was in his competition whether I liked it or not. My reason for moving trackables is the warm glow of self-satisfaction that I get from helping other people and imagining the pleasure the owner would get when reading my log. So that reply felt like a smack across the face with a wet kipper!

 

Geoff

[+Matt_B_Good]

Oh no... minus 3 points! Say it isn't so.... lol. That is like "who's line is it anyway". The Points Don't Matter!

 

That is really an absurd way of attempting to keep your trackable moving.

Even though the points don't matter you (or at least I) can't help some feeling of denigration. BTW, it was minus ten, FWIW

 

However, from the tone of the owner's reply to my email, it seemed that he couldn't care less what happened to his coin but now that I'd taken it I was in his competition whether I liked it or not. My reason for moving trackables is the warm glow of self-satisfaction that I get from helping other people and imagining the pleasure the owner would get when reading my log. So that reply felt like a smack across the face with a wet kipper!

 

Geoff

 

See now that is an example of an impossible goal. I one out there with a somewhat impossible goal. It is not impossible as written but had I written it exactly the way I wanted it to go it would have been unrealistic. As a grabber I always try my best to help the goal. If the trackable has a specific target that is easy. Say it wants to go to Illinois or Washington D.C., it is very easy to just move it a little closer, if say it wants to be placed in caches in public parks only, I save it until I do one in a public park. if it wants to get miles as fast as possible I move it as fast and far away as I can. One trackable with such a goal I moved a mere 2 and a half miles. But it was a very good move. The cache it was in vanished shortly after I grabbed the TB and it traveled many more miles as a result. It was on a race for miles within a certain time. It is now trapped in a TB hotel or at least I hope so and someone didn't come and steal it. it has been there for some time. I am starting to see why some people don't like TB hotels. They are just too big of a concentration of TB. I am starting to see them as more of concentration camps for TB rather than what they are intended to be and that is a place to exchange Travelers for others and if the cache itself gets stolen or destroyed all those travelers go away too. Dispersing them increases the chance for survival. I have even seen trackables vanish from a cache that is stored inside. It is the final of a two stage. I think someone treated them as trade items. Groundspeak really has to do a better job of educating people about trackables they get treated as trade items WAY too often. That is still better than them vanishing all together because there is a chance they will go back out.

[+Eartha]

Groundspeak really has to do a better job of educating people about trackables they get treated as trade items WAY too often. That is still better than them vanishing all together because there is a chance they will go back out.

 

Well. let's just see. Groundspeak has this page, right on the home site, there's a link to it, and then it has all the links to take you from Travel Bug to Geocoin.

 

Then, if you missed that and came to the forums to find out, we have this post, and it's posted in the Travel Bug and the Geocoin forums, where one might go to look.

 

But if you missed that there is this thread, where you can read answers and post questions.

 

And for good measure, there is a whole big Knowledge Book section dedicated to trackables.

 

Also, Groundspeak has sent out trackable information in the weekly newsletter, off and on, that all cachers get in their email.

 

Do you want Groundspeak to take out billboards on all the major highways, and ads in the local papers? People need to read the information provided for them. You can lead a cacher to the information, but you can't make him read it. It's up to the cacher to educate themselves, and and it's up to us, as geocachers, to educate others.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Eartha