FTF only after publish?

[+monsterbox]

So I guess I'm the first to find it (FTF).

Yes.

 

Can one claim FTF only after the publish?

Yes.

 

I once claimed FTF after actually doing it as intended. There was a puzzle cache that was based on finding 10 other caches in a series and using information gleaned from them. But the puzzle had a bug, so it turned out you could solve it without visiting the other caches. My buddy went right for it and claimed FTF. Although I'd also solved it, I grabbed the last 2 in the series before I went to find the final the next day. Then I gave my buddy grief in my log about short circuiting the cache. And the CO gave us both credit for FTF in the description! Of course, another day and our two roles might have been reversed...

 

I would ONLY accept the one as FTF who logs the cache first. No matter why that person was able to do so! Tough luck if the co is doing a bad job with his puzzle or if with the hide itself. First is first and everyone coming later can't be first, too

[+wmpastor]

So I guess I'm the first to find it (FTF).

Yes.

 

Can one claim FTF only after the publish?

Yes.

 

I once claimed FTF after actually doing it as intended. There was a puzzle cache that was based on finding 10 other caches in a series and using information gleaned from them. But the puzzle had a bug, so it turned out you could solve it without visiting the other caches. My buddy went right for it and claimed FTF. Although I'd also solved it, I grabbed the last 2 in the series before I went to find the final the next day. Then I gave my buddy grief in my log about short circuiting the cache. And the CO gave us both credit for FTF in the description! Of course, another day and our two roles might have been reversed...

 

I would ONLY accept the one as FTF who logs the cache first. No matter why that person was able to do so! Tough luck if the co is doing a bad job with his puzzle or if with the hide itself. First is first and everyone coming later can't be first, too

 

Right. The goal is to use eyes, ears and mind to find the cache. If someone is more efficient in finding a cache, good for them. If someone gets a prepublication tip from the CO, that's unfair. If someone can find an easier way to get the cache, like using a long pole instead of climbing a tree, kudos for working smarter, not harder.

[+dprovan]

I would ONLY accept the one as FTF who logs the cache first. No matter why that person was able to do so! Tough luck if the co is doing a bad job with his puzzle or if with the hide itself. First is first and everyone coming later can't be first, too

Alas for your plan, the CO has no power to deny FTFs, so I would have claimed it, anyway. And I'm not sure why anyone would care.

[+The Rat]

Which reviewer is that slow?? Fire them!

Wrong! How do you know when the CO submitted it to the reviewer. The container might have been sitting out there for a month or a year before the CO decided to check that box that says the cache is in place and ready to be reviewed. This is true even if the cache has a GC number and that number is on the cache log. You can get the GC number to your cache before it is published and before a reviewer has seen it.

 

An interesting question is who logged the cache first online? That can't be done until publication. While I'm sure geocachers agree that being the first to log does not make you FTF, this question has an interesting legal precedent. Stay with me on this although it sounds irrelevant. Lawyers learn in Property Law class that the states differ in how they treat ownership of land and the recording of deeds to real property. Most are "first to record" states while others are "first in time." In other words, if two or more parties each claim an interest to a property (e.g. the prior owner "sold" the property to each of them hours apart and absconded with the funds, giving each a deed) the one who recorded the deed first at the county recorder's office will win. A more realistic situation is John's dad gives him a deed to the family home when John is 40 and dad is 60 as a reward for being a good and dutiful son all his life. John doesn't record it because dad is paying the property taxes and living there like it is still his home. Then dad at age 75 and declining mentally hires live-in nurse Ms. Golddigger and gives her a deed to the property if she'll take care of him until he dies. She goes down and records immediately and then takes care of dad for another 20 years. She will probably get the property unless she had actual notice that a deed had already been given to John. It seems unfair to you if you're in John's position, but what about the nurse? She put in 20 years of unpleasant work in the expectation of getting the home for her old age and she knew nothing about the first deed. Should she get nothing? Most states require the recipient to record the deed for this reason so that 3rd parties have notice or at least can hire a title company or lawyer to search title. The reason this is important is that in geocaching, the same problem could arise if there was one and only one officially recognized FTF. The first guy who stumbled on the cache accidentally, like the CO, did no special work for it (the effort was for another cache apparently) but reasonably believed he was first. The second guy busted his butt to get out there after publication expecting the FTF. That's why there can never be an official one and only FTF. People, like me, don't always log the instant they make the find. I don't have a smart phone. I like to write longer logs so I wait until I get home.

[+thebruce0]

Thanks there's no legal precedent fot an FTF, there's no official definition of an FTF, and claiming FTF affects absolutely no one because it's an entirely made up stat.

 

The only effect FTF-claiming has is on personal and community etiquette and potentially upsetting someone who disagrees with your definition or claim. Conflict is entirely personally generated and held. If you want people to like you, you follow general etiquette selflessly. If you only care about rules and winning, you're at no risk of breaking any rules by doing whatever you want; or on the flipside, you'll be outraged and angered far more often by others who do the same.

Which is more worthwhile...?