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It's all about the numbers!


Roman!

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I realize that the people that visit this forum for the most part aren't the most competitive bunch but if it were not for the numbers would geocaching be around today?

 

Maybe in an obscure kinda way, possibly, but as a legitimate hobby/sport, no way so as much as you may dislike the competitive side of geocaching you should be giving those of us that do enjoy it thanks for without us you'd not be here.

 

Flame away.

Edited by Roman!
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Flame away.

When you have something like that in the OP, it's a good indicator that the discussion probably shouldn't happen at all.

 

Anyway, these are some of the general viewpoints I expect to see in this discussion:

-"Numbers don't matter/geocaching isn't a competition"

-"I'm all about the numbers!"

-"Anyone who is into the numbers is hurting the game"

-"Anyone who is into the numbers is an idiot"

-"Anyone who isn't into the numbers is an idiot"

-"Numbers don't have anything to do with the spirit of geocaching (whatever that is :rolleyes: )"

 

:drama:

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I realize that the people that visit this forum for the most part aren't the most competitive bunch but if it were not for the numbers would geocaching be around today?

 

Maybe in an obscure kinda way, possibly, but as a legitimate hobby/sport, no way so as much as you may dislike the competitive side of geocaching you should be giving those of us that do enjoy it thanks for without us you'd not be here.

 

Flame away.

 

Around here the cachers with high numbers get those numbers because they love to cache and find the time to cache. None of them is competitive.

 

"Competive" implies competing with others. We use numbers to compete with our old numbers and to challenge ourselves. All the big number cachers that we know, seem to do the same.

 

PAul

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Flame away.

When you have something like that in the OP, it's a good indicator that the discussion probably shouldn't happen at all.

 

I just know my audience.

 

 

Anyway, these are some of the general viewpoints I expect to see in this discussion:

-"Numbers don't matter/geocaching isn't a competition"

 

That is the general consensus of the forum

 

 

-"I'm all about the numbers!"

 

Most people that are about the numbers are out geocaching, not on the forum so I will have little if any support.

 

 

-"Anyone who is into the numbers is hurting the game"

 

 

IMHO they are helping the game.

 

 

-"Anyone who is into the numbers is an idiot"

 

 

I may very well be but it's not cool to generalize, kinda like me saying anyone that's not is lazy and fat, not that I would.

 

 

-"Anyone who isn't into the numbers is an idiot"

 

I'd never call anyone an idiot.

 

 

-"Numbers don't have anything to do with the spirit of geocaching (whatever that is :rolleyes: )"

 

:drama:

 

The original geocache was a P&G and involved a container, in the spirit let's do away with puzzles, earth caches and events, wait, I'll save that for another thread.

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I think the numbers just add to the experience of geocaching. It gives you something to go for. If that cache down that pipe full of water and fish and spiders was not rated a 5 x 5 and would have just been another smiley would we have gone for it? Probably not but we wanted a 5 x 5 so we did and ended up having a blast doing it! Is anyone else impressed with our numbers? Probably not but it gives us something to go for. We are really enjoying the streak as it gives us a reason to have to find a cache everyday.

-WarNinjas

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Around here the cachers with high numbers get those numbers because they love to cache and find the time to cache. None of them is competitive.

 

"Competive" implies competing with others. We use numbers to compete with our old numbers and to challenge ourselves. All the big number cachers that we know, seem to do the same.

 

PAul

 

I've been geocaching 1 1/2 years and one thing I have learnt, there are very many people looking at my numbers. How do I know this? Having found 3.5k caches in my short career I have been a topic of discussion at events even though I have met none of the people discussing me. Make no mistake your numbers are being watched.

Edited by Roman!
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Around here the cachers with high numbers get those numbers because they love to cache and find the time to cache. None of them is competitive.

 

"Competive" implies competing with others. We use numbers to compete with our old numbers and to challenge ourselves. All the big number cachers that we know, seem to do the same.

 

PAul

 

I've been geocaching 1 1/2 years and one thing I have learnt, there are very many people looking at my numbers. How do I know this? Having found 3.5k caches in my short career I have been a topic of discussion at events even though I have met none of the people discussing me. Make no mistake your numbers are being watched.

 

Because you mentioned it, I looked.

You live in a cache dense area, very neat. I'm glad you've had the chance to do lots of caching.

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Around here the cachers with high numbers get those numbers because they love to cache and find the time to cache. None of them is competitive.

 

"Competive" implies competing with others. We use numbers to compete with our old numbers and to challenge ourselves. All the big number cachers that we know, seem to do the same.

 

PAul

 

I've been geocaching 1 1/2 years and one thing I have learnt, there are very many people looking at my numbers. How do I know this? Having found 3.5k caches in my short career I have been a topic of discussion at events even though I have met none of the people discussing me. Make no mistake your numbers are being watched.

 

Because you mentioned it, I looked.

You live in a cache dense area, very neat. I'm glad you've had the chance to do lots of caching.

 

But so does my competition and they still watch me. Also, geocachingly speaking I am handicapped, I live in North Vancouver, on an extreme end of the density and to get to the dense area I have to cross two bridges which generally are a nightmare.

 

This is roughly my area.

Edited by Roman!
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Because you mentioned it, I looked.

You live in a cache dense area, very neat. I'm glad you've had the chance to do lots of caching.

 

But so does my competition and they still watch me. Also, geocachingly speaking I am handicapped, I live in North Vancouver, on an extreme end of the density and to get to the dense area I have to cross two bridges which generally are a nightmare.

 

This is roughly my area.

 

I sort of know the area. Those bridges are a challenge.

It is in people's nature to be curious, does it bother you that people may be checking on your progress?

I'd be rather flattered if someone thought I was interesting enough to keep regular tabs on in the geocaching world.

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I'm not sure I understand your hypothetical. Naturally as long as there are multiple caches, it's natural for everyone to count how many they've found. Do you mean would it still be around if we couldn't compare our numbers? I don't see why it wouldn't, since virtually every cacher enjoys the hunt, even those that also count and compare.

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Around here the cachers with high numbers get those numbers because they love to cache and find the time to cache. None of them is competitive.

 

"Competive" implies competing with others. We use numbers to compete with our old numbers and to challenge ourselves. All the big number cachers that we know, seem to do the same.

 

PAul

 

I've been geocaching 1 1/2 years and one thing I have learnt, there are very many people looking at my numbers. How do I know this? Having found 3.5k caches in my short career I have been a topic of discussion at events even though I have met none of the people discussing me. Make no mistake your numbers are being watched.

 

We have a guy around here that started a little over 2 years ago who is approaching 11000. I wouldn't even have known if I hadn't overheard a new cacher ask him while at an event. Believe it or not, we don't stand around discussing each others stats. Probably the only one that ever comes up is average terrain. For many years, at the time, the #2 and #3 cacher in the world was in our midst and no one really talked about it, except for some friendly bantering between the two. It was certainly not the main topic of discussion when everyone got together.

 

Are you sure that they are just talking about your numbers and not something else?

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I'm not sure I understand your hypothetical. Naturally as long as there are multiple caches, it's natural for everyone to count how many they've found. Do you mean would it still be around if we couldn't compare our numbers? I don't see why it wouldn't, since virtually every cacher enjoys the hunt, even those that also count and compare.

 

I mean that if there was no find count to compare yourself with other cachers Groundspeak would not exist.

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Around here the cachers with high numbers get those numbers because they love to cache and find the time to cache. None of them is competitive.

 

"Competive" implies competing with others. We use numbers to compete with our old numbers and to challenge ourselves. All the big number cachers that we know, seem to do the same.

 

PAul

 

I've been geocaching 1 1/2 years and one thing I have learnt, there are very many people looking at my numbers. How do I know this? Having found 3.5k caches in my short career I have been a topic of discussion at events even though I have met none of the people discussing me. Make no mistake your numbers are being watched.

 

We have a guy around here that started a little over 2 years ago who is approaching 11000. I wouldn't even have known if I hadn't overheard a new cacher ask him while at an event. Believe it or not, we don't stand around discussing each others stats. Probably the only one that ever comes up is average terrain. For many years, at the time, the #2 and #3 cacher in the world was in our midst and no one really talked about it, except for some friendly bantering between the two. It was certainly not the main topic of discussion when everyone got together.

 

Are you sure that they are just talking about your numbers and not something else?

 

Firstly, if someone is approaching 11k finds in 2 years I guarantee people are talking about him, you just may not be in the loop, secondly, at events everyone is prim, proper and friendly but after that it's a different story. If you seriously think the 11K cachers stats are not being discussed privately then you are mistaken.

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We have a guy around here that started a little over 2 years ago who is approaching 11000. I wouldn't even have known if I hadn't overheard a new cacher ask him while at an event. Believe it or not, we don't stand around discussing each others stats. Probably the only one that ever comes up is average terrain. For many years, at the time, the #2 and #3 cacher in the world was in our midst and no one really talked about it, except for some friendly bantering between the two. It was certainly not the main topic of discussion when everyone got together.

 

Are you sure that they are just talking about your numbers and not something else?

Oh, Average D/T. Now that one is interesting. I'm trying to up mine, it isn't working really well right now.

I get asked how long I've been caching, what caches I recommend and how well I've done on a specific hider's caches but not how many finds overall.

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Around here the cachers with high numbers get those numbers because they love to cache and find the time to cache. None of them is competitive.

 

"Competive" implies competing with others. We use numbers to compete with our old numbers and to challenge ourselves. All the big number cachers that we know, seem to do the same.

 

PAul

 

I've been geocaching 1 1/2 years and one thing I have learnt, there are very many people looking at my numbers. How do I know this? Having found 3.5k caches in my short career I have been a topic of discussion at events even though I have met none of the people discussing me. Make no mistake your numbers are being watched.

 

We have a guy around here that started a little over 2 years ago who is approaching 11000. I wouldn't even have known if I hadn't overheard a new cacher ask him while at an event. Believe it or not, we don't stand around discussing each others stats. Probably the only one that ever comes up is average terrain. For many years, at the time, the #2 and #3 cacher in the world was in our midst and no one really talked about it, except for some friendly bantering between the two. It was certainly not the main topic of discussion when everyone got together.

 

Are you sure that they are just talking about your numbers and not something else?

 

Firstly, if someone is approaching 11k finds in 2 years I guarantee people are talking about him, you just may not be in the loop, secondly, at events everyone is prim, proper and friendly but after that it's a different story. If you seriously think the 11K cachers stats are not being discussed privately then you are mistaken.

 

Actually, I've been pretty well involved in the local geocaching community for a number of years and I think I have a pretty good idea of what is going on. I am part of these private conversations. This does not mean that numbers do not come up and are not discussed. What I'm trying to convey is the idea that the majority of cachers in this area are not obsessed by the find count of others.

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Around here the cachers with high numbers get those numbers because they love to cache and find the time to cache. None of them is competitive.

 

"Competive" implies competing with others. We use numbers to compete with our old numbers and to challenge ourselves. All the big number cachers that we know, seem to do the same.

 

PAul

 

I've been geocaching 1 1/2 years and one thing I have learnt, there are very many people looking at my numbers. How do I know this? Having found 3.5k caches in my short career I have been a topic of discussion at events even though I have met none of the people discussing me. Make no mistake your numbers are being watched.

 

We have a guy around here that started a little over 2 years ago who is approaching 11000. I wouldn't even have known if I hadn't overheard a new cacher ask him while at an event. Believe it or not, we don't stand around discussing each others stats. Probably the only one that ever comes up is average terrain. For many years, at the time, the #2 and #3 cacher in the world was in our midst and no one really talked about it, except for some friendly bantering between the two. It was certainly not the main topic of discussion when everyone got together.

 

Are you sure that they are just talking about your numbers and not something else?

 

Firstly, if someone is approaching 11k finds in 2 years I guarantee people are talking about him, you just may not be in the loop, secondly, at events everyone is prim, proper and friendly but after that it's a different story. If you seriously think the 11K cachers stats are not being discussed privately then you are mistaken.

 

Actually, I've been pretty well involved in the local geocaching community for a number of years and I think I have a pretty good idea of what is going on. I am part of these private conversations. This does not mean that numbers do not come up and are not discussed. What I'm trying to convey is the idea that the majority of cachers in this area are not obsessed by the find count of others.

 

But if Groundspeak did away with visible stats and there was no way to see others numbers would the company exist? Absolutely not.

 

If it were not for the numbers geocaching would not exist.

Edited by Roman'
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But if Groundspeak did away with visible stats and there was no way to see others numbers would the company exist? Absolutely not.

 

If it were not for the numbers geocaching would not exist.

 

Sorry, but I'll have to disagree.

 

I cache for myself. If I could no longer track my numbers, or see others, I'd still be caching. I'd be getting outside and enjoying the hunt, the scenery, etc (something you extol doing in some of your other threads).

 

And I suspect I am not alone.

 

Would GC still exist without numbers/counts? Yes. Would it be as big or as popular? Probably not. But who cares. Stop griping about things and go out and cache.

 

(sarcasm) Maybe we need to do away with the forums since it keeps people from caching (sarcasm off)

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I'm not sure I understand your hypothetical. Naturally as long as there are multiple caches, it's natural for everyone to count how many they've found. Do you mean would it still be around if we couldn't compare our numbers? I don't see why it wouldn't, since virtually every cacher enjoys the hunt, even those that also count and compare.

 

I mean that if there was no find count to compare yourself with other cachers Groundspeak would not exist.

 

Just an FYI, when Groundspeak was founded, there was no find count. Then they were added, and by sometime in 2002, there was enough chatter against displaying it on the website here in the forums that they actually removed them again. But yes, there was indeed a backlash, and the find count was restored within a few days. I wasn't around, so we would need a super old-timer to give the dates 1) when they were first added, and 2) the short few day experiment of removing them. :)

 

EDIT: Oh by the way, I like the find count for myself. I love statistics, but only my own. I've always been a statistics geek. I was keeping my own Pro baseball and Hockey stats in a notebook when I was like 8 years old. :lol: Never been a big GSAK user, but I was using the third party program Cache Stats whenever it came out (I'll guess 2007 or so).

Edited by Mr.Yuck
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I'm new to all this, as far as I can see, its a game with some pretty simple rules. Follow the rules and we all have fun. If Joe Bloggs wants to get competitive with Frank Smith over their stats or FTFs, then good for them, its adds another dimension to their game. It doesn't effect me or my game in the slightest, so why should it be an issue on the forums if some people like the stats and the perceived competitive aspect of the game?

If the 'game' is being spoilt by the 'power trails' and 'cache and dash' caches, then surely a pocket query would eliminate those caches you don't like. As with life, we are all different and have different goals in life. Surely we should be tolerant of each others viewpoints and embrace and celebrate all forms of caching.

It's hard enough out there with all the muggles about, lets not make it more difficult by bashing each other.

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As with life, we are all different and have different goals in life. Surely we should be tolerant of each others viewpoints and embrace and celebrate all forms of caching.

 

Never gonna happen. Would be nice, but never gonna happen. :lol:

 

It's hard enough out there with all the muggles about, lets not make it more difficult by bashing each other.

 

Then hide and seek caches where there are no muggles about. Like in the forest. Sorry, not very tolerant of me. :P

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I realize that the people that visit this forum for the most part aren't the most competitive bunch but if it were not for the numbers would geocaching be around today?

 

Maybe in an obscure kinda way

What's wrong with that? It was kinda obscure when I got started, and that was just fine with me. In fact, I preferred it that way.

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I think the numbers just add to the experience of geocaching. It gives you something to go for. If that cache down that pipe full of water and fish and spiders was not rated a 5 x 5 and would have just been another smiley would we have gone for it? Probably not but we wanted a 5 x 5 so we did and ended up having a blast doing it! Is anyone else impressed with our numbers? Probably not but it gives us something to go for. We are really enjoying the streak as it gives us a reason to have to find a cache everyday.

-WarNinjas

 

Wait a second... "just another smiley" isn't worth much, but a "5x5" is? You lost me there.

 

PS: You can find a cache every day without having a "streak" to motivate you.

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I'm not sure I understand your hypothetical. Naturally as long as there are multiple caches, it's natural for everyone to count how many they've found. Do you mean would it still be around if we couldn't compare our numbers? I don't see why it wouldn't, since virtually every cacher enjoys the hunt, even those that also count and compare.

 

I mean that if there was no find count to compare yourself with other cachers Groundspeak would not exist.

 

Just an FYI, when Groundspeak was founded, there was no find count. Then they were added, and by sometime in 2002, there was enough chatter against displaying it on the website here in the forums that they actually removed them again. But yes, there was indeed a backlash, and the find count was restored within a few days. I wasn't around, so we would need a super old-timer to give the dates 1) when they were first added, and 2) the short few day experiment of removing them. :)

 

if it was an option, there would have been not much dissent. Some people want everyone to know how many finds they have, and others just don't care to emphasize that aspect. If someone wants to see my activity, I'd prefer to have them scroll through all of my pages of finds, rather than just glancing at a single number.

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My Yuck, I actually like the high traffic areas for caches, makes me get quite imaginative with disguises to help me go unnoticed whilst searching.

 

Some people do! By the way, not trying to be a smart aleck in that last post. Just trying to be a comedian. So in my serious post here, I would like to say that yes, these squabbles may seem rather petty to someone who joined last month. All I can tell you is, they all have history behind them. Let's take Power Trails for example. I'll bet you didn't know they were banned up until 2010. As a matter of fact, the phrase "Power Trail" exists only because they were once banned. Reviewers used to use that term when rejecting new caches in a saturated area. So going from "don't place a cache every 528 feet just because you can" to "Go for it" was bound to be controversial. :)

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I think the numbers just add to the experience of geocaching. It gives you something to go for. If that cache down that pipe full of water and fish and spiders was not rated a 5 x 5 and would have just been another smiley would we have gone for it? Probably not but we wanted a 5 x 5 so we did and ended up having a blast doing it! Is anyone else impressed with our numbers? Probably not but it gives us something to go for. We are really enjoying the streak as it gives us a reason to have to find a cache everyday.

-WarNinjas

 

Wait a second... "just another smiley" isn't worth much, but a "5x5" is? You lost me there.

 

PS: You can find a cache every day without having a "streak" to motivate you.

 

As horrific of an outdated website as it is, and it's amazingly currently even more abandoned than it used to be with the old owner, who is probably kicking himself in the pants daily for selling it, but Navicache displays a "score" next to your find count. This score is just all the terrain and difficulty ratings of your finds added up. I always kind of liked this "score" thing over there, actually. Simple as it is, I think it's an interesting concept.

Edited by Mr.Yuck
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No offense taken Mr Yuck, I love a bit of the old 'poking of fun' too. Never knew about the history of 'power trails', mind u saying that I don't know much about the history of geocaching yet, waaaay too many forum posts to wade through. Anyway I see it as my job as a newb, to weigh in with his ill informed opinion from time to time. It's in the T&Cs somewhere that each forum newb must post some troll fodder... :P

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We have a guy around here that started a little over 2 years ago who is approaching 11000. I wouldn't even have known if I hadn't overheard a new cacher ask him while at an event. Believe it or not, we don't stand around discussing each others stats. Probably the only one that ever comes up is average terrain. For many years, at the time, the #2 and #3 cacher in the world was in our midst and no one really talked about it, except for some friendly bantering between the two. It was certainly not the main topic of discussion when everyone got together.

 

Are you sure that they are just talking about your numbers and not something else?

Oh, Average D/T. Now that one is interesting. I'm trying to up mine, it isn't working really well right now.

I get asked how long I've been caching, what caches I recommend and how well I've done on a specific hider's caches but not how many finds overall.

you know what would be really interesting is average terrain of your hides. I am going to calculate that right now.

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Geocaching, like baseball, has always been about stats ( numbers ). Like baseball, playing the game ( hunting caches ) is fun in itself.....this I would hope almost 100% of geocachers would agree ( why would you do it otherwise?) If of this 100% say 50% are really into the stats why should this matter to the other 50% who just like playing the game and aren't into the stats.

I will say cachers should have the option of which stats show on their profile and logs to found caches.I find it curious that your find total accompanies your logs and not your HIDE total, hides being what you do for the game and not what you get from it.

I agree with the OP that stats,numbers,icons,souvenirs,etc. have become a big part of the game.

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you know what would be really interesting is average terrain of your hides. I am going to calculate that right now.

Ok, so for all of my caches, active, archived, adopted out, and hidden by my kids, the average terrrain is 2.35.

If I only count cache I hid (including ones I addoped out, and archived) my caches it is 2.38.

If I only count my current active caches 2.65.

 

See, the numbers are so fun!

Edit: My active Rural hides average 2.92, while my active urban hides average 2.25

Edited by Andronicus
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But if Groundspeak did away with visible stats and there was no way to see others numbers would the company exist? Absolutely not.

 

If it were not for the numbers geocaching would not exist.

Have you considered that you might be viewing this from a rather biased perspective? If stats weren't visible to others, then those who are into geocaching mainly to compete with others might drop out (or find other ways to compare their stats). But I suspect that group isn't very big.

 

Personally, I would have trouble comparing our stats with most other geocachers' stats. Our account includes two people, we sometimes search with others, we travel more than most, we always sign the logs, we don't request unpublished hints, and we solve the puzzles by ourselves.

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I realize that the people that visit this forum for the most part aren't the most competitive bunch but if it were not for the numbers would geocaching be around today?

 

I think we're all more competitive than we think. I'm not about the numbers, at all, but in the first couple of years of geocaching, I was all about the numbers. When I did have a premium membership, I was all about the numbers. Now, I find myself wishing for fewer and better geocaches, but even now I find myself glancing at people's find count below their names on their logs, and I think, "Dang, I need to get out there and find some more caches!" By the way, I do think that people with high finds counts ought to be proud of their accomplishment. There's nothing wrong with it at all. It just happens that, for me, I'd like to see people slow down on the placement of caches and invest more into location, cache design and swag (Alas, poor swag, I knew it once).

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My Yuck, I actually like the high traffic areas for caches, makes me get quite imaginative with disguises to help me go unnoticed whilst searching.

 

Picking the right disguise is critical. The other day I disguised myself as Knowschad. Shop owner came up behind me and asked what I was doing. I answered "Meow". I don't think he bought it.

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you know what would be really interesting is average terrain of your hides. I am going to calculate that right now.

Ok, so for all of my caches, active, archived, adopted out, and hidden by my kids, the average terrrain is 2.35.

If I only count cache I hid (including ones I addoped out, and archived) my caches it is 2.38.

If I only count my current active caches 2.65.

 

See, the numbers are so fun!

Edit: My active Rural hides average 2.92, while my active urban hides average 2.25

 

2.5 for all hides. 2.65 for my active caches. More interesting is that twice as many people find my caches in Dec and Jan as in Jul and Aug. I guess the lack of A/C out on the trail effects their decision on where to cache.

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you know what would be really interesting is average terrain of your hides. I am going to calculate that right now.

Ok, so for all of my caches, active, archived, adopted out, and hidden by my kids, the average terrrain is 2.35.

If I only count cache I hid (including ones I addoped out, and archived) my caches it is 2.38.

If I only count my current active caches 2.65.

 

See, the numbers are so fun!

Edit: My active Rural hides average 2.92, while my active urban hides average 2.25

 

2.5 for all hides. 2.65 for my active caches. More interesting is that twice as many people find my caches in Dec and Jan as in Jul and Aug. I guess the lack of A/C out on the trail effects their decision on where to cache.

I have just the oposite. After tallying about 1/3 of my chaches (I got bored and stopped), it is 43 Jan/Dec vs. 131 Jul/Aug. That is over 3 times as many summer finds. The cold up here tends to slow caching down dramaticaly during the winter. Even my cache that is on a ski hill gets almost no finds in the winter. People often hike up in the summer though. I find that kind of odd.

Edited by Andronicus
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I mean that if there was no find count to compare yourself with other cachers Groundspeak would not exist.

Eh. I think people that cared would just post and compare their numbers somewhere else. Most people would think it was silly to not have such an obvious feature, but otherwise wouldn't care that much.

 

Firstly, if someone is approaching 11k finds in 2 years I guarantee people are talking about him, you just may not be in the loop, secondly, at events everyone is prim, proper and friendly but after that it's a different story. If you seriously think the 11K cachers stats are not being discussed privately then you are mistaken.

Well, of course people will talk about an amazing accomplishment like 11K finds in 2 years. Apparently your rates are similarly remarkable, so people talk about them, too. That's a long was from showing that people are living to compare numbers. When I've been involved in such conversations, no one was seriously comparing such feats with their own rates. I certainly have no desire to work that hard at finding caches.

 

Do you think golf would end as a sport if people couldn't compare their scores to professional golfers' scores?

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...Do you think golf would end as a sport if people couldn't compare their scores to professional golfers' scores?

Yes.

I think this is a bad example. There are no "professional" geocachers, per se.

 

Also, golf was played long before the PGA. It was a fun way to get outside and play a game. Did people brag about getting better, sinking holes-in-one and getting a lower score than their buddy? Sure. Golf would still happen, but last time I checked, when I go golfing, I'm not competing with the pros. I'm also not bothering to tell someone else who golfs that they are worse than me because they can't do what I did.

 

What I'm trying to say is, golf and geocaching will both exist with, or without competitions with others. Why? because the game is about your own way you play. Can I find more caches next year? Next week? Those are ways we all might "compete" with ourselves. Can we "compete" against others? Sure, but if your buddy doesn't own clubs, or doesn't golf as often as you, are you going to rub it in their face that they didn't do as well as you? Make them feel like their play is horrible? I hope not.

 

You can be competitive with others who want to be, sure. But geocaching.com is not a ranking or competition site. Those games of "numbers" can be played in their own circles. The game of geocaching isn't, by design, a competition. But that doesn't stop people from wanting to compete in their own way. Just don't tell others that find and hide counts matter, as they likely aren't playing the same version of the game that you are.

 

Edit for speelingz

Edited by NeverSummer
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When I first discovered geocaching just over two years ago, I was averaging about ten per week and I envisioned myself with great numbers and "super-cacher" status...wow! But something got in the way, I came out of retirement and went back to work. Now, my goal is to get 1000 in my lifetime. I really enjoy this great pastime and, although some may be obsessed with numbers, I'm happy to get out when I can and grab a few.

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When I first discovered geocaching just over two years ago, I was averaging about ten per week and I envisioned myself with great numbers and "super-cacher" status...wow! But something got in the way, I came out of retirement and went back to work. Now, my goal is to get 1000 in my lifetime. I really enjoy this great pastime and, although some may be obsessed with numbers, I'm happy to get out when I can and grab a few.

I am both obsessed with numbers, and happy to get out when I can and grab a few.

 

With just under 650 finds, I am not obsessed with large numbers. Just numbers in general.

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I realize that the people that visit this forum for the most part aren't the most competitive bunch but if it were not for the numbers would geocaching be around today?

 

Maybe in an obscure kinda way, possibly, but as a legitimate hobby/sport, no way so as much as you may dislike the competitive side of geocaching you should be giving those of us that do enjoy it thanks for without us you'd not be here.

 

Flame away.

 

You are right, it IS all about the numbers...always has been...from the beginning.

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I realize that the people that visit this forum for the most part aren't the most competitive bunch but if it were not for the numbers would geocaching be around today?

 

Maybe in an obscure kinda way, possibly, but as a legitimate hobby/sport, no way so as much as you may dislike the competitive side of geocaching you should be giving those of us that do enjoy it thanks for without us you'd not be here.

 

Flame away.

 

You are right, it IS all about the numbers...always has been...from the beginning.

It might be "about the numbers", but it isn't about others coming out and telling me that it is. That makes it seem they think the numbers mean more than they do for each individual. I like to know how many I've found so I can know. I don't think someone else's numbers matter to me. But when someone keeps badgering people about how important the numbers are, or implies that my find count isn't as impressive as theirs, and is therefore demonstrating my inferiority here with Geocaching...I don't appreciate it.

 

Using numbers to badger, bully, gloat, flame, troll or deride others does not a good character make. Numbers are part of the game, but not in the way the OP would make it seem.

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Yep it is all about the numbers

 

We are retired and we cache all the time so the numbers start to add up.

Working friends call when they have a day off and we invade a nearby community and get numbers.

The weather looks good so we put the bikes on the car and drive a few hours to an area with lots of caches. We hike and bike there for a few days and the numbers add up.

We drive 800 miles to visit our daughter and family but it takes us a week to get there and the numbers add up.

We fly out west to vist our son, or so we tell him. He works all day while we hike and cache and the numbers add up.

We fill in the calendar but MA decides she would like 5 every day so the numbers add up

We try and beat our previous caching streak so we cache everyday and the numbers add up.

We try and beat last years total so the numbers add up.

We spend lots of hours solving puzzles in our area and in the areas we visit so the numbers add up.

We take one or two major hiking trips every year with friends and plan caching on the way and during the hikes and the numbers add up

 

We hide caches, usually in series so those numbers add up

We spend many hours creating puzzle caches. So those numbers add up.

 

We are obsessed and love caching so the numbers add up.

It all keeps us physically and mentally fit

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