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Geocaching Labs: Mega-Event Caches


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I imagine the Lilypad will fix these Lab caches to have them show up in 3rd party stats. I have them in mine at the moment thanks to some GPX files, I just do not know how to get the icon to show up in GSAK but that is up to them to do that. They are still new.

 

Yes, perhaps they will even allow the ability to "bail out" on them. Some folks just had to delete their finds on Challenges and did so later. I just hope they put more energy into fixing the lab issues than they did with the Challenges. At least these have a name which does not have confusion.

 

You "imagine", somebody else "heard a rumor", but the point is, there has been no official comment on this.

 

Until it becomes an official cache type that is included in the standard GPX file, with an indexed number assigned to it, GSAK's developer will not add the icon. This is consistent with the way that he has handled other new cache types like the L&F Event and Block Party.

 

Well, some of us did talk to some lackeys at the Block Party (and even Jeremy) which gave hope that these things are just getting off the ground and hopefully it will be fixed some day.

Wherigo. I rest my case.

 

My Friends agree.

 

I did all of the "caches" in both of the Labs that weekend and enjoyed them all! I agree with this thread that I just want to be able to have them 1) show up in GSAK 2) be able to reconcile my stats (finds) with what the Geocaching.com web site shows. As it stands now, I have finds that I can't find or show in the stats that I generate. Hoping for some thoughts from the powers that be.

 

Nothing regarding the Lab Caches showed up in today's update. If nothing shows up in the next update I would say GS is pretty much done with lab caches.

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I don't have any problem with the commercial aspect of the brewery tour. Remember this is "labs", a chance to try something new and different - something that wouldn't normally be allowed by the current guidelines. Besides, it's beer - beer! I'd be totally opposed to a candle store tour - that would be crossing the line. :D

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what people will put out with this. Many of us have had thoughts of cool caches that we'd like to put out, but couldn't because of issues with cache permanence (90 days), worries about weathering, leaving an expensive item out for long in the wild, etc ..

 

What cool things can people build?

 

- some expensive electronic gizmo thingamabob that was itself a cache or led you to a cache, but you wouldn't want to leave out as a real cache for 90 days due to weather issues and cost issues.

 

- a well constructed puzzle box (wooden, metal, ...) that would not be appropriate for leaving out in the woods

 

- temporary moving caches, that move from person to person at an event

 

- a cache where you have to go talk to various people at an event to collect clues to find the actual cache. If you watch Amazing Race there was an episode a couple seasons ago where the contestants had to find people walking with trench coats and briefcases in Washington DC and give some spy code-word to them and find the right "spy" who had a clue for them. This would be something cool to do at an event to find a cache, but wouldn't normally work.

 

- caches involving NFC with phones, again where you have to find cachers at an event who have a clue on their phone you get via NFC

 

- a "flash mob" cache, where you have to get 50 (or whatever) people with smart phones into a 50 ft (or whatever) circle before a web site will reveal coordinates to a cache. I'll have a puzzle cache doing this soon, but it will also make a good lab/event cache.

 

- A scavenger hunt where you have to drive around a town/park/... to collect various clues and present them back to the event organizer before you are given cache coordinates

 

- Night caches involving electronic blinkies, which are only good for a day or two

 

Awesome awesome ideas there ChileHead! Love all of these you mentioned.

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Well, the word "demanded" was Nate's, not mine, and frankly, it puts me off, especially when so many good ideas are politely posted to the request forum and they don't even get acknowledged.

 

Is there a special secret place where we can go to demand things, like a nano size or the ability to ignore a user's 450 placed, then neglected micros, with just a few clicks?

 

 

I'd appreciate if you would quote me in context, in particular because I was careful to clarify my use of the word "demand" being in the "supply/demand" sense and not "I demand you do X or else". There is an appetite for finds that comes with attending an event. Organizers are responding to that appetite.

 

Good job Nate, I like this concept much!

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There is no "invite list" per se, anyone who goes to a mega which has a lab event can log the caches if they do them, know the code and have the link. Your main mega event page will most likely have the link to it or someone posted it in their log. No secret handshakes, passwords, just need the codes you get on site and the link.

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I am curious as to how long a typical "Lab" (or event cache if that's what the turn into)will be in existence. Is there a set time like 7 days after a mega event that the caches will be available?

 

Since these caches are a work in progress, I suppose then that the Lackeys could decide to dump the whole idea of lab caches. What would happen to the labs one has already found? Would they stay in this odd state of being at least acknowledge but not have any further details on the lab caches found?

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Wish I knew bud. Would hate they were just wiped from the memory banks and all our milestones and work on them, gone. "Challenges" were gone just like that, I did like 90 of them, most of them took more than just kissing a frog. Time will tell. I wish they would just complete their work in the founds file and stats and if they want to stop them, do not delete what folks have done.

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I am curious as to how long a typical "Lab" (or event cache if that's what the turn into)will be in existence. Is there a set time like 7 days after a mega event that the caches will be available?

 

Since these caches are a work in progress, I suppose then that the Lackeys could decide to dump the whole idea of lab caches. What would happen to the labs one has already found? Would they stay in this odd state of being at least acknowledge but not have any further details on the lab caches found?

 

I attended yesterday's Geocoin Fest 2013 event in Las Vegas, NV and the site I was directed to said that the caches would last for eight days. Note that I visited the site days after receiving the announcement so the expiration date was probably set to an even number like 10 days. After the expiration date, the find should remain in our stats and I assume that if they dump the idea of lab caches that it should remain there too.

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Can I leave feedback?

Of course! That’s why we’re testing them. Shortly after Block Party, we’ll send a survey to everyone who found a Lab Cache. If you have other feedback, feel free to post it in the forums.

 

My two cents:

 

Attended Geocoin Fest 2013 and not sure if you'll be sending surveys so I'm posting in the forum. I was caching with an Android phone and the coords or navigation system lead me across the freeway from one cache. Not sure if it was an error on my part, but the hider may want to double check the coords. Someone caching with a GPSr may not have access to the internet out in the field like I did to look up the address and navigate to it. BTW, are these hidden by Lackeys of the Mega Event organizers?

 

When I received notification of the lab caches, it was unclear when we could begin to find them. It wasn't until after I entered the code to the cache that I learned that others found them the night before the Mega event but at that time there was only two logs so I think I was not the only one who was confused about this. If I knew that I could find these caches before the event (because I had to leave after), then I would have done that to spend more time at the actual event. It also would have been nice to be able to re-visit the page to read others' logs and to dip trackables for miles.

 

By the time I found the lab caches, I learned that one location was never given a log and another lost the faux rock that was hidden outside of its business. So, I assumed that the other two I found didn't have containers and logs either and just looked for the code. Although it was easier to find the code and move onto the next cache, I think I would have preferred getting out of the car to sign a log, speaking to the business owners and financially supporting their business since they supported our hobby.

 

Lastly, (and this is just my preference) I would have preferred to just drive to one place and walk around to find lab caches. I know that the lab caches for this event wanted to highlight certain places in town that we may not normally visit, but I prefer to park and walk to save time, gas, money and the environment.

 

Thank you. (Steps off soapbox)

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Since I, too, will be participating in the Going Caching Mega event coming up this weekend, I am CLUELESS about these Lab caches and how to load them and find them! I read the FAQ's and that didn't give me much. The link has been posted and it a "#" thingy - I'm not into Twitter, etc, so not sure if I need to be to participate. HELP!!! :blink:

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Since I, too, will be participating in the Going Caching Mega event coming up this weekend, I am CLUELESS about these Lab caches and how to load them and find them! I read the FAQ's and that didn't give me much. The link has been posted and it a "#" thingy - I'm not into Twitter, etc, so not sure if I need to be to participate. HELP!!! :blink:

There are different ways to log Lab caches (per my experience at the Block Party) - somewhere at the event, most likely at the registration booth/table, there will be a printed sheet with coordinates of where the Lab caches exist and the URL of the website where they are logged.

 

1. You can enter the coordinates into your GPSr and navigate to the "caches". Once at the destination, there was a code word that you would note (write down or take picture). Once back at a computer with internet access, you logged into the aforementioned URL with your Geocaching credentials and entered the code word for each Lab cache to earn a find.

2. The sheet also had a QR Code that smartphone users could scan which, in turn, would take them to the Lab cache login page. Once logged in, they could immediately log their find with the code word on their smartphone.

 

Be aware that Lab caches are temporary in nature so you are provided a limited amount of time to log them (usually a week). If you wait too long, the Lab caches will be disabled,and unlike regular geocaches, you will not be able to log them after that point in time.

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I LOVE THIS IDEA! Went to the Mega Event in Las Vegas this past weekend and notice the new "Lab Caches" Since I have watched many of these shows on TV it was fun and exciting to actually see the businesses. We were able to go and visit all 6 of them. I thought they were very interesting. I was happy that 6 smiles were added to my count but was disappointed that we didn't get a special Souvenir. I only hope that these will continue and one day a special souvenir will appear in my profile. In my opinion I think these Lab Caches is another way to see what is out there for those of us that wants to learn some interesting things that is around them. I would much rather do these than find a micro hidden under a lamp post. Thanks for adding more and unique way of caching! Can't wait for some more of these to come out.

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I am a little lost here. I was at the Georgia Mega event this weekend and did two lab caches. I would like to log them, but when I go to labs.geocaching.com it says that it is by invitation only. So how do I get an invite to log the two that I have done?

 

Okay, I found the e-mail and logged on. However it says the the lab for the Mega event are no longer available to play. So are you telling me that 2 days after an event you can't log a couple of finds? Some people don't do their logging until they get home. If this is how these will be then I can see them failing just like the challenges did.

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Looked at your mega page. There are links to them. Here.

 

Going Caching Crew

Premium MemberPremium Member

 

Announcement Announcement 10/17/2013

Lab Cache link

 

(visit link)

 

Enjoy!

 

Going Caching Crew

 

If this link does not work, look for that 10/17/2013 log entry I just posted.

 

https://labs.geocaching.com/Adventures/Details/d2767fc6-29a5-44d8-892d-59bb025ee95b

 

To respond to your 2nd post which posted as I was responding...

 

You can still log them, you just can't go find the codes in the field, you have time to log them, you have 3 days 22 hours left.

 

The labs are temporary caches during an event, thus, to find the answers it has to be during the mega event, but you have many days after to log them. Its not the end, you have time!

Edited by lamoracke
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I attended Going Caching Mega Event and did all 8 Lab Caches. I had a great time searching for them. My main issue was that couldn't log them the day of the event and the Lab does not give you the option to set the found date.

 

Can you talk more about why you couldn't log them on the day of the event?

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We did one of the lab caches while at GCF in Las Vegas. Wanted to see what they were about, but we were concerned about some of the comments that it would mess up our statistics. And it did. I just don't understand why the lab caches won't load into MyFindsPQ like all the other logged caches do. So, from now until forever, our caches logged count will be one higher than our MyFindsPQ. It may be a small thing, but it's annoying.

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We (Geopepi & Geo Ms P) attended Going Caching in GA and did the 8 Lab caches. I logged them each as a find with the codeword and little smileys appeared. Now they do not show up anywhere. We don't have a souvenir and it shows 0 under lab caches. What did I do wrong?

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We (Geopepi & Geo Ms P) attended Going Caching in GA and did the 8 Lab caches. I logged them each as a find with the codeword and little smileys appeared. Now they do not show up anywhere. We don't have a souvenir and it shows 0 under lab caches. What did I do wrong?

 

Looking at your profile..

 

Lab Cache 8

 

Shows up to me at least.

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We've just attended our first Mega in Auckland, New Zealand in which we had 10 Lab Caches available. Was quite interested to see how these worked and was suprised that you just enter the code word found at the location (sign the log book) and you get a smiley....you don't actually have to write a log online. So it was pretty easy to get 10 Lab Cache, great.....you'd think. Only now the Lab icon only shows on my public profile but not on my Stats. And yesterday we found 10 different cache types in one day...only to find it's in fact only 9 as the Lab Cache was registered for the previous day. Disappointed to say the least. What is the point then? So although I have the 10 caches added to my found number, the stats don't match up, and we've missed our best opportunity to get 10 types in one day!!

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Like KrisTim I was also at NZMega2013.

 

I collected all 10 caches (and logging into the labs confirms this).

However I don't have a LAB icon showing in either my stats or the public view stat.

My total cache count has increased - currently 10 more than the sum of the cache types.

All were logged while they were able to be played, some on the day after - but if as KrisTim's log suggests they are date related, then we have little chance of timing it right as we always struggle with getting the date ight in any log being 12+ hrs ahead of USA.

 

Souvenir???

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More thoughts - after all if these are experimental, then feedforward is useful

 

* too easy - we had 2 sets of 5 codes to find, one for each day of Mega. It would have been more of a challenge to have had to collect all five for the day to get one simile.

 

* my third-party (GS approved) smartphone app couldn't process the GPX file.

* how do third-party applications (smartphone and PC) get the information? No GC code, no log, no way to do it?

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(Easy o post new replies than to edit)

 

Have just looked back through some previous logs...

 

1. Found where my Lab Caches are - on the caches page of my Public Profile - would be great to have them also in the Statistics too.

 

2. The locations at NZ Mega (That's New Zealand), were not particularly commercial. The first set was so of the local sites of interest around the township (whih is now a suburb of Greater Auckland) - an artwork or two, the original library, the local stadium. The second set were to acknowledge the sponsors of the event - hardware store, coffee shop, etc

 

3. With the list of ideas posted early in the forum, it would be great to see some of these ideas implemented in the future (not that I'm likely to see them happen)

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I attended Mega Sweden yesterday, and found seven out of ten labcaches. I think they were great. Most of them was not a kind you could transfer into a normal cache, including a Bar, accually a tent in the middle of the forrest serving hot beverage and gingerbread, a horror tour with live actors, electronical equipment and much more.

 

Just one bad thing, I didnt log them online until today and I cant set the logdate to yesterday.

And I think it is very bad that they do not show in the statistics, just the find count.

And I would like to be able to write a log to give credit to the CO, for their great ideas.

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I have a small problem with LAB caches. Last weekend I logged 10 LAB caches before I logged the 130 caches I had found earlier the same day. How can I get the caches in the correct order now? Can I delete the LAB caches, log the 130 caches and then log the LAB caches again? I don't think I can log the LAB caches twice. I really need help asap :(

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I have a small problem with LAB caches. Last weekend I logged 10 LAB caches before I logged the 130 caches I had found earlier the same day. How can I get the caches in the correct order now? Can I delete the LAB caches, log the 130 caches and then log the LAB caches again? I don't think I can log the LAB caches twice. I really need help asap :(

 

You can change your milestones, but I would NOT delete your lab caches. In another thread one person is having trouble re-logging one. Assume if you delete a lab cache, whether its available to log again, it would be gone, so I would not do that.

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I have a small problem with LAB caches. Last weekend I logged 10 LAB caches before I logged the 130 caches I had found earlier the same day. How can I get the caches in the correct order now? Can I delete the LAB caches, log the 130 caches and then log the LAB caches again? I don't think I can log the LAB caches twice. I really need help asap :(

 

You can change your milestones, but I would NOT delete your lab caches. In another thread one person is having trouble re-logging one. Assume if you delete a lab cache, whether its available to log again, it would be gone, so I would not do that.

 

How can I change the milestones on gc.com?

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I have a small problem with LAB caches. Last weekend I logged 10 LAB caches before I logged the 130 caches I had found earlier the same day. How can I get the caches in the correct order now? Can I delete the LAB caches, log the 130 caches and then log the LAB caches again? I don't think I can log the LAB caches twice. I really need help asap :(

 

You can change your milestones, but I would NOT delete your lab caches. In another thread one person is having trouble re-logging one. Assume if you delete a lab cache, whether its available to log again, it would be gone, so I would not do that.

 

Does anyone know if these "kind of like caches" even affect the milestones? What if one is an actual milestone? Can the stats even list it? They are not available in any other list.

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I have a small problem with LAB caches. Last weekend I logged 10 LAB caches before I logged the 130 caches I had found earlier the same day. How can I get the caches in the correct order now? Can I delete the LAB caches, log the 130 caches and then log the LAB caches again? I don't think I can log the LAB caches twice. I really need help asap :(

 

You can change your milestones, but I would NOT delete your lab caches. In another thread one person is having trouble re-logging one. Assume if you delete a lab cache, whether its available to log again, it would be gone, so I would not do that.

 

Does anyone know if these "kind of like caches" even affect the milestones? What if one is an actual milestone? Can the stats even list it? They are not available in any other list.

 

Since these caches do count in your totals, I believe your milestones are whatever cache you have, but I have not had an official milestone yet so I do not know for sure. I added these waypoints into GSAK so they work just fine over, minus the icon.

 

As far as fixing your milestones, go into your statistics tab, there should be 3 tabs, basic, maps, and milestones. Choose milestones. There is a blue question mark which if clicked will let you go into statistics settings and from there, you can edit and lock your new milestone cache(s).

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I have a small problem with LAB caches. Last weekend I logged 10 LAB caches before I logged the 130 caches I had found earlier the same day. How can I get the caches in the correct order now? Can I delete the LAB caches, log the 130 caches and then log the LAB caches again? I don't think I can log the LAB caches twice. I really need help asap :(

 

You can change your milestones, but I would NOT delete your lab caches. In another thread one person is having trouble re-logging one. Assume if you delete a lab cache, whether its available to log again, it would be gone, so I would not do that.

 

Does anyone know if these "kind of like caches" even affect the milestones? What if one is an actual milestone? Can the stats even list it? They are not available in any other list.

 

Since these caches do count in your totals, I believe your milestones are whatever cache you have, but I have not had an official milestone yet so I do not know for sure. I added these waypoints into GSAK so they work just fine over, minus the icon.

 

As far as fixing your milestones, go into your statistics tab, there should be 3 tabs, basic, maps, and milestones. Choose milestones. There is a blue question mark which if clicked will let you go into statistics settings and from there, you can edit and lock your new milestone cache(s).

 

Lab Caches do not count toward milestones on GC.com. I have found 18 Lab Caches so far. We just got back from doing the ET Highway and we hit a few milestone. After running my FindStatGen stats, I compared the milestones there and on GC.com and they are not the same. I have my Lab Caches in GSAK as type other, but it still counts them toward milestones in GSAK.

 

I also have heard this from some of the Lackeys I know.

 

Terrible Ts

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I do not understand the nature of the problem though. Lets say you had 10,000 finds and you had 10 lab caches. Once you hit 10,000 caches, are you saying your milestones would be blank for 10k until you get 10,010? Seems strange if it counts in your totals.

 

Am not talking about third party stats of any kind here, Geocaching.com milestones.

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I do not understand the nature of the problem though. Lets say you had 10,000 finds and you had 10 lab caches. Once you hit 10,000 caches, are you saying your milestones would be blank for 10k until you get 10,010? Seems strange if it counts in your totals.

 

Am not talking about third party stats of any kind here, Geocaching.com milestones.

 

The "nature of the problem" is that they aren't really caches. They add to your find count in one part of the web site but not in others. They are not listed in your found caches in your public profile and after they close the cycle of lab caches, you can never access them again. They don't even have logs so you won't see them in your found logs in your private profile and I guess the count of total found logs won't match your total found count. They are not listed in your My Finds PQ and Project-GC is totally ignorant of them because they are not available in the api. And, as we just learned, if you create them manually in GSAK, your future milestones there won't match what is on the website.

 

Personally, if I had the chance to find one of these, I probably would, but I wouldn't even consider entering it into the web site.

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Personally, if I had the chance to find one of these, I probably would, but I wouldn't even consider entering it into the web site.
If a Lab Cache sounded interesting, or if I were in the mood to help Groundspeak beta-test Lab Caches, then I'd go ahead and find one. I'd also log it online. But then I'd delete the online log.

 

There have been other beta-tests, usability studies, and similar tests where I've entered dummy data for the purposes of the test. I don't have a problem with that. But if the dummy data mingles with real data after the test is over, then I'm going to delete the dummy data.

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I do not understand the nature of the problem though. Lets say you had 10,000 finds and you had 10 lab caches. Once you hit 10,000 caches, are you saying your milestones would be blank for 10k until you get 10,010? Seems strange if it counts in your totals.

 

Am not talking about third party stats of any kind here, Geocaching.com milestones.

That is exactly the problem! My personal example: While in the Las Vegas area in October, I found the 6 lab caches placed for the Geocoinfest event. My indicated find count on Geocaching.com was increased by 6. After I got home, I was only a few caches from my major milestone of 10,000 finds. So I did some research and decided which specific cache I wanted to be my 10,000th find. I found that cache and my online Found It log reflected that it was my 10,000th find. However, imagine my surprise when I looked at my statistics page on Geocaching.com and saw that my 10,000th find was NOT that cache, but another, less exciting cache found afterwards. It happened to be on the same day, so at least the date is correct. But it was - you guessed it - the 6th cache I found after the one that I thought was my 10,000th.

 

Based upon this, I really don't like this unexpected consequence of the lab caches. Either they should count fully toward your finds, including statistics, or they shouldn't increase your find count at all. Having them affect your total find count but not your statistics is not right. As it is now, if I find any lab caches in the future, I will need to keep careful accounting of how many total I have found and then mentally correct my find count as I approach a milestone so that the cache I select for the milestone is the one I intended.

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I do not understand the nature of the problem though. Lets say you had 10,000 finds and you had 10 lab caches. Once you hit 10,000 caches, are you saying your milestones would be blank for 10k until you get 10,010? Seems strange if it counts in your totals.

 

Am not talking about third party stats of any kind here, Geocaching.com milestones.

That is exactly the problem! My personal example: While in the Las Vegas area in October, I found the 6 lab caches placed for the Geocoinfest event. My indicated find count on Geocaching.com was increased by 6. After I got home, I was only a few caches from my major milestone of 10,000 finds. So I did some research and decided which specific cache I wanted to be my 10,000th find. I found that cache and my online Found It log reflected that it was my 10,000th find. However, imagine my surprise when I looked at my statistics page on Geocaching.com and saw that my 10,000th find was NOT that cache, but another, less exciting cache found afterwards. It happened to be on the same day, so at least the date is correct. But it was - you guessed it - the 6th cache I found after the one that I thought was my 10,000th.

 

Based upon this, I really don't like this unexpected consequence of the lab caches. Either they should count fully toward your finds, including statistics, or they shouldn't increase your find count at all. Having them affect your total find count but not your statistics is not right. As it is now, if I find any lab caches in the future, I will need to keep careful accounting of how many total I have found and then mentally correct my find count as I approach a milestone so that the cache I select for the milestone is the one I intended.

 

Are you aware that you can edit your milestones to display any cache? It's in Your Account Details. Find the section for Statistics and click "change".

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I do not understand the nature of the problem though. Lets say you had 10,000 finds and you had 10 lab caches. Once you hit 10,000 caches, are you saying your milestones would be blank for 10k until you get 10,010? Seems strange if it counts in your totals.

 

Am not talking about third party stats of any kind here, Geocaching.com milestones.

That is exactly the problem! My personal example: While in the Las Vegas area in October, I found the 6 lab caches placed for the Geocoinfest event. My indicated find count on Geocaching.com was increased by 6. After I got home, I was only a few caches from my major milestone of 10,000 finds. So I did some research and decided which specific cache I wanted to be my 10,000th find. I found that cache and my online Found It log reflected that it was my 10,000th find. However, imagine my surprise when I looked at my statistics page on Geocaching.com and saw that my 10,000th find was NOT that cache, but another, less exciting cache found afterwards. It happened to be on the same day, so at least the date is correct. But it was - you guessed it - the 6th cache I found after the one that I thought was my 10,000th.

 

Based upon this, I really don't like this unexpected consequence of the lab caches. Either they should count fully toward your finds, including statistics, or they shouldn't increase your find count at all. Having them affect your total find count but not your statistics is not right. As it is now, if I find any lab caches in the future, I will need to keep careful accounting of how many total I have found and then mentally correct my find count as I approach a milestone so that the cache I select for the milestone is the one I intended.

 

Are you aware that you can edit your milestones to display any cache? It's in Your Account Details. Find the section for Statistics and click "change".

 

Personally I am aware, but its a bandaid. It would be nice in time if this was not needed to be done.

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Personally I am aware, but its a bandaid. It would be nice in time if this was not needed to be done.

 

Yea, I can appreciate this. Given the choice I would certainly have it just work like every other geocache. The problem is that Lab Caches are not fully baked yet, and aren't integrated with Geocaching.com in a way that would make it possible. Provided Lab Caches continue to be successful we will track toward full-fledged cache-ness and all the wonderful benefits that confers such as stats and PQs.

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This is probably almost a bug now :unsure:

While at a Mega I found 10 lab caches and had a lot of fun. My profile page is updated with the finds and it all looks good.

 

My statistics page does not look good. My cache count in the geocaching banner shows 2644 finds, my statistics page shows 2634 finds.

 

I appreciate that these lab caches are development caches of a sort, but if there is an icon and count facility for the profile page then there should be no reason why the statistics page cannot be updated to reflect this too.

Bits that need updating: Your Caching Chronology with the correct count, Cache Types I've Found with a new cache type. Container Types for lab caches should probably be set to <not chosen>. Terrain and difficulty is a problem, perhaps the defaults? <1.5/1.5>.

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Personally I am aware, but its a bandaid. It would be nice in time if this was not needed to be done.

 

Yea, I can appreciate this. Given the choice I would certainly have it just work like every other geocache. The problem is that Lab Caches are not fully baked yet, and aren't integrated with Geocaching.com in a way that would make it possible. Provided Lab Caches continue to be successful we will track toward full-fledged cache-ness and all the wonderful benefits that confers such as stats and PQs.

 

I think that's a problem though - it invites confusion about statistics, even if there is a bandaid fix. It could make people hesitant to try out lab caches if they don't want to add extra hassle to their profile stats. ~ How many caches have you found? 2387, minus the 8 labs I did a year ago. Or was it plus 8? Which counter did I look at again? I guess I'll have to just trust my milestone records... etc etc...

 

It's nice to have Lab caches count in stats, but I think having it count towards the overall find count since as you said, they're "not fully baked yet, and aren't integrated with geocaching.com in a way that would make it possible", is taking it a step too far. If "Lab caches" can be any type of experimental cache before it's incorporated officially, then perhaps just have them display separately in stats, like benchmarks.

 

I think in this case it should be all or nothing, and all seems like it's too much work for Groundspeak to do given its priority.

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I agree with idea to remove lab caches from total finds for now. I think it can be more successful if there are no problems with statistics because no one will hesitate to log them. And once this experiment is finished and lab caches will be like other caches (at least will have GC code) you can count them in total finds again.

 

Lab caches are great idea and it will be also great if they are like other caches.

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I disagree with the last few posters. I couldn't care less that the Lab Caches aren't included in my stats. The stats page shows the stats of real, full-fledged caches, and the total cache count includes Lab caches. So what? I'm totally fine with it the way it is.

 

I feel this way as well.

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While I've only been fortunate enough to attend 1 Mega Event (prior to Lab caches) I like the idea of Temporary Event Caches (or perhaps even Temporary Caches) with a code requirement for logging. They appear to be accepted by a good part of the Geocaching community (who have attended these Events) other than that they are not your usual cache in regards to stats etc. Temporary caches could also be made available for normal Events as well.

 

With 5 letters (and 0-9 numbers) still available for future cache types I think it is time these caches became 'mainstream' caches and were given a proper GC (GS) code, Id, Cachetype and icon.

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I disagree with the last few posters. I couldn't care less that the Lab Caches aren't included in my stats. The stats page shows the stats of real, full-fledged caches, and the total cache count includes Lab caches. So what? I'm totally fine with it the way it is.

 

And that's the problem. Lab caches are not full-fledged caches.

Prazskychytrak has found 2006 caches, say profile. Which cache was his number 2000? No one, because he found 7 lab caches.

There is not possible to load it in Geoget.

But you found it.

There are two options:

1, full listing at geocaching.com and including in stats (important thing in middle Europe)

2, remove lab caches from "total found" (will not get foundpoint for finding cache).

I'm not sure, if second option will be still attractive for seeking, especially in Czech republic. But maybe it was reason for lab caches there last weekend. Because of the perception of geocaching in another continent.

 

Sorry for imperfect english.

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