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Tribute Caches - Good Idea or Bad?


wmpastor

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I couldn't find a thread on the topic, so here goes. We've had a couple of "tribute caches" nearby lately. One specifically honored a long-time cacher, another mentioned a nearby cacher's name in the cache name. In both cases, someone other than the "honoree" got FTF. In both cases, a third party posted a "Note" saying basically, "I passed GZ hours before the FTF, but I didn't go for the find because the honoree should be able to find it first."

 

Your thoughts?

 

My thoughts are, a tribute cache is a nice idea, but it's awkward to have to look at a new listing and ask, "Am I allowed to find this yet?" What starts off with positive vibes breeds negativity. I say eliminate any "unwritten rule" that says you have to wait for an honoree to find the cache first.

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The whole point of it being 'published' is to open it up to the public. The idea of waiting for a particular person to find it is downright silly. If they want someone to find it first, they should hide it, give that person the coordinates and let them go for it before it even gets published. Otherwise, it should be fair game to anyone looking for the FTF.

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I recently found a cache that was placed in honor of a particular cacher's work for the community.

He made the FTF. I was second to find. As long as they've not been given the coordinates, I see no reason why they shouldn't get to go for the FTF. It's not like I made it easy for him...

You may have misunderstood my question. I'm not asking if it's okay for the honoree to go after FTF on the cache that's a tribute to them. I'm asking whether there is (or should be) an unwritten rule that says that everyone else should wait for the honoree to claim FTF before going after the find. That's the scenario near me.

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Just wondering... what does being the "tributee" have to do with FTF?

 

The way I see it, (s)he is already in tribute... does being FTF increase the tribute?

I guess I just don't get it... already being honored.

 

 

 

Sort of like being inducted into a Hall of Fame... then being made famous. Not!

Edited by Gitchee-Gummee
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So... if the cache honoree is on a 3 month safari thousands of miles away, should it just sit there unfound and unlogged until he or she returns? :blink:

 

Back to your question, I've seen the locals hold off and wait until the honoree logs it, I've seen FTF addicts grab it anyway. I don't think there is any unwritten rule about it. Once a cache is published, it's fair game for anyone.

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From the guidelines (emphasis added):

Geocache must be in place before you enable the listing.

Your cache should be in place and ready to be found at the time your cache listing is enabled online. If the cache is not ready for seeking, disable your cache listing so that it won't appear in the review queue and post a Reviewer Note explaining special circumstances, such as awaiting permission from a land manager.

It seems to me that if the cache is not ready for everyone to seek (and possibly find), then the cache listing should not be enabled and should not be published. Once it's published, it's available for everyone (including FTF hounds who load up the GC code and coordinates without paying attention to the name/description of the cache).

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Not a bad idea if handled correctly.

These aren't tribute cache, but reserved FTF: GC4M9F3, GC4M9CM, GC4M9BG.

 

At a recent event, 3 new hides were announced, before they were published, with FTF as a door prize. The cache page clearly says at the very beginning not to rush out for them until the winners had their chance. The caches were published after each winner logged their find.

 

A recent tribute cache got FTFed by someone else because the warning was at the bottom of the cache info and he didn't read that far. If the hider had mentioned in his first sentence to hold back the honoree would have had his prize (he was only minutes behind).

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I think it would be nice to give the person who has the tribute a little bit of time, but there is no rule against it. My wife had someone list me a cache and I rushed right out and lucky I did because someone was right on my heels. I was a little huffy (in my own brain) that folks tried to beat me on my own tribute, but hey, its up to the individuals. One cannot expect every cacher to wait for the tribute person to find it, whether its 10 minutes or 10 days.

 

Personally I'd give the person that day that find it, if its still there, I would go for it.

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I'm asking whether there is (or should be) an unwritten rule that says that everyone else should wait for the honoree to claim FTF before going after the find.

In my area, that's standard practice. Most everyone respects the idea, and normally the honoree is alerted to minimize the time it takes them to get there. I don't recall seeing a tribute cache that wasn't FTF'd by the honoree, actually.

 

On the other hand, I don't think anyone would get bent out of shape if someone else got there first. I suppose the FTFer might be given a bad time if they purposefully rushed out to beat the honoree to the goal.

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I've hidden several 'Welcome To The 1K Club' caches for local cachers. Before I ever hit 'submit'.... the person who is being congratulated for the milestone already has the coordinates in hand. As soon as the publication notification hits, they are free to log their find, be it minutes (the most common) or whenever they choose. It's never a FTF race, that is already determined.

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In our area, they are usually placed so that they can be ftfed by the tributee. It's a nice gesture i suppose but i don't really get it. What's special about claiming ftf on a cache that you are the only one who knows about it or that you know others are holding back on?

 

For me, the tribute itself is very special. I certainly don't want other cachers to hold back any just because it might be a cache that was placed in my honor. Heck, it's even better knowing that i might run into them on the ftf attempt. :D

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In our area, they are usually placed so that they can be ftfed by the tributee. It's a nice gesture i suppose but i don't really get it. What's special about claiming ftf on a cache that you are the only one who knows about it or that you know others are holding back on?

It's just a tradition in some areas. Think of it as the honoree taking a bow or giving an acceptance speech.

 

For me, the tribute itself is very special. I certainly don't want other cachers to hold back any just because it might be a cache that was placed in my honor. Heck, it's even better knowing that i might run into them on the ftf attempt. :D

Make sure anyone that might hide a tribute cache in your honor knows that. It would be great fun to have a tribute cache that makes it clear the honoree wants people to try to beat him to FTF. Heck, if I saw a listing like that published, even I might run out and try to find it first.

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So... if the cache honoree is on a 3 month safari thousands of miles away, should it just sit there unfound and unlogged until he or she returns? :blink:

I think, if the hider wants the honoree to also be the FTF, they should probably wait till they return from their 3 month safari, thousands of miles away, before hitting the "Submit" button. Even if the honoree is not far, far away, if the hider wants them to be FTF, they should make whatever arrangements they feel are appropriate.

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I recently found a cache that was placed in honor of a particular cacher's work for the community.

He made the FTF. I was second to find. As long as they've not been given the coordinates, I see no reason why they shouldn't get to go for the FTF. It's not like I made it easy for him...

You may have misunderstood my question. I'm not asking if it's okay for the honoree to go after FTF on the cache that's a tribute to them. I'm asking whether there is (or should be) an unwritten rule that says that everyone else should wait for the honoree to claim FTF before going after the find. That's the scenario near me.

Unwritten rules are not rules. You should feel free to ignore any of those that people have told you in the past. If it is not written down it doesn't apply. FTF goes to whoever gets there first.

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I recently found a cache that was placed in honor of a particular cacher's work for the community.

He made the FTF. I was second to find. As long as they've not been given the coordinates, I see no reason why they shouldn't get to go for the FTF. It's not like I made it easy for him...

You may have misunderstood my question. I'm not asking if it's okay for the honoree to go after FTF on the cache that's a tribute to them. I'm asking whether there is (or should be) an unwritten rule that says that everyone else should wait for the honoree to claim FTF before going after the find. That's the scenario near me.

Unwritten rules are not rules. You should feel free to ignore any of those that people have told you in the past. If it is not written down it doesn't apply. FTF goes to whoever gets there first.

Okay! And if there's any flack, I'll tell them to talk with Walts Hunting. :grin:

 

I grabbed the FTF in the one case. I didn't see the CO's request to allow the honoree to claim FTF. The CO didn't say anything, but someone else posted a note with criticism apparent betwee the lines. <_<

 

In the other case, another "non-honoree" cacher got FTF, and again there was a "note-poster," lower-key than in the other case. The honoree went later, and her log said she didn't mind anyone else going before her.

 

These so-called rules about tribute caches make things stuffier than a formal tea party! :huh:

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I grabbed the FTF in the one case. I didn't see the CO's request to allow the honoree to claim FTF. The CO didn't say anything, but someone else posted a note with criticism apparent betwee the lines. <_<

 

In the other case, another "non-honoree" cacher got FTF, and again there was a "note-poster," lower-key than in the other case. The honoree went later, and her log said she didn't mind anyone else going before her.

 

These so-called rules about tribute caches make things stuffier than a formal tea party! :huh:

Try interpreting the comments as good natured ribbing and don't worry about whether that's what was intended. If I were on the receiving end, I'd be tempted to post something along the lines of "na-na!".

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I have been to, and placed, quite a few tribute caches. There are two ways to do this:

 

1. Publish the cache, FTF is open to whoever finds it first. Usually there is a note on the cache page stating that FTF is open to anyone.

 

2. Get a group of fellow cachers together near GZ with the honoree to celebrate the milestone together. The honoree is already there with all of his/her friends. We call it WNC (WeekNight Caching). FTF honors go to the honoree and, if he/she chooses, the rest of the group. This prevents others from rushing out to beat the honoree to FTF. Cache is scheduled to be published at the time of the meeting.

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I recently found a cache that was placed in honor of a particular cacher's work for the community.

He made the FTF. I was second to find. As long as they've not been given the coordinates, I see no reason why they shouldn't get to go for the FTF. It's not like I made it easy for him...

You may have misunderstood my question. I'm not asking if it's okay for the honoree to go after FTF on the cache that's a tribute to them. I'm asking whether there is (or should be) an unwritten rule that says that everyone else should wait for the honoree to claim FTF before going after the find. That's the scenario near me.

Unwritten rules are not rules. You should feel free to ignore any of those that people have told you in the past. If it is not written down it doesn't apply. FTF goes to whoever gets there first.

Okay! And if there's any flack, I'll tell them to talk with Walts Hunting. :grin:

 

I grabbed the FTF in the one case. I didn't see the CO's request to allow the honoree to claim FTF. The CO didn't say anything, but someone else posted a note with criticism apparent betwee the lines. <_<

 

In the other case, another "non-honoree" cacher got FTF, and again there was a "note-poster," lower-key than in the other case. The honoree went later, and her log said she didn't mind anyone else going before her.

 

These so-called rules about tribute caches make things stuffier than a formal tea party! :huh:

 

Around here, it's never really been discussed but just kind of understood that if a cache is published as a specific tribute to another cacher, everyone steps back and allows them to go find it. I have only once seen a cache that specifically asked people to wait, otherwise, it just usually happens. It's not a rule, and it's not the end of the world if someone else rushes out and grabs it, it's just a nice thing to do to let the honoree go out and find it first. That said, I don't particularly like the idea of a third party posting pointed notes on something that shouldn't really concern them.

 

I had a tribute cache get published for me about two minutes before I was to leave to work, and I had an engagement after work that would prevent me from finding it until the next day, so I posted a quick note thanking the CO and telling everyone else the FTF was up for grabs and that I had no expectation that everyone should wait a full day for me to get around to finding it.

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You may have misunderstood my question. I'm not asking if it's okay for the honoree to go after FTF on the cache that's a tribute to them. I'm asking whether there is (or should be) an unwritten rule that says that everyone else should wait for the honoree to claim FTF before going after the find. That's the scenario near me.

Here's what the honoree of a tribute cache I recently placed (for his 2000th find) had to say about the topic:

You should honour the CO who places a tribute cache for you by at least trying to FTF it.
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