Country souvenirs

[+-CJ-]

My question relates to the website's practice of publishing "country souvenirs" in profiles. They are mostly nice and I like them but I cannot understand the policy. For example, I got a Hungarian souvenir but no Italian souvenir. One for Latvia, nothing for two neighbouring Baltic states, Latvia and Estonia. OK, I can understand why they don't have a souvenir for Russia, I'm not complaining about this. (Perhaps we will have one in a decade or two). But some other countries look pretty much advanced but lack souvenirs. Is there any clear (published?) policy on that? (if yes, where could I find it?) Any plans about what countries will be granted souvenirs, say, in 2015?

[Pup Patrol]

My question relates to the website's practice of publishing "country souvenirs" in profiles. They are mostly nice and I like them but I cannot understand the policy. For example, I got a Hungarian souvenir but no Italian souvenir. One for Latvia, nothing for two neighbouring Baltic states, Latvia and Estonia. OK, I can understand why they don't have a souvenir for Russia, I'm not complaining about this. (Perhaps we will have one in a decade or two). But some other countries look pretty much advanced but lack souvenirs. Is there any clear (published?) policy on that? (if yes, where could I find it?) Any plans about what countries will be granted souvenirs, say, in 2015?

 

This topic has been discussed numerous times, in more appropriate forums than the "How Do I" forum.

 

Not all countries/states/territories have souvenirs. This subject can easily be found by using the search function.

 

Here's a thread that was started in 2013, in the "Website" forum:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=308400

 

 

B.

[Keystone]

And here is the often-repeated explanation from Geocaching HQ's perspective:

The issue with souvenirs is complex. The system was initially built as a gameplay feature in a mobile app and was commandeered to be used for the souvenir system you see today. However, it is very clunky and inefficient for the job. It can only trigger off a specific date, a specific cache ID or set of IDs, or a specific country and/or state. This means that we can't even do a souvenir for "England", for example, since our country/state system doesn't include a discrete country/state selection for that entity.

 

In addition, each country-based souvenir adds a new layer of load to this already creaky system. Unlike event-based or date-based souvenirs, which can quickly check a cache ID or log date and then move on, the country-based souvenirs have to check the country and state IDs for every cache log that comes through and determine whether or not to award the appropriate souvenir. Country/state souvenirs have to operate indefinitely, while date and event souvenirs essentially spike briefly and then fall out of use.

 

On top of this, nearly every time we release a new country souvenir, we get complaints about the text or picture. Not errors (which are easy enough to fix), but complaints about offensive imagery or content. Many Germans felt that the font used for the German state souvenirs was stereotypical and hearkened back to WWII; we had a Norwegian vow to never log another cache in Norway because of the "propagandistic" nature of that country's souvenir; some French users felt that the use of a rooster on the French souvenir was a stereotype; and so on, and so on...

 

Given all of this, we have been extremely conservative when it comes to releasing new country souvenirs. We know that it seems inconsistent, but the bottom line is that the system is just not built well for how it is being used. What really needs to happen is an overhaul of the feature that eliminates the downsides while at the same time encouraging interest in exploring new areas. That's why you'll here us talk about an "achievements" system that will include various badges including a new system of souvenirs for visiting states/countries that does not offend the sensibilities of various users around the world.

 

I hope that this helps explain the situation.

[+-CJ-]

Please pardon me for this post and thank you for the link. I will read it and hope that I will find an answer to my question there.

 

The moderator may close or delete this thread of course.

[+-CJ-]

Thank you Keystone, this quote answers my question.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Thank you Keystone, this quote answers my question.

 

That provides some information about why they stopped producing souvenirs but doesn't say much about the history.

 

When souvenirs first came out, they started with a few of the U.S. States, then started add a few states at a time, a Canadian Province, and one of the German states. Eventually there were souvenirs for all U.S. States, all of the Canadian States, and all of the German states. Somewhere around that time they started released a few others countries. At the time, there was another Feedback site. I don't recall if it was UserVoice or something before that. In any case, people were asked to "vote" for a country based souvenir and a few countries which got the most votes, which include Poland, Slovakia, and Portugal got souvenirs. There were a few issues with the release process when several states or bigger countries were released, which led to the post that Keystone referenced. Then, when the 2 millionth cache as published GS decided to release a bunch more countries, 1-2 at a time over about a 10 day period. They had identified specific countries, some Austrailan States and a few others and once they were done, they stopped releasing new regional based souvenirs. Generally, countries which had the most number of caches got souvenirs, but the exact algorithm is unknown. Countries like Italy, Belgium, and Mexico didn't quite make the cut so we're left with a lot of countries with a fair amount of caches which don't have a souvenir. The last I checked, of the 20 countries in which I've found a cache, only 9 of them have souvenirs available.

 

 

[+-CJ-]

Thanks for this clarification, NYPaddleCacher.