Category Proposal: Challenges

[+tozainamboku]

Here's an idea for a category. Challenges.

 

Provide the coordinates for some place you want someone to go to and then provide a challenge for them to do there. You might challenge them to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, sing a song in the middle of Times Square, or take a picture of themselves walking through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

 

Unlike the now defunct geocaching challenges, the challenge is owned by its submitter. The submitter can, if they want, delete logs if they feel the challenge wasn't met. (However challenges should have a clear and unambiguous way to show they are met (posting a picture, answering a quiz, etc.)

 

Challenges will be reviewed by the Challenge group managers. The basic requirement will be that the challenge has a clear and unambiguous way to show it was met and this is clearly spelled out on the challenge page. The challenge should be done at or near the posted coordinates (no worldwide or locationless challenges).

Edited December 5, 2012 by tozainamboku

[+Max and 99]

Here's an idea for a category. Challenges.

 

Provide the coordinates for some place you want someone to go to and then provide a challenge for them to do there. You might challenge them to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, sing a song in the middle of Times Square, or take a picture of themselves walking through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

 

Unlike the now defunct geocaching challenges, the challenge is owned by its submitter. The submitter can, if they want, delete logs if they feel the challenge wasn't met. (However challenges should have a clear and unambiguous way to show they are met (posting a picture, answering a quiz, etc.)

 

Challenges will be reviewed by the Challenge group managers. The basic requirement will be that the challenge has a clear and unambiguous way to show it was met and this is clearly spelled out on the challenge page. The challenge should be done at or near the posted coordinates (no worldwide or locationless challenges).

 

We have a category called Photo Goals, which is very similar to what you describe, except it is worldwide and not location-specific. I think that's the closest you're going to get to the GC Challenges.

[+lumbricus]

Photo Goals

 

Is this challenging enough?

 

Get a photo of yourself doing a skydive jump

 

Ride on a real dolphin

 

Harness the Sun or Moon

 

Find a hole on the ground and make yourself pass through it!

 

All the best,

 

-lumbricus

[+fi67]

I don't know why challenges were considered so unsuccessful that they are discontinued. I just wonder if you have any argument why they are supposed to do better (whatever that means) as a Waymarking category. I seriously doubt that it would be more than a very small exotic niche category.

 

But yes, generally there could be a place for it if the majority supports it.

[+tozainamboku]

Photo Goals

I had forgotten about this one. It just goes to show that even locationless challenges can be supported by Waymarking.

 

My proposal here is for challenges that are tied to a specific location. It can be a location that is already in another category. The idea here is that most Waymarking categories are simply catalogs. There is some interest in finding an odd shaped building, a ginormous atatue, or a Starbucks store; but visits are generally lacking. The idea behind challenges and virtual caches was the oppportunity to turn a visit into a game and have some fun with it.

 

Photo goals and the categories in Waymarking games do this, but as locationless caches. What I'd like to see is more cateogories that let someone share a special place, but encourages people to come and visit by challenging the visitor in some way. Another idea is to follow the EarthCache model where the visit is a lesson in science, history, or culture, perhaps with some questions to find the answers to. It may be that only thing that actually encourages visits is a smiley on Geocaching.com, but I'd hate to think this is so.

[+BruceS]

I had opened discussion of a similar category about 5 years ago. It was a bit more restrictive of an idea but along the same line. Here is the discussion in the old forums Specific Photo Challenges Note the title was before the now retired challenges came into existence.

[+Ianatlarge]

Life is a challenge. Is this not enough?