What we like.....What we dont like

[+Legochugglers]

As somebody relatively new to actually posting on the forums I have noticed a lot of 'angst' about what we do and dont like about types/placement of caches. It all seems to boil down to personal preference which is great, but too often this seems to degenerate into one person trying to impose their opinion on to another.

 

On this basis I thought I would start a thread where we could happily record what we like and what we dont like about cache placements and expressing our opinion accordingly. I hope this way new entrants joining the Geocaching community can read the comments and make their own judgements from a wealth of positive thoughts and views.

 

What I like...

 

- I love a good puzzle cache. A bit like a good crossword the satisfaction of working it out and the accomplishment of finding the solution is often a great feeling.

- I enjoy a multi where you have to hunt for the clues in an interesting area.

- I enjoy small series (6-8 caches) set in nice countryside (a wooded nature reserve or similar) where the kids and dog can run free.

- Any cache where the placement is at an interesting view/site of interest especially if I didnt know it existed and the cache has led me there.

 

What I dislike...

 

- Urban caches which are overlooked by houses.

- Caches placed in shopping precincts or similar with no other reason for being there.

 

I look forward to reading other peoples thoughts but please try not to challenge them. Just express what YOU like or dislike.

[+Amberel]

I try to positively encourage high quality caches by awarding coins to the best I find http://www.amberel.com/topcache.htm . I base the rating on 4 main factors:

 

The location - a great walk, a lovely view, unusual or challenging terrain, an interesting or historical place.

The hide - ingenuity, originality, humour, an informative cache page.

The container - of good size and quality, well maintained, clean and dry, with an original and interesting collection of swaps.

The WOW - a surprise, a thrill, something that takes my breath away, makes me struggle, makes me laugh, etc.

 

I prefer good use to be made of a location, i.e. not hiding a plain 35mm film can in the middle of a large wood with plenty of room for an ammo can. I prefer hides not to be trivial or samey, e.g. where you can see it from 50 feet away, or a series where every hide is base of tree, base of post. I prefer natural hides to piles of stick-o-flage.

 

I don't like caches in overlooked areas, ones near busy main roads, ones where there is a lot of rubbish around, ones in very busy locations. I mostly don't like those that have been hidden in someone's front garden, or in general where the cache is intended to titillate the cache hider more than the finder.

 

Rgds, Andy

Edited August 5, 2011 by Amberel

[+factotem]

duplicate sorry

Edited August 5, 2011 by factotem

[+factotem]

I like Geocaching .

 

I agree with Amberel but would add in particular:

 

I don't like caches too close together I like to have a walk as well.

I don't like so much camo it is more obvious than without it.

I don't like puzzle caches generally, there is an area near me that is effectively 'out of bounds'.

I don't like hints that mean you don't need a GPS.

 

What a GOM!

 

I do like natural hides.

I do like a good multi, I'd be happy to walk 5 or six miles if it is set out imaginatively.

I do like a hint to be just that.

I do like care to be taken with the coordinates.

I do like a series especially in an area that is not familiar.

 

and perhaps best of all

 

I like meeting other cachers, what a great bunch. I've not med a dud one yet!

 

Regards

David

[+Bear and Ragged]

I don't like the Too's

Too Many

Too Small

Too Close

Too little thought put into 'Where' and 'Why'

 

I like to walk.

A view is nice.

To see something 'If not for Geocaching...'

A dry log, with space. (of any size!)

[+The Waddlers]

New to this forum, but definitely got a view to what we like and don't like.

 

Amberel's got it to a t but here's some of ours;

Like a few others my hubby & I like a nice walk with lovely surroundings;

nice view is great but not essential:

we love clues but not give away's:

happy enough without a clue, which is what happens on the easy ones:

we really like to find them and don't like to give up:

we like multi's and have recently done 3:

And love it when its something very different to the norm.

 

We don't like;

caches hidden in thick brambles or hordes of nettles:

left dangled in a tree or bush that can easily fall off in the wind or knocked of by someone looking, then can't be found when you've travelled miles to get there.

 

That's it for me [:-)]

Edited August 19, 2011 by The Waddlers

[+Happy Humphrey]

we love clues but not give away's:

happy enough without a clue:

On hints; the hint is encoded so you can simply avoid reading it if you don't want to know. I'm a big fan of hints and I certainly think twice about travelling any distance to a cache with no hint. I've been annoyed and frustrated too many times by micros hidden under heavy tree cover with no hint, or where the cache owner thinks that the hide is obvious and yet there are dozens of hiding places around and the coordinates aren't very accurate.

 

Sometimes a cache is supposed to be a reasonably easy find and yet after a good search you still haven't located it. That's where the hint comes into action.

 

Let's say the first place you looked was at the foot of the only tree around. Nothing there so you continue looking, in all the hundred hiding places within thirty metres. An hour later you still haven't found it and with no hint you suspect that you're just having a bad day and leave a bit disgruntled and frustrated. Had there been a hint "at the foot of the tree" you'd spend ten minutes searching this spot thoroughly then realise that the cache has gone and don't waste any more time. You'd leave a bit sad but not frustrated and you're able to inform the cache owner the he needs to perform maintenance.

 

The other side of the coin is that you never look at the tree because GPS is pointing to some litter-filled shrubbery twenty feet away. After ten minutes struggling with nettles you find a couple of likely places but then get fed up and leave. You post a DNF suggesting that the cache is missing, and the cache owner wastes time and money coming out to check.

 

So a hint should be good enough to confirm that you probably looked in the correct place, or at least to eliminate enough places so that a methodical fingertip search isn't necessary.

Edited August 19, 2011 by Happy Humphrey

[+The Waddlers]

I know the clue is encrypted, I'm not daft. :-) I thought this was just our opinions without dissecting what we say. Come on Happy Humphrey, stick to the agenda. Tell us your likes as well as your dislikes. :-)

[+Happy Humphrey]

I know the clue is encrypted, I'm not daft. :-) I thought this was just our opinions without dissecting what we say. Come on Happy Humphrey, stick to the agenda. Tell us your likes as well as your dislikes. :-)

OK...

I like hints...

[+The Waddlers]

Good,

what else... You must have other likes.

 

I've thought of something else I like.

Finding TB's is great and sending them on as soon as we can. They sit on the shelf looking at us and bugging us, making us go out and do another cache soon. :-)

[GeekKitty]

I like hints that are not totally cryptic and allow me to find the cache when a proper search has failed - if your hint is "tree" and you are in a forest, you're doing it wrong.

 

I like Series + bonus caches, these allow you to do all or part of a walk, and provide for caching to continue, even if part of the series goes missing.

 

I like Caches that take me to places I wouldn't otherwise visit.

 

I like caches big enough for a geocoin to fit.

 

I don't like Puzzle caches

 

I don't like long multi's

 

I don't like absent or cryptic riddles for hints

 

I don't like soggy logbooks

 

I don't like it when my trackables go missing

 

J