A Wherigo "Geocache of the Week"?

[+Team Peredox]

I just started a new topic on the geocaching.com feedback site to urge TPTB to pick a Wherigo cache as their "Geocache of the Week".

 

Does this sound like a good idea to you? If so, click the link above and give it some votes. You could even suggest good Wherigo caches in the comments.

 

I don't know if Groundpseak would ever do this while they're not actively supporting Wherigo, but it couldn't hurt to show them (once again) our interest in Wherigo.

 

Thanks!

 

Jim of Team Peredox

[Ranger Fox]

I wouldn't be adverse to pinning a topic in the forum where the community chooses a Wherigo cache of the month (it might be too difficult to keep with this idea if we do this each week). Personally, though, if we do this, I'd like for someone to interview the cartridge's author (or at least come up with a set of questions for the author to answer). There's a creative process that goes on behind the scenes that I feel would be of interest. I'd like for the author to comment on the inspiration of the idea behind his/her cartridge, refinement and additions or sacrifices to that idea, how s/he translated it to Wherigo, opinions on the implementation, what the author learned from the process, what s/he would do different in retrospect, and any stories or experiences of the author watching others play the cartridge. Pictures would be nice, too.

 

If anything, this could give Groundspeak and newbies a chance to see what the community sees as a model Wherigo experience. (Better do it soon before we're hit by the Wherigo equivalent of a geocaching light pole cache!)

[+Team Peredox]

Not my original idea, but a great one! One question would be, how does a Wherigo of the Month get chosen?

 

The most favorited Wherigo cache in the US is apparently the one at Downtown Disney in Disney World by M&M Melted. That might be a good place to start. Is there a way to get all Wherigo caches in the world in one PQ? But not all Wherigos have caches. Maybe you could just have a nomination thread for people to suggest Wherigos and give reasons why it should be chosen.

 

If you need someone to do the interview and write up a monthly post, I could probably handle that, unless the discussion got too technical.

[Ranger Fox]

I was thinking of spawning one thread a month where people discuss and vote on a cartridge. The pinned thread would contain the interview and a link to the discussion (so we can keep the pinned thread clean so, in a year, people can go from looking at one interview to the other without having to scroll through the discussions). Perhaps even a few community members could get together and offer up three or four cartridges for voting and discussion.

 

Since this would be something by the community for the community, I'd suggest that, unless the cartridge is really good and creative, we really only consider cartridges made by at the very least a lurker of this or the Urwigo forum. This way, the person is readily available to discuss the cartridge and answer questions. Wherigo is so much more than a new way to do a go-here-answer-this multi-cache, so discussing the creative process is a good way to stimulate ideas and challenge the community to create even more entertaining cartridges.

 

Sure, the technology will limit what we can do at first, but that's just another challenge. The Mario games were created in the 8-bit era and look how successful the franchise has been, despite the initial technological limitations. As the Player applications and their devices become more capable--and a Wherigo API allows for connected gaming--I'm sure we'll think of even more things to do with the platform.

 

--------------

 

This is an incomplete list of things I believe can make an extraordinary Wherigo cartridge:

• It perfectly integrates the surroundings with the game, and could even work with props provided in the field.
  
• It has a compelling, original story the player can get into.
  
• It's not too long (time and distance) or at least it doesn't feel like the author is unnecessarily drawing it out.
  
• People can get the hang of how to play it fairly quickly.
  
• It does something fun no other cartridge has done before.
  
• There's a high replay value.
  
• The overall experience is somehow memorable to the player (there are things you can't control when creating the cartridge, such as what's going on in the area, who the player meets, or what the weather is).
  
• Above all else, the cartridge must be entertaining.
  

Please do note not all these conditions have to be met for a cartridge to be considered excellent, save for the last one--always the last one. For example, I'd like to say Whack-A-Lackey qualifies as a very good cartridge (I have to make an example of some cartridge here...) and all these conditions don't apply: it certainly doesn't have a story line, nor does it integrate its surroundings into the game. Some of the third party player applications even have a hard time running it. Instead, the cartridge has a high replay value, lasts long enough without giving you a heart attack, does something people hadn't seen Wherigo do before, and is entertaining, both to play and watch.

 

What else would say makes a great cartridge?

 

-----------------------------------

 

One last thing: this should not be a competition! Some people can get pretty nasty when there's a competition, so I'd like to avoid such a misconception. Anyone can present and discuss their cartridge in this forum at any time--and they're encouraged to do so. I think everyone would agree it's more fun to contribute to a discussion than to have to moderate one!