DougDawn Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 I realize that it is generally accepted practice to NOT log any of our own personal physical geocaches, but what is the official or generally accepted rule for logging one's own EarthCache(s)? It's not like you are cheating by finding a physical geocache that you hid yourself. Opinions or official rules would be good to hear. Thx Quote Link to comment
+BAMBOOZLE Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 I think most on here would call it " cheesy ". Regarding " legal " if you visit ANY cache page and the yellow FOUND IT log is there for you to use you can log a Found It. You can log a Found It on a cache you've already found, in fact you could do it hundreds of times.....if you really went to the cache that many times and signed the log its perfectly legal but the name for that might be something other than cheesy. Quote Link to comment
+Lil Devil Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 It's not like you are cheating by finding a physical geocache that you hid yourself. You wrote the questions so you already know the answers. Seems as lame as finding a cache that you hid. Do you really want people pointing at you and laughing at you behind your back? Quote Link to comment
DougDawn Posted August 23, 2014 Author Share Posted August 23, 2014 Thanks for the replies - seems pretty conclusive doesn't it Quote Link to comment
Keystone Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the EarthCaches forum. Quote Link to comment
Mr.Yuck Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Well, I'm no EarthCache Aficionado, although I do own two, which apparently have 341 favorites points between them, one of which was the first EC in the State of New York, the other of which was once named "Geocache of the week". I'd say the thought of logging either of them as finds never crossed my mind, even in 2005, when the first one was created. Not trying to be a smart aleck or anything, this has come up before. But I wouldn't roll with that one. Quote Link to comment
+narcissa Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 It's entirely up to you. While it's not common practice, the site permits it. Your account and your finds are your business and nobody else's. Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 I wouldn't log any of our earthcaches. I planned the lesson -- it stands to reason that I can pass the test with zero effort. Quote Link to comment
+GEO WALKER Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 It's just flat out unethical to do so... Quote Link to comment
+Pinkpiggy7 Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 I realize that it is generally accepted practice to NOT log any of our own personal physical geocaches, but what is the official or generally accepted rule for logging one's own EarthCache(s)? It's not like you are cheating by finding a physical geocache that you hid yourself. Opinions or official rules would be good to hear. Thx I hope you waited till you sent yourself an email with the answers, than waited for the ok from yourself. Than went and logged the find. Hmm and thats not cheating to use your terminology Quote Link to comment
+Chrysalides Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 (edited) I hope you waited till you sent yourself an email with the answers, than waited for the ok from yourself. Than went and logged the find. Hmm and thats not cheating to use your terminology Waiting for OK from himself is no longer necessary according to the GSA. Keep up with the rules! As for the original topic, I think consensus is pretty clear. I like hzoi's analogy. Edited August 24, 2014 by Chrysalides Quote Link to comment
+narcissa Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 It's just flat out unethical to do so... In what way is it unethical? It has no impact on anybody else. While it may not be what you or I would choose to do, it's an entirely harmless action and it's permitted by the website. Quote Link to comment
+GEO WALKER Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 It's just flat out unethical to do so... In what way is it unethical? It has no impact on anybody else. While it may not be what you or I would choose to do, it's an entirely harmless action and it's permitted by the website. It would be like cheating on a test. Shoot you already know the [your] answers before arriving at the site... Unless of course I'm missing something? Quote Link to comment
+narcissa Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 It's just flat out unethical to do so... In what way is it unethical? It has no impact on anybody else. While it may not be what you or I would choose to do, it's an entirely harmless action and it's permitted by the website. It would be like cheating on a test. Shoot you already know the [your] answers before arriving at the site... Unless of course I'm missing something? In what way is it cheating? That implies that there is some sort of advantage to be gained. There isn't. It has absolutely no impact on anybody else. It may not be the standard practice, but there's nothing actually wrong with it and the site permits it. Quote Link to comment
+GEO WALKER Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 It's just flat out unethical to do so... In what way is it unethical? It has no impact on anybody else. While it may not be what you or I would choose to do, it's an entirely harmless action and it's permitted by the website. It would be like cheating on a test. Shoot you already know the [your] answers before arriving at the site... Unless of course I'm missing something? In what way is it cheating? That implies that there is some sort of advantage to be gained. There isn't. It has absolutely no impact on anybody else. It may not be the standard practice, but there's nothing actually wrong with it and the site permits it. Ethics are based on standards regardless of impact. As for the site allowing this activity, perhaps it is an oversight on GSAs part or a matter of resolution between GSA and GS. I can only image a professional group such as GSA accepting this type of behavior as a matter of compromise. Nonetheless it is an unethical way of getting a “smiley”. Can you claim a find on any cache you’ve created, say other than an event? Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 (edited) It's just flat out unethical to do so... In what way is it unethical? It has no impact on anybody else. While it may not be what you or I would choose to do, it's an entirely harmless action and it's permitted by the website. It would be like cheating on a test. Shoot you already know the [your] answers before arriving at the site... Unless of course I'm missing something? That's not really an awesome analogy. It's more like skipping the class sessions where you already know the subject material and then aceing the test. Personally, I wouldn't do it anymore than I would log a find if I were doing a maintenance run on my virt. Still, why should I care if someone else does it? Edited August 25, 2014 by sbell111 Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Ethics are based on standards regardless of impact. As for the site allowing this activity, perhaps it is an oversight on GSAs part or a matter of resolution between GSA and GS. I can only image a professional group such as GSA accepting this type of behavior as a matter of compromise. Nonetheless it is an unethical way of getting a “smiley”. Can you claim a find on any cache you’ve created, say other than an event? Of course you can. Quote Link to comment
+narcissa Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Ethics are based on standards regardless of impact. As for the site allowing this activity, perhaps it is an oversight on GSAs part or a matter of resolution between GSA and GS. I can only image a professional group such as GSA accepting this type of behavior as a matter of compromise. Nonetheless it is an unethical way of getting a “smiley”. Can you claim a find on any cache you’ve created, say other than an event? Yes, you can log a find on your own cache, regardless of type. It's not the norm, but it has no impact on you. Unless someone else has consented to participate in some sort of unofficial geocaching contest with you, there is no reason at all to make comparisons between your find count and someone else's. While you might choose to assign some sort of value or scoring system to your own geocaching, it's not actually a contest. Nobody actually gains any sort of advantage by logging their own caches. It *might* be unethical to lie to new cachers about the rules of the game. Quote Link to comment
+GEO WALKER Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 It's just flat out unethical to do so... In what way is it unethical? It has no impact on anybody else. While it may not be what you or I would choose to do, it's an entirely harmless action and it's permitted by the website. It would be like cheating on a test. Shoot you already know the [your] answers before arriving at the site... Unless of course I'm missing something? That's not really an awesome analogy. It's more like skipping the class sessions where you already know the subject material and then aceing the test. Personally, I wouldn't do it anymore than I would log a find if I were doing a maintenance run on my virt. Still, why should I care if someone else does it? Skipping class is one thing but if you can't pass a "test" a.k.a. the requirements you established, then something is wrong. In this case, Cheating = Creating the Test... Quote Link to comment
+narcissa Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Skipping class is one thing but if you can't pass a "test" a.k.a. the requirements you established, then something is wrong. In this case, Cheating = Creating the Test... If the point of the "test" is to prove that the person visited the site and learned something about it through Earthcaching, then surely the research and effort involved in creating the Earthcache in the first place qualifies. Whether or not the owner has logged an Earthcache as a find has absolutely no bearing on my own ability to see the site, complete the logging tasks, and log it as a "find" on my own. While for my own caching, I am content to see my own caches only in the "owned" column, it is not reasonable to expect others to feel the same. The site allows own-finds, and own-finds do not affect anybody else. There is no rational reason to claim that this is "unethical." Trying to make other cachers feel bad about breaking imaginary rules that you've invented might be unethical. Quote Link to comment
+egroeg Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 From my dictionary: Ethical is determined from a set of defined rules, while Moral is an individual's personal feeling of right and wrong. Since nothing in Groundspeak's software (or rulebook, such as it is) prevents the logging of your own cache, it would seem, by that definition, to be Ethical. No matter what we think. We are therefore discussing whether it is Moral to do so. Essentially, the thread is taking a survey of our personal opinions on this practice. I have seen other threads about logging your own caches, logging your own event caches, and logging event temps as separate caches. All of the threads boil down to most responders not doing it, and usually not caring if others do it. Where the differences appear is in how strongly some people object to the various practices. My response? I won't do it, but I don't give a ^#%$ if someone else does. Maybe the guy just wanted to make sure he got the EC icon for the August souvenir. Quote Link to comment
+Chrysalides Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Unethical? Immoral? How about "This Is The End of Geocaching As We Know It"? I'd just go with "against commonly held logging practices". What's the consensus behind logging your own challenge, by the way? And how about someone creating a new account just to publish a bunch of challenges? Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Well, this escalated quickly. Quote Link to comment
+egroeg Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Unethical? Immoral? How about "This Is The End of Geocaching As We Know It"? I'd just go with "against commonly held logging practices". Unethical = you broke a rule Immoral = I think it's wrong How do either of those statements equal the end of caching as you know it? You may not like the words "ethics" and "morals" being applied to this relatively unimportant topic, but in the academic sense, that's exactly what the original poster asked for. "Against commonly held logging practices" is a statement coming from the ethos of the caching community, but the ethos comes from the ethics and morals. And none of this matters except to the hair-splitters. Maybe logging practices should be like religion and politics: nobody's business but your own. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Maybe logging practices should be like religion and politics: nobody's business but your own.Certainly it is no one's business but the cache seeker and the cache owner. Quote Link to comment
+narcissa Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Maybe logging practices should be are like religion and politics: nobody's business but your own. Fixed your post. Quote Link to comment
+thebruce0 Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 I wouldn't log any of our earthcaches. I planned the lesson -- it stands to reason that I can pass the test with zero effort. More like you wrote the test for others. And moreso, you're not the teacher who wrote the test, it's more like the teacher gave you the task to create a test for the rest of the class, and has decided to give you 100% score on the test if you've properly done your research (and thus know the answers). Well, this escalated quickly. You forgot the meme... Quote Link to comment
+Chrysalides Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 (edited) Maybe logging practices should be like religion and politics: nobody's business but your own. Many (most?) wars are fought over either religion or politics. So I hope it is nothing like religion and politics, but more like how you cut your toenails. Edit : Hmm, this reminds me of a post from some years ago about how geocaching is like religion. Found it! : http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=222441&st=0&p=3944804entry3944804 Edited August 26, 2014 by Chrysalides Quote Link to comment
+CanadianRockies Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Maybe logging practices should be are like religion and politics: nobody's business but your own. Fixed your post. Except you didn't. Logging practices also are the business of cache owners and Groundspeak. Cache owners can delete bogus and inappropriate logs. Groundspeak has archived caches when the cache owners continue to accept bogus logs. Quote Link to comment
+narcissa Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Maybe logging practices should be are like religion and politics: nobody's business but your own. Fixed your post. Except you didn't. Logging practices also are the business of cache owners and Groundspeak. Cache owners can delete bogus and inappropriate logs. Groundspeak has archived caches when the cache owners continue to accept bogus logs. Indeed. I suppose that, in this forum, expecting others to get the gist of a comment without listing every possible caveat is a bit much to ask. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Maybe logging practices should be are like religion and politics: nobody's business but your own. Fixed your post. Except you didn't. Logging practices also are the business of cache owners and Groundspeak. Cache owners can delete bogus and inappropriate logs. Groundspeak has archived caches when the cache owners continue to accept bogus logs. Indeed. I suppose that, in this forum, expecting others to get the gist of a comment without listing every possible caveat is a bit much to ask. Are you new? Quote Link to comment
Neos2 Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 OK folks. At this point I'd like to add a pleasant reminder to everyone to be careful to adhere to the forum guidelines, especially with regard to being respectful towards others. Helpful answers to the original question are appreciated. Quote Link to comment
+narcissa Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Are you new? No, just wishful. Quote Link to comment
+GeoawareGSA1 Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 To be consistent with Geocaching.com's guidance here: http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=80 GSA would advise "Save the smiley face for use when you've truly discovered a hidden geocache." One could debate the meaning of "hidden geocache". GSA would interpret that to mean "EarthCache with logging tasks developed by somebody else". Owning the EarthCache would imply you did research, visited the location, created the logging tasks, and can solve them all. Just as placing a physical geocache implies you were capable of traveling to the location, creating the container, and cleverly hiding it. Thus, logging it would seem redundant. That said, if a cache owner chooses to log their own EarthCache, so be it. I'd call it "bad form", and maybe even "cheesy", but wouldn't go as far as branding the person unethical or immoral. Matt (GeoawareHQ) Quote Link to comment
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