Please explain the new "Souvenirs" feature

[+BlueGerbil]

Could somebody please explain the new "Souvenirs" feature to me which was introduced with the last GC.COM update?

 

Is it something like a "Virtual GeoCoin" tied to a location which I can log, when I reach a place?

Edited October 7, 2010 by BlueGerbil

[+Team Judo-Rune IF]

Could somebody please explaint the new "Souvenirs" feature to me which was introduced with the last GC.COM update?

 

Is it something like a "Virtual GeoCoin" tied to a location which I can log, when I reach a place?

 

I'm also interrested in a better explanation than on the "About Souvenirs page".

[+Chokecherry]

From what I can glean you find a cache in the designated territory and you get a little badge for your profile. Or you use your official app and search for a cache while in the designated territory.

[Raver Dave]

From what I can glean you find a cache in the designated territory and you get a little badge for your profile. Or you use your official app and search for a cache while in the designated territory.

 

Could anyone tell me how one finds out where these zones or territory's might be?

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

Will anyone (thorugh whatever approval process is necessary) be able to create a Souvenir? Such as for an event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a state's first cache?

 

It's a cool concept, and I too would like to know more.

[+BlueGerbil]

Will anyone (thorugh whatever approval process is necessary) be able to create a Souvenir? Such as for an event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a state's first cache?

 

It's a cool concept, and I too would like to know more.

 

x2

[+Castle Mischief]

Will anyone (thorugh whatever approval process is necessary) be able to create a Souvenir? Such as for an event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a state's first cache?

 

It's a cool concept, and I too would like to know more.

 

x2

 

x3+1

Edited October 6, 2010 by Castle Mischief

[+geodarts]

It would be nice to learn more about how Groundspeak will make this a part of the game. At first glance it appears that they have been influenced by other location games - the check-ins and badges from gowalla or foursquare. Earlier this year Jeremy indicated that Groundspeak has become more aware of the power of the network and we could expect to see more developments. Perhaps this is one.

 

Will the phone apps be updated to support this feature. Since you can get a souvenir by using the app for a search it does seem to have some check-in qualities to it. ("I couldn't find the cache but I got a souvenir by being in the right area.").

 

So I am curious but I also think that if I wanted a piece of art for being in the right area I would switch to gowalla. We'll see.

Edited October 6, 2010 by mulvaney

[+EscapeFromFlatland]

We've got all these new features for trackables, how about adding a "solved it" feature for puzzle caches? I've got a dozen I've solved but haven't found and it would be great to show off that I solved them.

[+Lovejoy and Tinker]

Well instead of logging DNF's I suppose we can now say:

"Went caching in <insert location> and all I got was this souvenir icon"

[+tozainamboku]

I seems hokey to me. I think that Groundspeak is getting away from the idea of geocaching and trying to compete against the check-in sites like Foursquare and Gowalla. Geocaching was developed with people loading coordinates on standalone hand held GPS units who just want to find caches. You already get a special icon if you find a project APE cache or an Lost and Found event. Perhaps if the sovenirs were given for completing challenges (instead of challenge caches) it would make more sense.

 

If Groundspeak wants to create another check-in site, perhaps Waymarking would have been a better place to start. I could see some Waymarking categories, that are setup so if you are in the vicinity with your smartphone, you could check-in and get credit for a visit. It doesn't make any sense to me to add this to geocaching. It's probably one of those ideas they let some lackey come up with that wasn't thought through all the way.

[hoosier guy]

Well instead of logging DNF's I suppose we can now say:

"Went caching in <insert location> and all I got was this souvenir icon"

 

:-)

[MisterEFQ]

This is what I dont get:

 

There are two ways to discover a souvenir. The first is to log a geocache within the souvenir zone.

 

I get that, you find and log a cache in the zone and get a cool little picture.

 

The second is to search for a geocache using the Geocaching Application for iPhone or Android when you are within the souvenir zone.

 

So I actually have to find the cache in a zone, but the dude with the crappy smart phone can just drive to that zone, do a search and get the same picture?

 

Am I reading this wrong?

[GOF and Bacall]

Sure would be nice if someone from the lily pad would pop in here and actually explain something.

[Clan Riffster]

I think that Groundspeak is getting away from the idea of geocaching and...

Toz, you're sounding kinda Puritanical. Not judgin'... just sayin'.

[+tozainamboku]

I think that Groundspeak is getting away from the idea of geocaching and...

Toz, you're sounding kinda Puritanical. Not judgin'... just sayin'.

No. Just saying it sounds hokey to me. Just like hiding film cans under lamp post skirts may seem hokey to others. I made some comments on how I think a badge/souvenir for geocaching challenges would be a better idea, or if you wanted to do location based check-in it might fit better in the flexible Waymarking structure. I'm a bit surprised there is as much interest in this as there is, so if people are having fun collecting souvenirs (even though it's not geocaching), I'm all for letting them have fun. After all, I personally don't see what geocoin collecting has to do with geocaching, but it seems to be a big part of it for some people, and certainly a revenue raiser for Geocaching.com.

Edited October 6, 2010 by tozainamboku

[+J the Goat]

This is what I dont get:

 

There are two ways to discover a souvenir. The first is to log a geocache within the souvenir zone.

 

I get that, you find and log a cache in the zone and get a cool little picture.

 

The second is to search for a geocache using the Geocaching Application for iPhone or Android when you are within the souvenir zone.

 

So I actually have to find the cache in a zone, but the dude with the crappy smart phone can just drive to that zone, do a search and get the same picture?

 

Am I reading this wrong?

 

Good point.

[+t4e]

Sure would be nice if someone from the lily pad would pop in here and actually explain something.

 

good luck with that

 

this is the only answer i got when i asked for more details in a different thread

 

i like a mystery but as of now this whole "souvenir" thing its a secret that fails to spur my desire for them

 

Souvenirs are not just a lackey thing, or a USA thing. Due to fears of database overload, we haven't yet done retroactive awarding of them. That will come.

 

You only see USA souvenirs on my profile because that's all that I've qualified for.

 

I'd agree that more information on the souvenirs would be helpful, but the team behind them felt that the mystery would help spur desire for them.

Edited October 6, 2010 by t4e

[+Castle Mischief]

I heard the Souvenirs are drawn by 3-year-olds working in non-union sweatshops on the north poll and that when you look at them for longer than 5 minutes a subliminal message is transcribed right on to your cerebral cortex that gives you the solution to every puzzle cache in a 10 mile radius.

 

Guess I better go draft my geocide post...

[+J the Goat]

So when people armchair log a cache just to get a specific souvenir, when that log gets deleted or do they get to keep the icon.

 

I know, it's not important to anyone but the cheater, but will this increase the false logs in order to collect icons?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Sure would be nice if someone from the lily pad would pop in here and actually explain something.

 

good luck with that

 

this is the only answer i got when i asked for more details in a different thread

 

i like a mystery but as of now this whole "souvenir" thing its a secret that fails to spur my desire for them

 

Souvenirs are not just a lackey thing, or a USA thing. Due to fears of database overload, we haven't yet done retroactive awarding of them. That will come.

 

You only see USA souvenirs on my profile because that's all that I've qualified for.

 

I'd agree that more information on the souvenirs would be helpful, but the team behind them felt that the mystery would help spur desire for them.

 

Looking at Moun10Bike's profile I see that he's got 5-6 souvenirs, all of which are from a fairly small region in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Again, is this a feature that is going to be equitable for *all* geocachers, or just those that have the luxury of living within reasonable proximity of the Groundspeak HQ.

[+TerraViators]

We still don't know how to find these 'zones'

[GOF and Bacall]

Sure would be nice if someone from the lily pad would pop in here and actually explain something.

 

good luck with that

 

this is the only answer i got when i asked for more details in a different thread

 

i like a mystery but as of now this whole "souvenir" thing its a secret that fails to spur my desire for them

 

Souvenirs are not just a lackey thing, or a USA thing. Due to fears of database overload, we haven't yet done retroactive awarding of them. That will come.

 

You only see USA souvenirs on my profile because that's all that I've qualified for.

 

I'd agree that more information on the souvenirs would be helpful, but the team behind them felt that the mystery would help spur desire for them.

 

I didn't really expect anything from groundspeck. They seem to feel the less we know about what they are up to the better.

[+t4e]

We still don't know how to find these 'zones'

 

 

did you read the quote in my post above?

 

you're not supposed to know

[+t4e]

Sure would be nice if someone from the lily pad would pop in here and actually explain something.

 

good luck with that

 

this is the only answer i got when i asked for more details in a different thread

 

i like a mystery but as of now this whole "souvenir" thing its a secret that fails to spur my desire for them

 

Souvenirs are not just a lackey thing, or a USA thing. Due to fears of database overload, we haven't yet done retroactive awarding of them. That will come.

 

You only see USA souvenirs on my profile because that's all that I've qualified for.

 

I'd agree that more information on the souvenirs would be helpful, but the team behind them felt that the mystery would help spur desire for them.

 

I didn't really expect anything from groundspeck. They seem to feel the less we know about what they are up to the better.

 

actually i think they're actually enjoying keeping things secret and reading all the speculations we come up with

 

i can just see them all siting around a computer reading this thread and going "nope, that's not it" "wrong" "not even close"

Edited October 6, 2010 by t4e

[GOF and Bacall]

Sure would be nice if someone from the lily pad would pop in here and actually explain something.

 

good luck with that

 

this is the only answer i got when i asked for more details in a different thread

 

i like a mystery but as of now this whole "souvenir" thing its a secret that fails to spur my desire for them

 

Souvenirs are not just a lackey thing, or a USA thing. Due to fears of database overload, we haven't yet done retroactive awarding of them. That will come.

 

You only see USA souvenirs on my profile because that's all that I've qualified for.

 

I'd agree that more information on the souvenirs would be helpful, but the team behind them felt that the mystery would help spur desire for them.

 

I didn't really expect anything from groundspeck. They seem to feel the less we know about what they are up to the better.

 

actually i think they're actually enjoying keeping things secret and reading all the speculations we come up with

 

i can just see them all siting around a computer reading this thread and going "nope, that's not it" "wrong" "not even close"

 

It goes beyond these stupid icons. Have you noticed the lack of official participation on the feedback site? Seems the new toy status is gone from there. The closest I get to a response from GS is when a mod threatens me with banning for bashing gs. Well, perhaps if we could get a strait answer to a direct question.

[+ventura_kids]

They actually don't know how they will work.

Once they read the discussions we have, they will select the most logical method.

....and once again, they will have a new process for the masses, developed by the few.

Give that team another award !

No more changes.

[GOF and Bacall]

It would not surprise me in the least to find out that they didn't have it all figured out.

[+t4e]

 

It goes beyond these stupid icons. Have you noticed the lack of official participation on the feedback site? Seems the new toy status is gone from there. The closest I get to a response from GS is when a mod threatens me with banning for bashing gs. Well, perhaps if we could get a strait answer to a direct question.

 

i haven't been on the feedback for ages, only popped over to post different time out messages in one of the threads about the new forum software, which apparently is planned woohoo for the last 2 years i guess

 

btw i replied to your PM but i had to send it to the Sock since it said that GOF & Bacall doesn't exist

 

and i guess we should get back on topic before the kindergarten mode kicks in and we're told to get back to it

[GOF and Bacall]

 

It goes beyond these stupid icons. Have you noticed the lack of official participation on the feedback site? Seems the new toy status is gone from there. The closest I get to a response from GS is when a mod threatens me with banning for bashing gs. Well, perhaps if we could get a strait answer to a direct question.

 

i haven't been on the feedback for ages, only popped over to post different time out messages in one of the threads about the new forum software, which apparently is planned woohoo for the last 2 years i guess

 

btw i replied to your PM but i had to send it to the Sock since it said that GOF & Bacall doesn't exist

 

and i guess we should get back on topic before the kindergarten mode kicks in and we're told to get back to it

 

Yeah. It is just about that time. It's so hard to stay on topic when the topic is asking gs to reply and we know that it is so unlikely to happen.

 

Don't worry, mod staff, I will leave this topic for the rest of the day.

[+Lil Devil]

They actually don't know how they will work.

Once they read the discussions we have, they will select the most logical method.

....and once again, they will have a new process for the masses, developed by the few.

Give that team another award !

No more changes.

I think this is the most likely scenario.

[+sbell111]

This is what I dont get:

 

There are two ways to discover a souvenir. The first is to log a geocache within the souvenir zone.

 

I get that, you find and log a cache in the zone and get a cool little picture.

 

The second is to search for a geocache using the Geocaching Application for iPhone or Android when you are within the souvenir zone.

 

So I actually have to find the cache in a zone, but the dude with the crappy smart phone can just drive to that zone, do a search and get the same picture?

 

Am I reading this wrong?

As I understand it, the souvenir is for geocaching in a certain area. searching, but not finding is part of geocaching, so they get credit. However, they couldn't simply give credit for posting a DNF because that would make it too easy for someone to rack up souvenirs from their couch.

... I made some comments on how I think a badge/souvenir for geocaching challenges would be a better idea, ...

I suspect that they will create (or allow one to be created) a souvi for certain geocaching challenges.

Looking at Moun10Bike's profile I see that he's got 5-6 souvenirs, all of which are from a fairly small region in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Again, is this a feature that is going to be equitable for *all* geocachers, or just those that have the luxury of living within reasonable proximity of the Groundspeak HQ.

I have no doubt that they will create zones for just about everywhere. That way, if you cache in a new state/region, you'll earn a souvi.

[+tozainamboku]

This is what I dont get:

 

There are two ways to discover a souvenir. The first is to log a geocache within the souvenir zone.

 

I get that, you find and log a cache in the zone and get a cool little picture.

 

The second is to search for a geocache using the Geocaching Application for iPhone or Android when you are within the souvenir zone.

 

So I actually have to find the cache in a zone, but the dude with the crappy smart phone can just drive to that zone, do a search and get the same picture?

 

Am I reading this wrong?

As I understand it, the souvenir is for geocaching in a certain area. searching, but not finding is part of geocaching, so they get credit. However, they couldn't simply give credit for posting a DNF because that would make it too easy for someone to rack up souvenirs from their couch.

I would delete a bogus DNF log as quickly as bogus find log. For some (who define a bogus find as "did not sign physical log") it may be hard to define/determine what a bogus DNF is. If someone logged DNFs in every state/country that had a souvenir on the same day, you might consider these to be bogus logs. Certainly if the "bot" were to start logging DNFs, I would delete them.

[Skippermark]

Looking at Moun10Bike's profile I see that he's got 5-6 souvenirs, all of which are from a fairly small region in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Again, is this a feature that is going to be equitable for *all* geocachers, or just those that have the luxury of living within reasonable proximity of the Groundspeak HQ.

I would imagine so. I think it was in this thread that Nate mentioned be sure to go caching on 10-10-10, which means that something special might happen that day, either at a 10-10-10 event or just "somewhere."

 

I think Moun10Bike's post also mentioned that things will eventually be "retroactive," which might include special events like older GeoWoodstocks, Coin Fests and things.

 

Of course, this is all just a guess on my part, but it would seem likely.

[Skippermark]

They actually don't know how they will work.

Once they read the discussions we have, they will select the most logical method.

....and once again, they will have a new process for the masses, developed by the few.

Give that team another award !

No more changes.

Maybe if you do some caches in the desert, you'll get a special souvenir. That would be kinda cool, no?

Edited October 6, 2010 by Skippermark

[jholly]

So when people armchair log a cache just to get a specific souvenir, when that log gets deleted or do they get to keep the icon.

 

I know, it's not important to anyone but the cheater, but will this increase the false logs in order to collect icons?

Hmmm, I wonder if our friendly logging bot will craft a test case for that one.

[+Chokecherry]

I really want to get excited about it but I just can't muster the excitement. Feels too much like a facebook game or iphone app. I like geocaching because I just get my smiley and move on with life. That's my goal. It's simple. I don't have status stuff cluttering up my profile. Just my smilies.

[+ZeLonewolf]

Without even knowing the details of this, it already sounds fun. Of course, I am a stats junkie, so take that with a grain of salt!

[+GATOULIS]

Hmm.... can I ask something? If there is a souvenir zone near us... but we already found all the caches there?? do we get a souvenir or not??

[knowschad]

I really want to get excited about it but I just can't muster the excitement. Feels too much like a facebook game or iphone app. I like geocaching because I just get my smiley and move on with life. That's my goal. It's simple. I don't have status stuff cluttering up my profile. Just my smilies.

Just for you:

 

[AZcachemeister]

I seems hokey to me. I think that Groundspeak is getting away from the idea of geocaching and trying to compete against the check-in sites like Foursquare and Gowalla. Geocaching was developed with people loading coordinates on standalone hand held GPS units who just want to find caches. You already get a special icon if you find a project APE cache or an Lost and Found event. Perhaps if the sovenirs were given for completing challenges (instead of challenge caches) it would make more sense.

 

If Groundspeak wants to create another check-in site, perhaps Waymarking would have been a better place to start. I could see some Waymarking categories, that are setup so if you are in the vicinity with your smartphone, you could check-in and get credit for a visit. It doesn't make any sense to me to add this to geocaching. It's probably one of those ideas they let some lackey come up with that wasn't thought through all the way.

 

PURITAN!

 

I like many flavors of ice-cream.

If you don't like chocolate, try strawberry!

[+ihorn]

I really want to get excited about it but I just can't muster the excitement. Feels too much like a facebook game or iphone app. I like geocaching because I just get my smiley and move on with life. That's my goal. It's simple. I don't have status stuff cluttering up my profile. Just my smilies.

Just for you:

 

 

I only see 5 smileys. Am I missing any?

[+releasethedogs]

[edited by admin]

Edited October 9, 2010 by MissJenn

[+hydnsek]

I look forward to them being made retroactive, as I qualify for several on that list, but my Souvenir page shows none so far.

[+JeeperMTJ]

I'd agree that more information on the souvenirs would be helpful, but the team behind them felt that the mystery would help spur desire for them.

 

Correct.

 

This "mysterious" introduction just annoys users.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I really want to get excited about it but I just can't muster the excitement. Feels too much like a facebook game or iphone app. I like geocaching because I just get my smiley and move on with life. That's my goal. It's simple. I don't have status stuff cluttering up my profile. Just my smilies.

 

I am just the opposite. I don't care about the smileys but always can't wait to update my profile page when I find my first cache in a new State or Country so that I can color in another spot on the map. I've always liked coloring in new states/countries on the maps in my profile but I pretty much stopped caring about smilies when I reached the 1000 finds milestone.

 

For other social media games like Gowalla souvenirs are often awarded for visiting new areas but also when a certain milestone numbers are reached. Frankly, I hope that number based souvenirs are *not* made available (unless it's date related like a 10-10-10 event).

[+NYPaddleCacher]

here is a list of the souvenirs I could find

 

01 http://www.geocaching.com/souvenir/default.aspx?id=01

 

...

 

I was going ask how you found these but see that using the URL above and changing the id will reveal which id numbers are "taken".

 

It's nice to see some non-US zones in the list but it's still very much US centric with a disproportate number of souvenirs within close proximity to Groundspeak HQ. However, like other forms of collecting, obtaining the rare souvenirs might be the goal for many rather than trying to collect a lot of them.

 

Also note that the Souvenirs have multiple creators, some are made by Groundspeak and other appear to be made by users.

 

What that implies to me is that any of us could potentially visit an area where a zone does not exist, submit some artwork which represents that zone, and not only get a copy of the souvenir we've created, but make it available for others that have visited that zone. For example, when I visit Beijing at the end of the month I could take lots of photos and use photoshop to create an interesting collage and submit it as a souvenir for Beijing. That sounds to me like it could be a interesting sub-game.

[+ZeLonewolf]

Has anyone actually gotten one of the state-based souvenirs yet? I've logged a couple of caches since the site update and haven't seen anything show up yet. Do you get some kind of notification when you get it or does it just silently show up on your profile?

[+releasethedogs]

Dear Groundspeak,

 

You may use these as a souvenir, just credit me.

 

Your welcome!

 

Respectfully,

Releasethedogs

 

P.s. Yes, I made these images from scratch. The Photos I took my self.

Want me to tweek it a bit, just ask.

Edited October 7, 2010 by releasethedogs

[+sbell111]

This is what I dont get:

 

There are two ways to discover a souvenir. The first is to log a geocache within the souvenir zone.

 

I get that, you find and log a cache in the zone and get a cool little picture.

 

The second is to search for a geocache using the Geocaching Application for iPhone or Android when you are within the souvenir zone.

 

So I actually have to find the cache in a zone, but the dude with the crappy smart phone can just drive to that zone, do a search and get the same picture?

 

Am I reading this wrong?

As I understand it, the souvenir is for geocaching in a certain area. searching, but not finding is part of geocaching, so they get credit. However, they couldn't simply give credit for posting a DNF because that would make it too easy for someone to rack up souvenirs from their couch.

I would delete a bogus DNF log as quickly as bogus find log. For some (who define a bogus find as "did not sign physical log") it may be hard to define/determine what a bogus DNF is. If someone logged DNFs in every state/country that had a souvenir on the same day, you might consider these to be bogus logs. Certainly if the "bot" were to start logging DNFs, I would delete them.

What a hassle it would become to research whether DNFs were bogus. No matter how diligent you were, there would be many that you simply wouldn't be able to tell whether they were accurate, or not.

 

TPTB's solution avoids this drama.

Edited October 7, 2010 by sbell111