Future Geocaching Issues

[+Sharks-N-Beans]

I know it will be difficult to refrain from posting current dislikes in this thread, but I'm interested in hearing what others see as future problems that are not currently apparent. What got me thinking about this is my concern below:

 

Geo-Art seems to be a relatively harmless aspect of the game. What I think about, however whenever I see it, is the escalation of the practice which is driven by the virtual aspect of Geocaching instead of the physical aspect. By design, individual caches are secondary to the visual portrayal of the series on a map. That seems backwards to me. Like I stated above, it's fairly harmeless now, but we all know how trends go.

 

What future issues do you see lurking out there?

[+StarBrand]

Agreed - I've started 2 different Geo-Art series and both were just terrible from a physical Geocaching perspective. Horrid containers, wet logs, full logs, poor locations, no swag, missing containers, drive up caches, little or no scenery, mad neighbors, etc

 

I abandoned both as not being my idea of Geocaching fun.

[+L0ne.R]

I know it will be difficult to refrain from posting current dislikes in this thread, but I'm interested in hearing what others see as future problems that are not currently apparent. What got me thinking about this is my concern below:

 

Geo-Art seems to be a relatively harmless aspect of the game. What I think about, however whenever I see it, is the escalation of the practice which is driven by the virtual aspect of Geocaching instead of the physical aspect. By design, individual caches are secondary to the visual portrayal of the series on a map. That seems backwards to me. Like I stated above, it's fairly harmeless now, but we all know how trends go.

 

What future issues do you see lurking out there?

 

I share your concern.Very power-trail-esque.

Edited March 1, 2013 by L0ne R

[+Viajero Perdido]

More government involvement.

 

1. Bans, permits, red tape, hoops. Lots of the word "no".

 

2. Caches placed by tourism agencies, then slowly abandoned.

 

3. Events and cachers being steered (cough!) by gov't grants for planning purposes, eg tourism development.

[+frinklabs]

My primary concern is that there will be some tipping point where Geocaching all of a sudden becomes massively mainstream.

 

Possible endorsement by a big celebrity, or something like that, which brings a whole whack of n00b wannabes in, then out again and leaving a mess behind them.

[+Castle Mischief]

More government involvement.

 

1. Bans, permits, red tape, hoops. Lots of the word "no".

 

2. Caches placed by tourism agencies, then slowly abandoned.

 

3. Events and cachers being steered (cough!) by gov't grants for planning purposes, eg tourism development.

 

This happens and has happened without government involvement for years. How many times did somebody say in defense of the ET power trail "but what about the poor businesses that will suffer without the power trail"?

[+Castle Mischief]

My primary concern is that there will be some tipping point where Geocaching all of a sudden becomes massively mainstream.

 

Possible endorsement by a big celebrity, or something like that, which brings a whole whack of n00b wannabes in, then out again and leaving a mess behind them.

 

Careful, you'll summon the snoogans and we'll get to see the same post he's been making about the "mainstream event horizon" for years.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

More government involvement.

 

1. Bans, permits, red tape, hoops. Lots of the word "no".

 

2. Caches placed by tourism agencies, then slowly abandoned.

 

3. Events and cachers being steered (cough!) by gov't grants for planning purposes, eg tourism development.

 

This happens and has happened without government involvement for years. How many times did somebody say in defense of the ET power trail "but what about the poor businesses that will suffer without the power trail"?

 

And how any other power trails have been identified which have had a positive impact on local businesses?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

More government involvement.

 

1. Bans, permits, red tape, hoops. Lots of the word "no".

 

2. Caches placed by tourism agencies, then slowly abandoned.

 

3. Events and cachers being steered (cough!) by gov't grants for planning purposes, eg tourism development.

 

I agree.

 

Although the trend has already started with all the power trails and parking grabs, I see geocaching becoming much less about getting outdoors for some exercise while going on a hke, to game that's more about driving from location to location. Perhaps some might not see it as an "issue" but that's not a game that I have any particular interest in playing.

[+redwoodkestrel]

I worry about what might happen if geocaching becomes incentivized, beyond our own individual incentives for doing it. Leaderboards, prizes for finding a certain number or hiding a certain number or _________.

 

Hopefully Groundspeak would remain true and not implement something like this themselves, but if they're ever bought out (e.g. by a company making GPS units that want to promote more buying of their product or wants more traffic to the site to sell ads, etc.), then I would worry... I could see very little good coming out of it and lot of degradation of geocaching as a whole.

[+DragonsWest]

I'd like to see a chart of the number of CITOs hosted each month. They seem to be falling out of favor.

[Andronicus]

I think pico caches will be the next scourge. So small you need a magnifying glass.

[Andronicus]

More government involvement.

 

...

3. Events and cachers being steered (cough!) by gov't grants for planning purposes, eg tourism development.

I worry about what might happen if geocaching becomes incentivized, beyond our own individual incentives for doing it. Leaderboards, prizes for finding a certain number or hiding a certain number or _________.

...

Personaly, I have done 2 well done government sponsored GeoTrails with Rewards (both in New Brunswick), and had a ton of fun. I do not see these as a 'issue', I see them as a great new trend, helping to re-initiate higher quality caches.

[+313JTG]

I think pico caches will be the next scourge. So small you need a magnifying glass.

 

I can't wait to find a grain of rice tied to a tree in the woods!

[+geodarts]

I think pico caches will be the next scourge. So small you need a magnifying glass.

 

But with nano technology people will be able to spot them with a contact lens designed for "enhanced reality," as well as giving you pinpoint gps and the entire web of information. And then we will be able to sign the log using micro lasers or some such instrument. Before a cacher starts up the rocket pack and heads to the next one. Or it could be that the game disappears into a dark post-apocalyptic world where we are all running from government created zombies. We know where real caches are but can't use gps or smartphones without alerting the overlords. As a result, letterboxing increases in popularity. One or the other, I am sure.

 

For the more immediate future, in my more pessimistic moods, I agree with much of what NYPaddleCacher wrote about many of the present trends of the game continuing. QR codes. NFC. Less emphasis on location. Another million repetitive "caches." It will be interesting to see what Groundspeak does with all of this and where we, as players, end up taking the game.

 

I also think there will be a day when there is a memorial for the last virtual to be archived on Groundspeak.

 

In my more optimistic moods, I foresee wherigos revived and turned into creative caches enhanced with entertaining storylines. And some form of virtuals returning.

Edited March 2, 2013 by geodarts

[+redwoodkestrel]

More government involvement.

 

...

3. Events and cachers being steered (cough!) by gov't grants for planning purposes, eg tourism development.

I worry about what might happen if geocaching becomes incentivized, beyond our own individual incentives for doing it. Leaderboards, prizes for finding a certain number or hiding a certain number or _________.

...

Personaly, I have done 2 well done government sponsored GeoTrails with Rewards (both in New Brunswick), and had a ton of fun. I do not see these as a 'issue', I see them as a great new trend, helping to re-initiate higher quality caches.

 

Not quite what I meant. I think if individual cache hiders want to give out an incentive to do their cache, totally fine. But it's when geocaching.com as a site incentivizes aspects of caching... that's what I would be worried about. Like, you log in and the first thing you see is a leaderboard of who has the most finds.

[Andronicus]

In my more optimistic moods, I foresee wherigos revived and turned into creative caches enhanced with entertaining storylines. And some form of virtuals returning.

If Groundspeak doesn't get wherigos revived, googles new geolocation game may fill in the vacume.

[+Snoogans]

My primary concern is that there will be some tipping point where Geocaching all of a sudden becomes massively mainstream.

 

Possible endorsement by a big celebrity, or something like that, which brings a whole whack of n00b wannabes in, then out again and leaving a mess behind them.

 

Careful, you'll summon the snoogans and we'll get to see the same post he's been making about the "mainstream event horizon" for years.

 

Lolz don't be jealous. Everyone can't be as visionary as me.

[+Semper Questio]

My primary concern is that there will be some tipping point where Geocaching all of a sudden becomes massively mainstream.

 

Possible endorsement by a big celebrity, or something like that, which brings a whole whack of n00b wannabes in, then out again and leaving a mess behind them.

 

Careful, you'll summon the snoogans and we'll get to see the same post he's been making about the "mainstream event horizon" for years.

 

Lolz don't be jealous. Everyone can't be as visionary as me.

 

Too late! The Snoogans is HERE!!!

 

I think the limitations on caching by various authorities will grow significantly and that will push the game into virtualization. Go there, scan something wiht your phone, repeat. I don't know that it is necessarily a bad thing. It will be what we make it. But the game is being changed, and not just by the participants.

[4wheelin_fool]

 

What future issues do you see lurking out there?

 

Bomb squad calls resulting in business shutdowns would lead to government regulation, banning geocaches from all privately owned parking lots.

[+Snoogans]

More government involvement.

 

1. Bans, permits, red tape, hoops. Lots of the word "no".

 

2. Caches placed by tourism agencies, then slowly abandoned.

 

3. Events and cachers being steered (cough!) by gov't grants for planning purposes, eg tourism development.

 

I think safety and CO liability will be the real issues when geocaching goes hula hoop. This could lead to government regulation, but only if the gub-mint sees a way to turn a buck on it... Otherwise we could see severe restriction of the activity that would probably please some folks aesthetic sensibilities.

 

Groundspeak's disclaimer protects Groundspeak as the facilitator of the activity on this website. (Or does it?) It doesn't protect the CO.

 

Sooner or later there will be lawsuits by people with a lottery mentality and a lack of personal accountability. If the perfect storm situation where the young cacher in Dresden, Germany died while hunting a cache that should not have been published in an area marked as verboten had happened here in the USA we might already have an example of what I'm talking about.

 

Maybe I'm spending too much time studying safety for my job that I see the need for more safety awareness in this activity, but I've backed wayyy off of that soapbox. This culture isn't ready for it. I come here for fun and not for work.

[+JL_HSTRE]

I predict there will be a day when all caches require explicit permission.

[+ByronForestPreserve]

I've been teaching outdoor education and doing school field trips for 14 years. In the last 2-3 years I've noticed a very dramatic increase in the number of kids who have NEVER been in a natural setting before. We're not talking wilderness...I mean a small forest preserve with good trails where you can always see the building. I'd say I hear upwards of 75% of the kids say they haven't ever been "in the woods before," when it used to be maybe one or two in a class that would say that. And I'm already starting with pretty rural kids.

 

So...I'm afraid that in ten years the general consensus will be "why would I want to hike somewhere to find a box in the woods?"

[nonaeroterraqueous]

I think, for the most part, the people who've posted already have gotten it right. I would only argue that an increase of bomb scares might not be the case, as public familiarity with the sport would increase the chances of someone recognizing a cache for what it is. Future problems and conditions can only be predicted by current trends. There may be other things that arise that we could not have forseen, but there's no way to write about it without delving into wild guesses. The trends I see, and their associated complications, are as follows:

 

1) An increase in the over-all number of caches: In the beginning, there were too few caches, and gaining interest was difficult, because the average person could not go out and easily grab their first cache find. Eventually, though, there could be too many caches, making them too commonplace to hold a person's interest, and there might be too few decent places left for someone who would like to place their fist cache. More caches means an increase in muggle discoveries, which causes an increased awareness of the sport by non-participants. This will make the relatively low-profile game a more high-profile one, which will lead to increased regulation. More regulation guarantees less freedom in cache placements. When people who don't play the game start making the rules, you can be sure they won't be looking to keep the game fun for everyone.

 

2) A decrease in the average cache size: Micros are the easiest and safest thing to hide. They are the least likely thing to disappear, and they have come to represent an increasing share of the available geocaches, I think (from what I can see). When the micro becomes the norm, the notion of a cache being a container of anything, namely swag, goes away, and a container that contains nothing is only a half a step removed from a laminated barcode or other confirmation code. Those people who actually like to find trade items will be less likely to play. Power caching and a higher focus on numbers of finds is likely to become the focus of the game. The game will become more competitive and less altruistic in nature. People will also be more likely to get burned out on the game, as caches become less unique, and trying to achieve an ever higher number of finds begins to seem like work (like working for an ever higher number of dollars, except that you can't buy anything with a find count).

 

3) Increased commercialization of Groundspeak: Every business that starts out free of advertisements and extra ways of generating revenue (ie. ad-free magazines) eventually goes the way of over-merchandizing, if they become highly successful. The cost of doing business always increases, as employees want raises, and the business strives to achieve bigger and better things. Government spending tends toward increase. Personal spending tends toward increase. Business spending is no different. I think that this business will continue to look for more ways to generate revenue from this game, and it will certainly detract somewhat from the over-all appeal of the site. Likely, though, it will not go too far.

 

4) An increase in the number of geocachers: Smartphones have made this game available to more than just the avid wilderness adventurer. Easier access means that the participants might be a less dedicated crowd. They're also likely to be a more urban group. Occasionally, a business can become too popular, and the popularity destroys the business model, which destroys the business. I've seen a few places become so popular that they went out of business, as paradoxical as that sounds. When the consumer base becomes so large that none of the consumers can be happy with the service, the business can boom, then bust. I don't expect that to happen here, but I'm keeping an eye on it.

 

And that's my two farthing's worth.

Edited March 28, 2013 by nonaeroterraqueous

[+the4dirtydogs]

 

What future issues do you see lurking out there?

 

Bomb squad calls resulting in business shutdowns would lead to government regulation, banning geocaches from all privately owned parking lots.

I was thinking the same thing. Or even more extreme with cities banning caches from their city boundaries.

Edited March 28, 2013 by the4dirtydogs

[+J Grouchy]

Light pole manufacturers will begin adding a pre-formed slot in their base covers (i.e., skirts) into which a geocache can be easily inserted, thus reducing the need for those awkward moments when the skirt is lifted and the noise alerts everyone within a one-mile radius.