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Is using hints considered cheating?


CPHouv

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I just started geocaching and I'm confused on the use of hints. Some hints just straight up give you the exact location of it which seems pointless and kind of bums me out that they put it there. So, is looking at them considered cheating/"stupid". Do you look at them after you can't find them or right away?

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Why would it be considered cheating if the cache owner puts them there for you to use?

 

I check the hint if I'm about to give up. That point usually comes about 20-30 minutes into the hunt. I know many people read the hint before they even reach the cache site. I think doing that takes away from the fun of the hunt, but that's their loss.

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Looking at hints is not cheating, or stupid. No more than reading the past logs to maybe help in finding the cache.

 

We usually look at the hint if we can't find the cache, to use them as they are usually intended ... to give you a hint if you can't find it. That's why they are usually encoded so you don't accidentally read them before you need them.

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I just started geocaching and I'm confused on the use of hints. Some hints just straight up give you the exact location of it which seems pointless and kind of bums me out that they put it there. So, is looking at them considered cheating/"stupid". Do you look at them after you can't find them or right away?

If you don't like caches that give an exact location, you could stick with puzzle caches or Multis, or at least select higher difficulty caches, or ones that have lots of "DNF" logs. If you enjoy a little extra challenge, don't read the hint. Sometimes it gives away an exact spot, which as you say is no good if you prefer to search a while.

 

If it seems like a cache I might get lost at, I'll often check the photo gallery and read everything, including the hint. If the hint says something like "Sorry No Hint For You", that's a hint that I should avoid that cache -- something I need to know in advance. On the other hamster, some hints are addendums to the cache description (telling you where the trail starts, for example). That's not a good way to make a "hint", but it happens.

Edited by kunarion
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YeH, as the other posters said, it is nowhere near cheating. Hints are usually used after you get going on the hunt as others have said too. There are some creative hints like "be sure to log your find" or something similar having the hint inside a sentence. For example, the word "log" would be the hint.

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No it is not cheating!! We usually have a good look for 15/20 mins and have a look at the previous logs to see if they help, then we would have a look at the hint if we still cant find it. If we are at the end of a long day and the light is fading fast, then we will use the hint to get that last cache! I have to say I would rather use the hint than miss the cache!

 

Happy caching, Nutterbees

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Sometimes I read the hint as I'm walking to the cache. The "fun" part for me is mostly the walk in the woods or the introduction to a new area. I'd just as soon find the cache quickly when I get there. OTOH, last week I was out with a caching partner and definitely a big part of the game was seeing if our combined caching skills could uncover the caches without the hint.

So it depends. But either way is OK.

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We sometimes use the hint, sometimes not. Depends on how much time we have. Occasionally, "hanging" doesn't help much when out on the logging roads and the maintenance crew have been chopping down trees around GZ. Eventually found the cache hanging at shin height.

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Sometimes I read the hint as I'm walking to the cache. The "fun" part for me is mostly the walk in the woods or the introduction to a new area. I'd just as soon find the cache quickly when I get there.

 

This is what I tend to do too. Especially since I'm likely to be on my own and the main event isn't usually the geocache.

 

Also if it's in a busy area, I feel too conspicuous if I have to spend too much time poking/looking around to find a cache.

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We are in a rural area with not that many caches other than the ones we and another cacher have placed.

For us, our hints lead towards being spoilers since we genuinely would like folks to find our caches and not go away frustrated.

All of our caches are around 1.5 / 1.5.

 

That being said, we clearly post "hint leans towards being a spoiler" so people know what they are getting into when they click.

 

For us, having a "too" descriptive hint for those who choose to view it is much better than no hint at all or those pesky "no hint needed" hints.

 

Happy Geocaching...non-cheating and guilt free! - ht

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Like the moderator said, the hints are there for you to use if you choose to. I appreciate a hint if I'm looking for a micro in a high muggle area. I always feel a little weird trying to look nonchalant when among a lot of people. I just want to get in and get out ASAP.

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Think of it this way -- I've never heard of anyone who posted a DNF rather than read the hint. As luvvinbird said, the hint is really a time saver more than anything else, especially for urban micros and in areas with really bad GPS bounce. IMHO, the explicitness of the hint should match the rating and the rating should assume the cacher will read the hint. If it's a 3 or greater difficulty find for a traditional cache, there probably shouldn't be a hint or it should be quite obtuse.

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Do you look at them after you can't find them or right away?
If it's a very busy area, I tend to look at the hint immediately. Doing so allows me to find, retrieve, and replace the cache while drawing the least attention to it. In these situations, I really don't mind spoiler hints.

 

Normally, I don't read the hint until I've searched a while and think I might not find it without a hint.

 

After I find the cache, I always read the hint before replacing it (assuming I haven't read the hint already). I do this just to make sure there's nothing wrong. For example, if I find the cache on the ground, but the hint says "eye level", then I know something's wrong. Then I know that I need to notify the cache owner.

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I find most of the hints pretty much useless. Obviously if you are looking at the hint it’s because you cannot find it.

 

One hint yesterday at a rocky cairn was simply “Rocky heart”, after ten minutes of searching at the top of a mountain in the bitter wind this really did not shed any light on where exactly the cache was hidden so we had no choice but to give up. Especially galling as we'd done a 4 mile round trip to get there.

 

I wish people would be a little bit more specific...

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