"Beta Testing"

[+KayakGZ]

I like to try for FTF's. On a few occasions, I found the "FTF" spot on the log left open, but someone had signed "beta test" on the log. After inquiring, I learned that "beta testing" is when someone tests your coords before the cache is published. It seems kind of unfair to "find" a cache thru an inside tip before publication. If they know the hider, why not just call or email? Why mark the log sheet, or post to the log? When I hide a cache, I usually test my own coords by re-navigating to the cache.

[+T.D.M.22]

Beta testing is getting someone else to test the co-ords and difficulty. As the hider you know where it is so you would tend to not actually look for it.

 

They left FTF open- how is it different than if the same person comes back after its published? They still have an advantage, having already found it. What would be unfair - if anything is-is if they wait until it's published then go sign the log and claim FTF.

 

Just leave it be, it's not worth anything.

[+fbingha]

Well, that is one way to beta test, in my area, the beta testers are generally with the hider when the cache is hidden.

[+lamoracke]

Generally, they are with the CO, either supplying the container or in some way helping hide it with either coordinate testing or just being there for the hike or whatnot. As someone who has beta tested, I think its silly to go back and waste the gas or shoe leather or whatever and then pretend I never saw the cache before and find it again. Thus, I "beta test" it in that I found it (but am not the CO) but do not want to ruin the fun of any FTFer and claim that right.

Edited October 24, 2013 by lamoracke

[+Moose Mob]

As fbhinga says... usually a Beta tester is a person present when the cache is placed. Since geocaching.com only allows one account to own the cache, this is how folks get credit for the cache and allowing other folks to be first.

 

Keep in mind that this is one of many reasons FTF is not a sanctioned status because of the different variables. The only requirement is to visit the site, sign the log, share it online.

[+OZ2CPU]

a Beta tester is a tester.. he can sign the log with BETA TESTER,

but usually he dont do it on the first page,

no matter where a beta tester sign it, the first person who finds it,

using the official puplish log as only information, is the correct first to find.

 

A beta tester can also log it as found online,

but it is smart to wait a few days after others got the FTF and logged it.

the beta tester can then log it, the date and time where he did test it,

that date is typical BEFORE the puplish log offcourse..

[+OZ2CPU]

here is another example of what I said..

 

http://coord.info/GC31VEK

 

see first logs.

very complex, multi staged, night, lostplace.

we actually where 3 beta testers, and the CO uptimizing all details 3 days before release,

two of us had no prior information at all, played regular finders, so all our faults where detected

and handeled, this way the cache ended as one of the BEST in this area..

99 finds, 53 FP

 

I strongly advice the use of beta testers when you create creative caches

and harder multistages

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

the first person who finds it,

using the official puplish log as only information, is the correct first to find.

 

I'd have to disagree with this statement.

 

What if someone finds it accidentally before it's published?

 

There is nothing anywhere that says I can't give coordinates to friends, or release them at an event, etc prior to "official" publication, and have them claim first to find.

 

As Moose Mob mentions above, FTF is unofficial, and there are too many variables to make it so.

[+Mudfrog]

As fbhinga says... usually a Beta tester is a person present when the cache is placed. Since geocaching.com only allows one account to own the cache, this is how folks get credit for the cache and allowing other folks to be first.

 

Keep in mind that this is one of many reasons FTF is not a sanctioned status because of the different variables. The only requirement is to visit the site, sign the log, share it online.

 

I never thought that at all. If i were one who believed in "beta testing", i'd hide the cache and then call my "beta tester" to come out and find it. That would be a true test to see if coordinates, ratings, etc,,, were correct. A beta tester that's with the CO when the cache is hidden would do no good. It would be the same thing as if the CO himself was trying be sure he had everything right. I'm not gonna try and make any excuses to get a smilie,, a cache that i assist in hiding is a cache that i will never log as found.

 

And if you read between the lines, i don't believe in beta testing. Doesn't matter if i hid the cache or not, checking coordinates is straightforward. Seeing if a cache setup works and/or judging it's difficulty rating is sometimes hard to do when you're the CO but those are things that will come out when logs start coming in.

[+Fugads]

There are certainly times when having a beta-tester is nice, like for caches with field puzzles, multiple stops with questions to answer, that sort of thing. I have certainly asked local cachers to field test some of mine, especially when it is going to be published to coincide with an event and I want to make sure it works properly for that event. Of course, due diligence on my part comes first, but it's nice to have a little bit of feedback/reassurance before the cache goes live, especially for the trickier ones.

 

On a side note: In my area people who are with the CO during placement usually wait until after the FTF is posted to post their find, and then date their post after the FTFers. This is due to the local popularity of a somewhat competitive cache-scoring site called the Lonelycacheproject. If someone posts a find before the true FTF, they "steal" that persons FTF "points". Kind of silly, and totally outside of gc.com, but around here people are generally amenable to this. Or at least the caches that are worth any significant Lonely Cache Points (LCPs) are usually not the ones found by the masses anyways, so conflicts don't arise. The lonelycache scoring system is pretty interesting and is a fun way to prioritize your caching adventures. Judging from the kind of comments that many people post in these forums, I bet it would be popular in other areas of the country too, but right now it is limited to just certain states in the SW.

[+KC2WI]

If a CO wants to test his/her cache coordinates and write-up before publication by giving the info to someone, that's a good thing. I don't see anything wrong with beta testing and I don't have any problem with a beta "finder" signing the log only but not claiming FTF.

 

Actually it seems to me that the "FTF" game is only valid if the playing field is level. It seems to me that a FTF achieved by using inside information not available to the general public diminishes the "value" or significance of the FTF.

[+JesandTodd]

There's value or significance to an FTF???

[+KC2WI]

There's value or significance to an FTF???

Is there "value" in any find?

 

It's just a game.

[+T.D.M.22]

There's value or significance to an FTF???

 

You beat everyone else. But to be fair-it would only be significant is everyone had a fair chance. Someone who is on vacation and lives across the street from the hide has a better chance at FTF, than I am when I have to work for 7 more hours and am across the city from the cache.

 

The significance is only what you make it. Sure you find it as it was hidden by the CO-some cachers may not put it back correctly. But you also have a hard time because the co-ords may be off. You won't have the advantage of someone saying the cache is 20 feet north of where it should be,

[JASTA 11]

Often it's a lame way that somebody justifies the smiley because they we there when it was hidden.

 

Gotta get those numbers up.

[alumnainfo]

Hola, somos "alumnainfo" ("Jose" 🙋‍♂️ y "Blanca María" 🙋‍♀️), desde "Mallorca" (Islas Baleares/España).

 

Nosotros somos "miembros básicos" y hemos encontrado casualmente un caché "premium" que aún no se ha publicado y tiene firma de un equipo "beta tester".

No teníamos ningún dato de este caché. No conocemos el futuro nombre ni las coordenadas con anterioridad.

 

Estamos esperando a que se publique y alguien lo encuentre y contacte con nosotros para preguntarnos, ya que verá nuestro registro en el "logbook", después del registro de un "beta tester" y con fecha de antes de ser publicado 🙆‍♀️🙆‍♂️😁.

 

Como siendo "miembros básicos", no podemos ver quién lo registra, tendremos que esperar para aclararles que; "al no estar publicado cuando fuimos nosotros, suponemos que ellos tienen que firmar como "FTF" 💁‍♀️💁‍♂️🤗👍".