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The dreaded scourge of a new treasure hunt game


drain13

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I have been noticing a lot of geocache logs have started mentioning a similar gps based game markers near current caches. After looking into the other site i've noticed that there are quite a few that have been placed near my caches and others in the area and often share the same name of the cache. What to do.

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You can put something on your cache page to tell people to double-check they've found the right one by name and GC code.

 

Other than that, what else can you do? Although I can see it becoming a big problem, with so many caches close together. Not so much for people getting confused, but for the potential damage to the environment.

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Well, it kinda provides a spoiler. Especially when the sticker or tag is on the same location for your cache. I've even seen them in caches. Its one thing for the geocache traffic to attract attention to places but when another game that is targeting similar activities, it can create a headache of maintenence issues for those that have had their locations piggy backed.

 

I prefer the idea of various containers and possibility of swag, but just a QR code to scan at an already established site? whats the point, and even worse when another geocacher does it.

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I have been noticing a lot of geocache logs have started mentioning a similar gps based game markers near current caches. After looking into the other site i've noticed that there are quite a few that have been placed near my caches and others in the area and often share the same name of the cache. What to do.

 

You probably did it out of contempt, but I like how you don't mention their name. They actually don't like the name mentioned around here. :P

 

So they're putting them near other people's Geocaches, and naming them after other people's Geocaches? Doesn't surprise me. Nothing that goes on over there surprises me; it's a all about the numbers frenzy with no review process. It's the freaking Wild West!

 

What can be done? I suppose nothing.

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Well, it kinda provides a spoiler. Especially when the sticker or tag is on the same location for your cache. I've even seen them in caches.

 

I suspect those caches which have them on or in the cache itself had them placed there by the cache owner so it's their choice. If someone places one on or in your cache and you don't like it you're well within your rights to remove it; however if someone places on on the same lamp post/tree/rock that your cache is hiding in/under then there's not much you can (legitimately) do about it really.

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I get a kick out of how many people around here seem to think geocaching should be the only game in town. If I was to start finding other peoples munzees stuck to my caches I would be annoyed. But they have as much right to play there game as we have to play ours. They are going to end up favoring the same places we do. Do you check the other game sites, letterboxing, several geocaching sites, and so on, before you hide a cache? Do you ensure you stay X# of feet away from them?

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I have been noticing a lot of geocache logs have started mentioning a similar gps based game markers near current caches. After looking into the other site i've noticed that there are quite a few that have been placed near my caches and others in the area and often share the same name of the cache. What to do.

 

You probably did it out of contempt, but I like how you don't mention their name. They actually don't like the name mentioned around here. :P

 

So they're putting them near other people's Geocaches, and naming them after other people's Geocaches? Doesn't surprise me. Nothing that goes on over there surprises me; it's a all about the numbers frenzy with no review process. It's the freaking Wild West!

 

What can be done? I suppose nothing.

 

you obviously missed reading post#4 before you replied

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I have been noticing a lot of geocache logs have started mentioning a similar gps based game markers near current caches. After looking into the other site i've noticed that there are quite a few that have been placed near my caches and others in the area and often share the same name of the cache. What to do.

 

You probably did it out of contempt, but I like how you don't mention their name. They actually don't like the name mentioned around here. :P

 

So they're putting them near other people's Geocaches, and naming them after other people's Geocaches? Doesn't surprise me. Nothing that goes on over there surprises me; it's a all about the numbers frenzy with no review process. It's the freaking Wild West!

 

What can be done? I suppose nothing.

 

you obviously missed reading post#4 before you replied

 

Say what? Someone put a munzee close enough to his Booger Street Geocache where he considers it to be a spoiler, and named the Munzee Booger Street. As a matter of fact, my entire 2nd paragraph is pretty much based on that information in post #4. :P

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I get a kick out of how many people around here seem to think geocaching should be the only game in town. If I was to start finding other peoples munzees stuck to my caches I would be annoyed. But they have as much right to play there game as we have to play ours. They are going to end up favoring the same places we do. Do you check the other game sites, letterboxing, several geocaching sites, and so on, before you hide a cache? Do you ensure you stay X# of feet away from them?

 

You talkin' about me? :lol: You should know I'm a big supporter of alternatives, but not this crap. No review process, and the wild west, as I've said before. One of these things in our area is in a State Park (a vacation Munzee by an out-of-towner). This isn't just a State Park where you would need a permit to place a Geocache, it's one where they are not allowed, period. But you can just stick one of these things on a sign there?

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Well, it kinda provides a spoiler. Especially when the sticker or tag is on the same location for your cache. I've even seen them in caches. Its one thing for the geocache traffic to attract attention to places but when another game that is targeting similar activities, it can create a headache of maintenence issues for those that have had their locations piggy backed.

 

I prefer the idea of various containers and possibility of swag, but just a QR code to scan at an already established site? whats the point, and even worse when another geocacher does it.

 

Y'know, I was going to agree with you on the spoiler part, but then I realized that it really is no more of a spoiler than accurate coordinates are. A sticker might act as confirmation that I'm at the correct spot, but it sure isn't going to be a giveaway for a well-hidden geocache any more than the coordinates you posted so others could find it.

 

I still don't really like the idea, and can understand how it would annoy you, but I also don't think its as big a deal as it may seem.

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Well, it kinda provides a spoiler. Especially when the sticker or tag is on the same location for your cache. I've even seen them in caches. Its one thing for the geocache traffic to attract attention to places but when another game that is targeting similar activities, it can create a headache of maintenence issues for those that have had their locations piggy backed.

 

I prefer the idea of various containers and possibility of swag, but just a QR code to scan at an already established site? whats the point, and even worse when another geocacher does it.

 

Y'know, I was going to agree with you on the spoiler part, but then I realized that it really is no more of a spoiler than accurate coordinates are. A sticker might act as confirmation that I'm at the correct spot, but it sure isn't going to be a giveaway for a well-hidden geocache any more than the coordinates you posted so others could find it.

 

I still don't really like the idea, and can understand how it would annoy you, but I also don't think its as big a deal as it may seem.

 

Upon further review, the munzee is hidden on the same object as the OP's cache, and is named after his Munzee. From street view, I believe it to be an electrical transformer. I would agree with you that is annoying, but I'd never place or look for a p&g on a transformer. :lol:

 

The "Notes", or description of the Munzee in question:

 

Notes: Think like a geocacher and you'll find this mm (magnetic munzee). It's not in plain sight, but up and under cover. Use your zeenses.

Edited by Mr.Yuck
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You talkin' about me? :lol: You should know I'm a big supporter of alternatives, but not this crap. No review process, and the wild west, as I've said before. One of these things in our area is in a State Park (a vacation Munzee by an out-of-towner). This isn't just a State Park where you would need a permit to place a Geocache, it's one where they are not allowed, period. But you can just stick one of these things on a sign there?

 

But their maps are better.

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You talkin' about me? :lol: You should know I'm a big supporter of alternatives, but not this crap. No review process, and the wild west, as I've said before. One of these things in our area is in a State Park (a vacation Munzee by an out-of-towner). This isn't just a State Park where you would need a permit to place a Geocache, it's one where they are not allowed, period. But you can just stick one of these things on a sign there?

 

But their maps are better.

 

Whose aren't? :laughing:

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So they're putting them near other people's Geocaches, and naming them after other people's Geocaches? Doesn't surprise me. Nothing that goes on over there surprises me; it's a all about the numbers frenzy with no review process. It's the freaking Wild West!

 

What can be done? I suppose nothing.

Says who? They have no rules, really. What's stopping you someone from just tossing away the tag like garbage? Perhaps you were someone was just doing a CITO in the area. :P

 

I joined the game a while back, and I agree - it has a long way to go before it'll be as respectable as geocaching (ymmv :ph34r:) - but it is all about the numbers, and the system they have in place is far from a wonderfully user-friendly state. But, they are just a few guys creating the game, who also have families and full time jobs, so development is slow. Their game pieces go missing quite often because players may put out hundreds (for the points) and not maintain them (let alone be notified of issues).

 

So really, if one here or there goes missing... well... ;)

 

That said, in their forums the idea of placing the pieces in existing geocaches was pretty popular, for a while, until other geocachers spoke up and denounced the practice - as it pertains to other people's geocaches. If the player owns the geocache, there's really nothing stopping them from putting a code in it themselves.

 

IMO, if that game stays urban-friendly, and doesn't attempt to masquerade as geocaching, but rather takes pride in having pieces openly visible (much quicker, easier, and inconspicuous to scan QR codes with a smartphone), then all the power to them. If their pieces get thrown out for litter, well then the players will either change up how they get deployed, or guidelines will be implemented to give them a better lifetime.

 

Until then, you can take the respectful route and contact the game piece owner asking them to move/remove their tag, or just be a 'concerned citizen' and remove what you see as trash ;)

Edited by thebruce0
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So they're putting them near other people's Geocaches, and naming them after other people's Geocaches? Doesn't surprise me. Nothing that goes on over there surprises me; it's a all about the numbers frenzy with no review process. It's the freaking Wild West!

 

What can be done? I suppose nothing.

Says who? They have no rules, really. What's stopping you someone from just tossing away the tag like garbage? Perhaps you were someone was just doing a CITO in the area. :P

 

I joined the game a while back, and I agree - it has a long way to go before it'll be as respectable as geocaching (ymmv :ph34r:) - but it is all about the numbers, and the system they have in place is far from a wonderfully user-friendly state. But, they are just a few guys creating the game, who also have families and full time jobs, so development is slow. Their game pieces go missing quite often because players may put out hundreds (for the points) and not maintain them (let alone be notified of issues).

 

So really, if one here or there goes missing... well... ;)

 

That said, in their forums the idea of placing the pieces in existing geocaches was pretty popular, for a while, until other geocachers spoke up and denounced the practice - as it pertains to other people's geocaches. If the player owns the geocache, there's really nothing stopping them from putting a code in it themselves.

 

IMO, if that game stays urban-friendly, and doesn't attempt to masquerade as geocaching, but rather takes pride in having pieces openly visible (much quicker, easier, and inconspicuous to scan QR codes with a smartphone), then all the power to them. If their pieces get thrown out for litter, well then the players will either change up how they get deployed, or guidelines will be implemented to give them a better lifetime.

 

Until then, you can take the respectful route and contact the game piece owner asking them to move/remove their tag, or just be a 'concerned citizen' and remove what you see as trash ;)

 

And how will we feel about it when they start tossing out our geocaches? Hey, just concerned citizens tossing out the trash.

 

They really aren't harming our game. Live and let live.

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just be a 'concerned citizen' and remove what you see as trash ;)

We've coined the term "cache maggot" to refer to someone who steals / throws away caches... any suggestions for what term we should use for someone who steals / throws away game pieces from other games? "cache hero" maybe, or "cache warrior"... something awesome, for sure.

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And how will we feel about it when they start tossing out our geocaches? Hey, just concerned citizens tossing out the trash.

 

They really aren't harming our game. Live and let live.

 

Oh I wasn't promoting it - I'm just saying, there's no way to know. I wouldn't want someone doing that to my tags (I also said it wasn't the respectful way).

 

But when it comes to geocaches, I would not be surprised if a geocache owner removes one placed in their geocache. And those game players shouldn't be surprised either (and there's been sufficient warning of that in their forums as well). Geocaches are other people's property. But pieces placed near other people's geocaches are technically fair game. It's just a matter of rivalry between game players at that point :P

Hopefully, respect is promoted all around and disagreements and compromises can be handled nicely.

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Until then, you can take the respectful route and contact the game piece owner asking them to move/remove their tag, or just be a 'concerned citizen' and remove what you see as trash

If a bunch of geocachers take it upon themselves to start tossing out the munzee "trash," then what's to stop a bunch of munzee owners from doing the same thing to geocaches?

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Boy, I didn't know I was such a radical Munzee hater. :lol: Maybe the other radical munzee haters just haven't posted yet. In a nutshell, I don't like it because it's totally geared to be all about the numbers, there are no rules, and most of them are on private property.

 

But yes, I do not support throwing them out as trash, and they're free play their game as the wish.

 

Oh, one last thing. Someone hid one right next to the guys cache, and named it after his cache. For Pete's sake, don't you think you would ask someone before doing that?

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I don't like them because I equate sticking stickers on private property the same as tagging it with spray paint graffiti, and I despise graffiti, even the pretty ones. It's not your property to deface.

I don't care for caches on private property either.

I found one sticker in a state park, on a kiosk. Since it was just made of plain old paper, and was falling apart, I didn't worry too much, but it made the kiosk look very tacky.

 

(edit for typo.)

Edited by Planet
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Thank all you guys for showing me this....thats exactly what I was looking for!

No reviewers, no guidelines, no permissions needed!

After GC disabled all the abandoned structures in my area, now we can get back the expirience of a guided tour through an old power plant or whatever. :ph34r::ph34r:

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Remember when we ruined Where's George by changing the way dollars flowed? That was awesome.

 

Yeah, but then micros came along and fixed that. I haven't seen a George in a cache in about 3 years. I'll bet I saw about 50 of them in 2004.

 

I see where you're going though, they're two different games on two different websites. Wheresgeorge however, never advocated anarchy. :laughing:

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Remember when we ruined Where's George by changing the way dollars flowed? That was awesome.

 

Yeah, but then micros came along and fixed that. I haven't seen a George in a cache in about 3 years. I'll bet I saw about 50 of them in 2004.

 

I see where you're going though, they're two different games on two different websites. Wheresgeorge however, never advocated anarchy. :laughing:

Well, geocaching would be the anarchist in the analogy. But still, we never advocated anarchy.

 

Did we?

 

anarchy.pnggeol1.jpg

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Remember when we ruined Where's George by changing the way dollars flowed? That was awesome.

 

Yeah, but then micros came along and fixed that. I haven't seen a George in a cache in about 3 years. I'll bet I saw about 50 of them in 2004.

 

I see where you're going though, they're two different games on two different websites. Wheresgeorge however, never advocated anarchy. :laughing:

Well, geocaching would be the anarchist in the analogy. But still, we never advocated anarchy.

 

Did we?

 

anarchy.pnggeol1.jpg

 

Well, there was that thread about the Anarchist Elements of Geocaching a while back.

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Sounds like more entitlement. "I hid a cache so no one can place anything else here and list it on another site". Just because you place a cache some place doesn't mean you own the place. Of course now we have people saying the Mu**ees are spoiling their cache. Perhaps they can invoke section 4(m) of the terms of use and demand Grounspeak ban the Mu**ee owner's GC.com account. <_<

 

For years now letterbox owners have had to deal with geocachers hiding caches on top of their letterboxes. I don't see any difference.

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Sounds like more entitlement. "I hid a cache so no one can place anything else here and list it on another site". Just because you place a cache some place doesn't mean you own the place. Of course now we have people saying the Mu**ees are spoiling their cache. Perhaps they can invoke section 4(m) of the terms of use and demand Grounspeak ban the Mu**ee owner's GC.com account. <_<

 

For years now letterbox owners have had to deal with geocachers hiding caches on top of their letterboxes. I don't see any difference.

 

Because I've never heard of anyone saying "I'm going to hide this Geocache here because there's a letterbox in the same spot"? Or name their Geocache after the letterbox? Or have the hint for their Geocache be "think letterbox"? Need I go on? :)

 

This is so rude to do without asking, it's not even funny. And if they put one of these things inside your cache, that's just totally inexcusable.

Edited by Mr.Yuck
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Handle them with respect until disrespect is shown? If they put one of theirs *inside* one of yours, respectfully tell them to get it out before you need to. If they don't, do it yourself. Other than that, I don't see how it's an issue. After a while, if they have people running around private property without permission and otherwise ignoring the law, the game will change for them soon enough. It will have to.

 

I mean, a Geocaching teen just got shot in the leg and he wasn't even doing anything wrong. Imagine what will happen when these guys run around on private property all the time without permission with their game. :sad:

 

I still hope nothing like that happens to anyone else, though.

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im guilty of placing munzees in other caches =( i also have them in mine. i never use the cache name for my munzee title. i feel it a fun side game to cachers and also a great new way for people to discover the fun of geocaching as we all do. also in my munzee discription if its in a cache i state that and for them to please remember to respect the properity and the cache. and i can honestly say ive seen nothing negative abbout this. ive had geocachers log my munzee deployes. just my 2 cents

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im guilty of placing munzees in other caches =( i also have them in mine. i never use the cache name for my munzee title. i feel it a fun side game to cachers and also a great new way for people to discover the fun of geocaching as we all do. also in my munzee discription if its in a cache i state that and for them to please remember to respect the properity and the cache. and i can honestly say ive seen nothing negative abbout this. ive had geocachers log my munzee deployes. just my 2 cents

 

Just curious why you think it's ok to place a munzee in someone else's cache? You can stick them on top, under, to the left or to the right of my cache but IMHO my caches are off limits.

Edited by Roman!
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im guilty of placing munzees in other caches =( i also have them in mine. i never use the cache name for my munzee title. i feel it a fun side game to cachers and also a great new way for people to discover the fun of geocaching as we all do. also in my munzee discription if its in a cache i state that and for them to please remember to respect the properity and the cache. and i can honestly say ive seen nothing negative abbout this. ive had geocachers log my munzee deployes. just my 2 cents

 

Personally, I would probably toss a munzee I found in one of my caches. I throw out business cards as well. :D

 

Edit to add: I'm planning to put munzees in some of my caches, so if I opened it up and saw one there already I'd be pretty annoyed. Something to think about.

Edited by The_Incredibles_
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