If you post for help with a puzzle cache, identify it!

[+Mom-n-Andy]

Why do people ask for help with puzzle caches but don't identify the cache listing? Please, people, tell us which cache you're talking about so we can look at it!

[Mr.Yuck]

Why do people ask for help with puzzle caches but don't identify the cache listing? Please, people, tell us which cache you're talking about so we can look at it!

 

Why do people give help to people who post for help with puzzle caches?

[+Mom-n-Andy]

Why do people ask for help with puzzle caches but don't identify the cache listing? Please, people, tell us which cache you're talking about so we can look at it!

 

Why do people give help to people who post for help with puzzle caches?

 

Just love to solve puzzles, I guess!

[GOF and Bacall]

I remember when it was considered bad form to solve puzzles in the forum. Have we devolved to the point that everyone needs to be able to log every single cache, even if they can't complete the tasks involved?

[+Mom-n-Andy]

Whether someone is asking for ideas about solving a puzzle, or just calling attention to a neat puzzle, it would just be nice to be able to see what they are talking about.

 

Occasionally someone will post something about a puzzle cache, there will be speculation, and then invariably someone will ask the OP to identify the cache. It would just be more efficient if they would just say which cache it is in the first place. And some of us like solving puzzles irregardless of whether thethe caches themselves in our local area.

[+WatchDog2020]

And some of us like solving puzzles irregardless of whether thethe caches themselves in our local area.

I think there is medication that can help with that

[+simpjkee]

Yeah I think its a bad idea to post puzzle caches in the forums. Talk about them to ask general questions, but posting specific caches and then asking for 'help' on how to solve them is bad form.

 

The next step would be to start a thread and share coords in it.

[Mr.Yuck]

Why do people ask for help with puzzle caches but don't identify the cache listing? Please, people, tell us which cache you're talking about so we can look at it!

 

Why do people give help to people who post for help with puzzle caches?

 

Just love to solve puzzles, I guess!

 

Oh, since I was the first reply, that was strictly for comedic purposes. Hope you don't get reprimanded too badly in the thread. Attitudes about giving help on puzzles do seem to have changed quite a bit around here. Basically, someone is going to blurt out a spoiler every time someone asks, it seems.

[+GeoGeeBee]

I'm a relative newbie, but I love puzzles... so here's my take on it:

 

Scenario one:

"There's a new puzzle cache in my area, and there's nothing on the page but a picture. How am I supposed to get coordinates out of that?" Then people answer with some general ways that coordinates can be hidden in a picture, and a few links to info on steganography.

 

Scenario two:

"Puzzle cache GCX#X#X was just published near me, and there's nothing on the page but a picture. How am I supposed to get coordinates out of that?" Then someone is almost certainly going to answer: "The coordinates are in the EXIF header, you can read them with this freeware package that you can download from this link."

 

In my opinion, Scenario one is Good, Scenario two is Bad.

 

In scenario one, the would-be puzzle solver learns about a few possible techniques, and tries several of them until he finds the one that works. His knowledge grows, he becomes a better puzzle solver. In scenario two, he simply follows a recipe and the answer pops out. It's no different (or at least, not much different) than if someone had simply said "the coordinates are . . . "

[+NeecesandNephews]

I agree with Mom-n-Andy, I like to look at the puzzle caches and try and solve them. I have solved several that are nowhere near me, and I do not expect to ever find them. Having the GC# would sure be helpful.

 

I also agree with GeoGeeBee, I think it is bad form to ask for the solution, or even the method for obtaining the solution.

 

Seems to me that the premise of a puzzle is to expand your thought process. It seems lately, that there has been a "shift" in the perception of what is acceptable to ask.

 

"I don't want the answer handed to me, but would you guys mind telling me how the clues are encrypted, or where it might be found so I don't have to think for myself??"

 

"Would you mind answering a question about the Guidelines so I dont have to read through more than one page to get the answer?"

 

Part of the "instant gratification with little effort" shift in society as a whole, not just on this forum. I want the smiley, but I don't want to climb the tree. I want the smiley but I dont want to sign the cache log. I want to find the cache but I dont want to have to search very hard for it. I want to solve this puzzle, but I dont want to have to search the net and then try fifteen different methods to do it.

 

Want me to sign your name in the log should I solve it and go find it?? I mean, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you.

[+Panther&Pine]

I don't think that we should be asking for help on them or getting help on them. If they are asking for specifics for that one, but maybe a general tips for working on puzzle caches might be helpful as a topic.

 

I don't see a problem with "Dude, this is an awsome/diffcult puzzle cache. You should try and solve it." Now, if only my html was better I'd link to the one I'm working on right now that is awsome (you need an Enigma machine to solve it).

[+wimseyguy]

I'm a relative newbie, but I love puzzles... so here's my take on it:

 

Scenario one:

"There's a new puzzle cache in my area, and there's nothing on the page but a picture. How am I supposed to get coordinates out of that?" Then people answer with some general ways that coordinates can be hidden in a picture, and a few links to info on steganography.

 

Scenario two:

"Puzzle cache GCX#X#X was just published near me, and there's nothing on the page but a picture. How am I supposed to get coordinates out of that?" Then someone is almost certainly going to answer: "The coordinates are in the EXIF header, you can read them with this freeware package that you can download from this link."

 

In my opinion, Scenario one is Good, Scenario two is Bad.

 

In scenario one, the would-be puzzle solver learns about a few possible techniques, and tries several of them until he finds the one that works. His knowledge grows, he becomes a better puzzle solver. In scenario two, he simply follows a recipe and the answer pops out. It's no different (or at least, not much different) than if someone had simply said "the coordinates are . . . "

 

I've been doing this for almost eight years, and I gotta agree with the so-called relative newbie.

Asking for specific help on a puzzle, including posting the GC# is bad form in these particular forums.