neener-neener-neener I have 5 favorites.

[JohnX]

I looked at the caches I have left in the field and noticed one of them has 5 favorites. I was all self satisfied for the next 10 pages of listings until I saw some jerk has a cache with 8 favorites on the 11th page. Can you pay people to flag your cache as a favorite?

[+Too Tall John]

Sure you can. Best method of payment would be putting out an awesome cache.

 

One of mine has 17, BTW. neener-neener-neener

 

Edited April 22, 2011 by Too Tall John

[+KBfamily]

I have 42 caches out there....many with favorites....one with 20, one with 11, one with 9, etc.....does that make me a "jerk"?

[AZcachemeister]

My top five favorited OWNED caches have 35, 31, 27, 13, and 12.

That's 118 right there.

[+KBfamily]

My top five favorited OWNED caches have 35, 31, 27, 13, and 12.

That's 118 right there.

 

So, does that make you a "jerk"?

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Sure you can. Best method of payment would be putting out an awesome cache PayPal to Sax's account.

 

One of mine has 17, BTW. neener-neener-neener

 

FTFY

[+bflentje]

I have a cache with 21 favorites, and several caches with nearly a dozen favorites. And not only have I NEVER paid anyone off, I DON'T beg for favorites either. I am a jerk.

[+A & J Tooling]

$50 and I'll add yours as a favorite. I'm not proud.

[GOF and Bacall]

$50 and I'll add yours as a favorite. I'm not proud.

 

For $50 I'll favorite an average cache. But I don't think I could bring myself to favorite stinker. At least not for considerably more.

[+webscouter.]

I looked at the caches I have left in the field and noticed one of them has 5 favorites. I was all self satisfied for the next 10 pages of listings until I saw some jerk has a cache with 8 favorites on the 11th page. Can you pay people to flag your cache as a favorite?

 

I'm a jerk,

 

78,31,20,9,8,6,1,0 for my active caches.

Edited April 22, 2011 by webscouter.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I have a cache with 21 favorites, and several caches with nearly a dozen favorites. And not only have I NEVER paid anyone off, I DON'T beg for favorites either. I am a jerk.

 

There's only one cache within 50 miles of me that has more than 12 favorites (The Spot, GC39 with 96). Does that mean that there are fewer cache owners that are jerks, or that the quality of caches is lower than in places with many caches with a higher number of favorites? No, it just means that there few cachers within 50 miles of me that are awarding favorites than there are in more densely populated areas with a much larger number of geocachers. A smaller local geocacher population, means that, in general, caches will have fewer number of finds. Since favorite points can only be awarded to caches one has found, caches in sparsely populated areas will have fewer favorites than caches in densely populated areas. It makes no sense to compare the number of favorites on a cache in one area with the number of favorites on a cache in a different area.

[mresoteric]

I don't know that bragging about one's favorited caches makes him or her look very good.

 

Doesn't creating a thread that draws attention to your cache and inadvertently causes other people that normally would not draw that attention to their caches make it worse?

Edited April 22, 2011 by mresoteric

[+roziecakes]

I think it's fine to brag about your favorites! A lot of my caches don't get found very often, so I'm glad that they have the amount of favorites that they do. While I live close to a quite saturated cache area (Eugene), most of my hides are either here in Junction City or out in the sticks (I even have one that's called 'Out in the sticks') but I am proud of my favorites on my first earthcache: http://coord.info/GC2AM14 because I went to a lot of effort to get permission for that one, and spent a lot of gas money driving back and forth between there and here; plus I love the place and I love bringing people there.

[Clan Riffster]

Slightly off topic:

I am a fan of favorites points, for the most part, as I feel they generally point toward the types of caches I prefer. However, what I look at is not the total number of points a cache has. Rather, I look at what percentage of premium members, who have found the cache, have given it a favorite point. For instance, looking at all the caches in Florida, sorted by favorite points, one might think that the Magic Kingdom virtual was the greatest thing since sliced bread, as it has 179 points. But it's percentage is only 8%. By scrolling down a bit further, I see the Florida Geocac Benchmark Project traditional cache, which has 56 points, at 15% of finders. Scroll down a bit further, and I see M&M-183 Wherigo Wherican't Downtown Disney Wherigo cache, which has 41 points at 27% of finders. I have found all three of these caches, and my highly biased caching aesthetics matches perfectly with the curve I see there. I started looking at caches that I have not found, so I could plan future trips, and discovered one with a relatively low number of points, but 100% of premium members that found it gave it a favorite point. To me, that equals a must do cache.

[+tozainamboku]

Slightly off topic:

I am a fan of favorites points, for the most part, as I feel they generally point toward the types of caches I prefer. However, what I look at is not the total number of points a cache has. Rather, I look at what percentage of premium members, who have found the cache, have given it a favorite point. For instance, looking at all the caches in Florida, sorted by favorite points, one might think that the Magic Kingdom virtual was the greatest thing since sliced bread, as it has 179 points. But it's percentage is only 8%. By scrolling down a bit further, I see the Florida Geocac Benchmark Project traditional cache, which has 56 points, at 15% of finders. Scroll down a bit further, and I see M&M-183 Wherigo Wherican't Downtown Disney Wherigo cache, which has 41 points at 27% of finders. I have found all three of these caches, and my highly biased caching aesthetics matches perfectly with the curve I see there. I started looking at caches that I have not found, so I could plan future trips, and discovered one with a relatively low number of points, but 100% of premium members that found it gave it a favorite point. To me, that equals a must do cache.

You're making some pretty wild assumptions. They may be true in your case, but the won't generally be true for all cachers.

 

First you are assuming that all premium members generally like the same caches you like, so they would be be likely to award their favorite points to the caches you like. Second you are assuming the caches with large numbers of finders (particularly those that have been around for a while) are ones you are less likely to enjoy. These caches will generally have higher favorite counts but lower ratios (as some premium members who found these long ago may not have gone back to award a favorite point or they may attract premium members who aren't using favorite points). Lastly, you assume the a cache with few finders, but with a high ratio favorite votes to premium finders are caches you are likely to enjoy. I suspect that Clan Riffster may see some correlation here. A cache that in in a hard to get to locations (like in an alligator infested swamp) will have very few finders. Those who do find this cache probably picked because they like finding such caches. Ergo, the ratio of favorites to premium finders will be high. We already know that Clan Riffister likes such caches. My guess,however, is that most geocachers would avoid these caches. So the using the ratio does help them. There may be other types of caches, for example tough puzzles, that attract only a few cachers who like that particular style, where Clan Riffster might want to avoid these same caches. He may find that the ratio of favorites to premium finders does not work so well for him on these caches.

 

Favorites provide a good tool to use in conjunction with other methods for selecting caches. Looking at the cache type, terrain, difficulty, and (for Riffster) size and selecting the caches you would like to find base on these is probably more helpful. Looking at the cache pages (the gallery and logs in particular) can often give a better feel for what caches you might enjoy.

 

A favorite vote means that a premium member who found the cache though it was among the top 10% of the caches they had found. By looking at who favorited a cache you may get a feel for which cachers like the same sort of caches you like. Then you can look a their favorites list for suggestions. For me, the absolute count say that many premium members thought the cache was in the top 10%, so it is more likely that someone with similar taste to mine liked the cache. It is clear however that not every premium member likes the same caches I do. A park and grab with a high number of favorites, may be better than average and one that I would prefer finding if I had to select among the park and grabs in an area I am visiting. But if I really want to go hiking and perhaps find a secluded spot, I'd likely use another method for selecting the cache I will hunt.

[4wheelin_fool]

I'm a complete jerk. I've been toying with the idea to archive all of my caches that do not have any favorites.

[+mtn-man]

Ironically, I've noticed an interesting trend on mine. My top seven are virtual caches. The top three are my Washington DC virtuals with 101, 85 and 62. Number 8 is my traveling cache, the very first one put out. Number 9 is a traditional, but number 10 and 11 once again are virtual caches. Of my top 11 favorited by others, 9 are virtual caches.

 

I just thought it was an interesting trend.

[+tozainamboku]

Ironically, I've noticed an interesting trend on mine. My top seven are virtual caches. The top three are my Washington DC virtuals with 101, 85 and 62. Number 8 is my traveling cache, the very first one put out. Number 9 is a traditional, but number 10 and 11 once again are virtual caches. Of my top 11 favorited by others, 9 are virtual caches.

 

I just thought it was an interesting trend.

Not surprising. Virtual caches are sought out by people who like virtual caches. Cachers who prefer to find a container probably skip them. However, this group is much bigger than those who like higher terrain or high difficulty. Some virtual are also in high tourist spots. So visitor from out of town may be in the area as tourists and see there is a cache to find here. If they happen to enjoy virtuals as well they may give it a favorite vote.

 

Now the ratios on vituals are not always that high. This is likely because virtual caches are older and some premium members who found them haven't awarded favorite points to older caches. Also to get a favorite point, a virtual has to have a "wow" factor. Not all the visitors will find every virtual to be "wow". I suspect that if you look you will find that different people will have a awarded the favorite points on your virtuals. Some may favorite many virtuals and some only a few. Depends on what they think is "wow".

[+Chrysalides]

Sure you can. Best method of payment would be putting out an awesome cache PayPal to Sax's account.

 

One of mine has 17, BTW. neener-neener-neener

 

FTFY

Don't pay Sax until you've spoken to our customer reps. We'll beat whatever price he's offering.

[+bflentje]

I have a cache with 21 favorites, and several caches with nearly a dozen favorites. And not only have I NEVER paid anyone off, I DON'T beg for favorites either. I am a jerk.

 

There's only one cache within 50 miles of me that has more than 12 favorites (The Spot, GC39 with 96). Does that mean that there are fewer cache owners that are jerks, or that the quality of caches is lower than in places with many caches with a higher number of favorites? No, it just means that there few cachers within 50 miles of me that are awarding favorites than there are in more densely populated areas with a much larger number of geocachers. A smaller local geocacher population, means that, in general, caches will have fewer number of finds. Since favorite points can only be awarded to caches one has found, caches in sparsely populated areas will have fewer favorites than caches in densely populated areas. It makes no sense to compare the number of favorites on a cache in one area with the number of favorites on a cache in a different area.

 

I found The Spot last year. One heck of a hike.

[+bflentje]

I think it's fine to brag about your favorites! A lot of my caches don't get found very often, so I'm glad that they have the amount of favorites that they do. While I live close to a quite saturated cache area (Eugene), most of my hides are either here in Junction City or out in the sticks (I even have one that's called 'Out in the sticks') but I am proud of my favorites on my first earthcache: http://coord.info/GC2AM14 because I went to a lot of effort to get permission for that one, and spent a lot of gas money driving back and forth between there and here; plus I love the place and I love bringing people there.

 

I don't like braggerts but talking proudly of one's cache is fine if it's done tastefully. Begging for favorites though is pathetic.

[AZcachemeister]

My top five favorited OWNED caches have 35, 31, 27, 13, and 12.

That's 118 right there.

 

So, does that make you a "jerk"?

 

No

I was a jerk long before there were favorite points.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Sure you can. Best method of payment would be putting out an awesome cache PayPal to Sax's account.

 

One of mine has 17, BTW. neener-neener-neener

 

FTFY

Don't pay Sax until you've spoken to our customer reps. We'll beat whatever price he's offering.

I have a better multi-sock-puppet discount though.

[Clan Riffster]

You're making some pretty wild assumptions.

Uh... No. Not really. What I'm observing is a trend that, so far, matches what I have already pointed out to be a highly biased caching aesthetic. A cache with a bunch of favorite points won't, necessarily hold much interest for me. But a cache with a high percentage of finders awarding it points could very well be one I enjoy. So far, my method has worked great. If it ever fails, I will let you know, so you can expend a few gazillion pixels telling me "I told you so!".

[+DazeDnFamily]

LOL Well, if it's any consolation, soon as I read this, I had to go look through our hides. We have 13 total hides (8 traditional and a Earthcache are active), and only one has been favorited. (Not to brag, but it's the one I had the most input on the hide.....LOL) A lot of ours are fairly straight forward P&G's. The stat I honestly take more pride in is that it has 24 finds, and 10 DNF's (that have been logged.... ). It's a 4.5 difficulty, and from the feedback we've gotten, that rating is appropriate. And, to everyone who does DNF it, blame Erik (our reviewer...Just kidding Erik. I now know why....). He made us move it from the original, and -far- easier place we intended to put it, because there were like 4 stages of multi's within like 50 feet of it. After we did the multi's, and had the waypoints logged, I found a better place. BWAHAA!!!!!

 

Later!

[+StarBrand]

Ironically, I've noticed an interesting trend on mine. My top seven are virtual caches. The top three are my Washington DC virtuals with 101, 85 and 62. Number 8 is my traveling cache, the very first one put out. Number 9 is a traditional, but number 10 and 11 once again are virtual caches. Of my top 11 favorited by others, 9 are virtual caches.

 

I just thought it was an interesting trend.

By far and away - my most Favorited cache is also a virtual with 20. Ironically - my 2nd most Favorited is a traditional about 10 miles away with 9. My only other virtual has zero - but gets very wonderful logs and comments. Go figure.....