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Favorites - How many you got to give?


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Just out of curiosity, how many favorite points have you got left to give?

 

I have 86. It is rare that I give out favorite points. I have a hunch that a lot of folks hand them out like candy. And yeah, I know it is a subjective thing and everyone plays differently but I'm just wondering if people, like me, save them up for really special caches or, unlike me, give them out until they have no more left to give?

 

I mean...you can't take them with you...maybe I shouldn't be so stingy with them...

 

On the other hand, when I'm searching for caches I want to find, I do look at the number of favorites as an indicator of a quality cache, especially when I'm caching while out of my hometown area.

 

Now that the ability to favorite a cache has been in use for some time, how is everyone feeling about them? Do you like them? Do you ignore them? Do they impact your caching in any way?

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I give them to the caches that I would want to bring other people to. I have 70 points left to give.

What I don't get is the people who give points for reasons other then the cache. The oldest cache in the state, a simple box in the brush, has 60+ points. The cache 550' away, also a simple box but at a cool item, has 2.

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I think I have about 3 spare right now...of course, I only have 159 finds so far. I tend to give out favorites pretty liberally, I guess. It doesn't have to be some spectacular, once in a lifetime cache...if it epitomizes (in my opinion) what a good, quality cache should be, if it shows that the CO put a little thought into it, I'm likely to give it a favorite point. Usually my criteria centers around location...bring me to a historic location, with a decent write-up about the history of the place, almost guaranteed I'll favorite it, because that's my favorite type of cache.

 

I have one cache in particular that I DNF'd a few months ago (cache later confirmed to be missing) that I'm dying to get back to, just because I'd like to give it a favorite point. I would have given it a point even after not finding it, if that were allowed, just because I loved the location.

 

I do find that lately I've been referring to Favorite stats when planning a caching trip....if I'm in a new area where I'm unlikely to visit again, I'll make sure to select several well-Favorited caches from my PQ. For example, we're going to Plano Tx this weekend to visit my wife's sisters...we don't go up there often and it'll probably be awhile before we go back, and I'll most likely have very limited time for caching (don't want to be rude, after all) so I'll make sure to select mostly "quality" caches while I'm there (based on Favorite points)

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I have given out 29 and still have 63 left. I give them out for caches I think others might enjoy.

 

I have found, if I am looking at local caches, I can check to see who has favored it. There are some cachers who seem to like the same ones I do. If I see they were the ones who favored a cache, I usually will like that cache also.

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I had 280 something when this started and I went back through my finds database and handed out a bunch of them to caches I had liked. I have 67 left right now and the number has been staying fairly constant. I tend to give one every time I find a real ammo can cache.

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590 finds, and 23 favs remaining. When these came out, I went back through my finds and faved only those that were memorable; either from being clever, high-quality, great location, found with the family, a couple found while trying to outrun weather (and that's Kansas weather! ;) ), and maybe a couple that for some reason just stuck in my mind. As for selecting caches to find, I generally ignore favs and they have little affect on my caching.

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I started with 41 favorite points and have 13 left. I went back and awarded points to many caches I had found before the points came out. Now I kind of go day by day. I pick out my favorite cache after a day of caching and unless all the caches were YUK I award a point. One that makes me go awe upon finding it gets a point. Just a way of saying thank you to the CO. :D

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I try to do caches I'll like to start with. So I have 6 favorite votes left. I give them to the caches that I really enjoyed a lot. Since I tend to do a lot of caches that I enjoy with some "eh" ones thrown in for good measure I tend to use my favorite points. But I like to keep a few on hand in case I want to use some.

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I have 488 total point with 96 left to give. I went through all of my finds and gave a point to every cache that I really enjoyed for whatever reason. Since I did that, my points have stayed right around 100. I guess that means that I give one to 1 out of 10 caches. My last one I gave out was for the Wherigo that I FTFd the other day. It was the best one I had done out of 20+ Wherigo caches.

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I recently ran out of favorite votes. The problem was I kept making it a priority to visit highly rated caches and well, they were usually good! So, I ended up giving a lot of them favorite votes. The bottom line is if I really like a hide, I won't hesitate to favorite it. I just think folks that hide quality caches should be rewarded for doing so. Indeed, a happy hider will usually hide more caches! I do keep a separate bookmark list for hides that I think are SPECTACULAR! I only typically put a cache on the list if it's one I'd just love to go find a second time.

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When the favorites first came out I went back through all my finds, including archived caches, and used half my initial favorite supply. Since then I've tried to keep to the same standards for favorites and my percentage remains at 5%. .... 201 awarded and 201 in the bank.

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What I don't get is the people who give points for reasons other then the cache. The oldest cache in the state, a simple box in the brush, has 60+ points. The cache 550' away, also a simple box but at a cool item, has 2.

 

A favorite is just that, a "favorite" I "favorite" all my FTFs. Since I don't have that many, they still get me excited. Sometimes it's the location. I found a simple file canister (yuck!) but it was in a location that brought me to a wonderful view of Devils Tower in Wyoming. I have favorited a couple caches where I saw some amazing wildlife in a spectacular area. In my opinion, if the cache makes you get a rush, it's "favorite" worthy. Whether or not you award one is up to you.

 

 

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I am up to 780 now...beat that.

1002-so there! :anitongue:

I need to give 2 away, I like keeping an even 1000 in the bank just in case.

 

When they first came out I went through my 2% solution BM list and faved all of those that were still active, and even a few that were archived. Now I pass them out whenever a cache makes me smile more than the average cache. I found a mini flashlight as a container under a LPC and gave it one a while back.

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I have 25 favorites... 428 finds... So I guess that means I have only 17-18 to give. But I give them out sparingly too, in my opinion. I favorite the ones that have left me with memories... Liek a cache that took me 5 hours and four visits to find. :)

That's how I award them, too. A simple cache in a newspaper box eluded me time and time again until I finally got it. To me it was definitely deserving of a favorite point as it was one of the toughest caches I've done. Anybody else would have found it in a jiffy but I still chuckle when I recall how it defeated me. In this case, the term "favorite" may mean "most challenging" and it may also mean "most scenic", "cleverest", etc, in other cases.

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I like to give them to any cache that made my day of caching worth the gas money. We were caching on vacation and got really torn up by cactus, poison ivy, thorny vines, and stinging nettles...not to mention the abundance of bugs because it was a coastal swampy region. We could not believe how harsh the conditions were with terrain rating of 1 or 1.5. Anyway, when we got to an ammo can that we were able to reach where no one was injured in locating it we were so happy and delighted it got a fav and we filled it up with swag.

 

The rest of our favs go to places we will go to again just because we liked the location so much or because the hide or container was so clever we would take our geocaching friends there.

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I've become reluctant to give out favorite points right when I'm logging my finds, because I've found that my tendency to give them out somewhat depends on my current state of mind (i.e. how many beers I've had). Instead what I'm doing is, every now and then I go through the list of my recent finds and give a point to those that I still remember as standing out. I still have too many points left though, never seems to go below 220 or so...

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I've become reluctant to give out favorite points right when I'm logging my finds, because I've found that my tendency to give them out somewhat depends on my current state of mind (i.e. how many beers I've had). Instead what I'm doing is, every now and then I go through the list of my recent finds and give a point to those that I still remember as standing out.
I generally do the same thing. Occasionally, there's a cache that really stands out, that I assign a Favorites point to immediately. But generally, I hold off for a while, reviewing my recent finds every now and then to see which ones still stand out in my mind.
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1172 finds. 118 total favorite points. 18 favorite points left.

 

When giving a favorite point I ask myself if I would recommend the geocache to other cachers. I would not give a favorite point to a cache that was simply a milestone for me (my first find, my 1000th find, a FTF) unless it had some other redeeming factor that made it recommendable.

 

If I take someone caching for the very first time and the first cache we find is a plastic fruit jar under a rock in a small woodlot in a municipal park, I would consider it a decent average cache. But not worthy of a favorite point even if it was special to me because it was the cache with which I introduced someone to caching. If that first cache were an ammo can in a woodlot hooked up with a rope and pulley system in a big old dead hollow tree, that would definitely get a fav vote.

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I like giving them to the really good ones that deserve it.

 

since they started the system I went back and put points on the memorable ones from the past, before the system was started. Anything worthy of being remembered got one.

 

Now I only give them if it's really special. A great location, a good multi that takes me to good places, interesting containers, anything that the owner put that extra effort into. Most water caches get them. Not all.

 

I'm glad I had some left recently. I went through a period where I was hitting some really great ones for vacation. For a while I was giving almost every cache I found a point, because I was traveling and getting all the good ones. I was really glad to have them available. That being said, I was surprised to find out I've only given out 37. I've got 103 available.

I like to have some on hand for times when I travel and hit a lot of good ones.

 

Recently we had a local event where we went boat caching as a group. It was a blast.

The caches that are only reachable by water provide difficulties when the cache owner has to do maintenance. And those caches sometimes need more maintenance than regular caches.

It makes such a rewarding experience to go boat caching, I usually give favorite points to every one. But they are all my favorites because it is always such a fantastic experience getting out there and boat caching.

 

There was only one cache on the recent trip that didn't get a favorite point.

That cache was deliberately placed over a large red ant hill. There was no way to get the cache without becoming covered with ants.

The funny things was that by the time I got to the cache, my arms and legs were burning badly from the stinging nettles I had to go through, and then they were scratched by the berry bushes I went though. By the time I got bit by the ants I couldn't even feel it. Later when things started to heal up, I could see that I was indeed covered with bites. That one did not get a favorite. Good story, bad cache. :anitongue::laughing:

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I admit, if its a cache I need for a challenge (ie the 2000 ones), I have a higher anticipation of finding it and thus, likely will enjoy it more. Thus, they might get more favorite points.

 

I imagine folks who do power trails have more favorite points left than others and conversely folks who focus on long hike, boat caches or mountain climbs, probably have less.

 

A favorite point could be the puzzle itself, it could be due to the challenge itself (ie Delorme, not the new way), or the hide, or the memory of something happening. Lots of reasons one can favorite a cache, or conversely, not give it.

 

I have like 185 points still not awarded, I think I am a bit stingy sometimes but 10% is a lot of cache points to use.

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I have zero remaining and it stayed constant since the beginning of the favourite system. I do not mind this situation - I am not eager to assign favourite points to caches anyway.

Nevertheless I am asking myself if giving out favourite points only to PM does fit to the community point of view some cachers throw on favourites. If one regards the favourites as mainly for personal use, then it makes sense to restrict them to PMs - from the community point of view it does not make that much sense.

 

If I take someone caching for the very first time and the first cache we find is a plastic fruit jar under a rock in a small woodlot in a municipal park, I would consider it a decent average cache. But not worthy of a favorite point even if it was special to me because it was the cache with which I introduced someone to caching. If that first cache were an ammo can in a woodlot hooked up with a rope and pulley system in a big old dead hollow tree, that would definitely get a fav vote.

 

But see that again shows the subjective part: I would prefer the first cache to the second - I am not in favour of involved constructions and prefer the caches where the container plays only a minor side role. It is just there to provide a logging possibility, should be easy to find and easy to handle.

 

Cezanne

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