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Promptly Logging Trackable Retrievals


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This thread brings up several points that get on my nerves.

 

1. Absent cache owners are worse than absent landlords. If you are going to place a cache, at least maintain it. If you can't do that, either archive it, transfer it to a fellow cacher than can, or DON'T place it in the first place!

 

2. If a cache needs maintenance, log it as such. As a cache owner that routinely checks my caches several times a year, I still very much appreciate it when someone on that rare occasion inputs a needs maintenance log. I don't expect the generosity of fellow cachers to maintain my caches.

 

3. If you don't find it, input a DNF log. Could very likely be the cache has gone missing, and if a responsible owner sees a few DNF's in a row, maybe it's time to check on the cache, or maybe even change the hint.

 

Different matter, but sort of the same subject. If you take a trackable, log it as soon as possible. Apparently we have two cachers in N. Illinois, RebelTj and Smurfy98, that don't see it necessary to expeditiously make online logs. (See my note at GC4PYBB for explanation.) "I'll get to it when I get to it", is not the proper response if you have the time to play the game in the first place!) (In their defense, at least they did sign the paper log...)

 

I'm sure I'm speaking to the choir here, but it's really pretty simple. If you are going to play the game, keep it fun for everyone and at least try to learn the rules and play by them!

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This thread brings up several points that get on my nerves.

 

1. Absent cache owners are worse than absent landlords. If you are going to place a cache, at least maintain it. If you can't do that, either archive it, transfer it to a fellow cacher than can, or DON'T place it in the first place!

 

2. If a cache needs maintenance, log it as such. As a cache owner that routinely checks my caches several times a year, I still very much appreciate it when someone on that rare occasion inputs a needs maintenance log. I don't expect the generosity of fellow cachers to maintain my caches.

 

3. If you don't find it, input a DNF log. Could very likely be the cache has gone missing, and if a responsible owner sees a few DNF's in a row, maybe it's time to check on the cache, or maybe even change the hint.

 

Different matter, but sort of the same subject. If you take a trackable, log it as soon as possible. Apparently we have two cachers in N. Illinois, RebelTj and Smurfy98, that don't see it necessary to expeditiously make online logs. (See my note at GC4PYBB for explanation.) "I'll get to it when I get to it", is not the proper response if you have the time to play the game in the first place!) (In their defense, at least they did sign the paper log...)

 

I'm sure I'm speaking to the choir here, but it's really pretty simple. If you are going to play the game, keep it fun for everyone and at least try to learn the rules and play by them!

 

4. Cut people a little slack sometimes and make the decision to not be so terribly irritated when someone doesn't conform to expectations.

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4. Cut people a little slack sometimes and make the decision to not be so terribly irritated when someone doesn't conform to expectations.

 

If one doesn't desire to conform to expectations of the game, then don't play the game! Too many times the fun of the hunt is ruined for many because of the irresponsibility of others. I know that there is no guarantee that my caches won't get muggled or that my trackables won't go missing. That's just the sad part of the game. But as one that pays for a premium membership, I try to educate others that have access to "premium" caches so that many can continue to enjoy the game as it was meant to be played. Cutting slack stops when a polite reminder is put out there, but then disregarded. If one has time to play the game and message, they certainly have time to log trackables they move!

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4. Cut people a little slack sometimes and make the decision to not be so terribly irritated when someone doesn't conform to expectations.

 

If one doesn't desire to conform to expectations of the game, then don't play the game! Too many times the fun of the hunt is ruined for many because of the irresponsibility of others. I know that there is no guarantee that my caches won't get muggled or that my trackables won't go missing. That's just the sad part of the game. But as one that pays for a premium membership, I try to educate others that have access to "premium" caches so that many can continue to enjoy the game as it was meant to be played. Cutting slack stops when a polite reminder is put out there, but then disregarded. If one has time to play the game and message, they certainly have time to log trackables they move!

 

And strangely they never logged online. No Found log, no Note. They logged into the paper log on March 12th that they took the TBs but nothing online. It's been 3 weeks. I also noticed that Smurf*** hasn't logged a cache since August 2015. Rebel** owns over 200 TBs, and has found over 2000. You'd think he'd understand how it's good for the game when the inventory in a cache is up-to-date.

 

I think you did the right thing by removing the TBs from the inventory so others aren't frustrated.

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And strangely they never logged online. No Found log, no Note. They logged into the paper log on March 12th that they took the TBs but nothing online. It's been 3 weeks. I also noticed that Smurf*** hasn't logged a cache since August 2015. Rebel** owns over 200 TBs, and has found over 2000. You'd think he'd understand how it's good for the game when the inventory in a cache is up-to-date.

 

I think you did the right thing by removing the TBs from the inventory so others aren't frustrated.

 

The PM traffic with Rebel has been fairly polite. He did threaten to report me to Groundspeak for harassment if I didn't remove their names from the post. I replied I would remove those posts once they made the proper logging of the trackable on line. (I think others have the right to know who is holding on to a trackable. A person publicizes their "handle" when they choose to play the game!) I too found his profile remarks interesting, compared to this issue of online logging. I have no problem with someone traveling on vacation without access to internet for a reasonable period of time not logging online. But if one has time to argue online, they certainly have time to at least log trackables.

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4. Cut people a little slack sometimes and make the decision to not be so terribly irritated when someone doesn't conform to expectations.

 

If one doesn't desire to conform to expectations of the game, then don't play the game! Too many times the fun of the hunt is ruined for many because of the irresponsibility of others. I know that there is no guarantee that my caches won't get muggled or that my trackables won't go missing. That's just the sad part of the game. But as one that pays for a premium membership, I try to educate others that have access to "premium" caches so that many can continue to enjoy the game as it was meant to be played. Cutting slack stops when a polite reminder is put out there, but then disregarded. If one has time to play the game and message, they certainly have time to log trackables they move!

 

There are the expectations of the game, and then there are the expectations of other cachers which vary widely. Trackables have always been an ephemeral sort of thing. Once they're out in the world, things happen no matter how controlling you try to be.

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There are the expectations of the game, and then there are the expectations of other cachers which vary widely. Trackables have always been an ephemeral sort of thing. Once they're out in the world, things happen no matter how controlling you try to be.

 

Not controlling Narcissa, just an expectation that if one wants to play the game, then one should understand it's general concepts. Are you saying that one should just be able to take trackables and then not log them? BTW, I am having a fairly polite conversation on PM with the cacher that fails to do timely online logs. He is somewhat "old school" without smartphone, but apparently has access to the internet to message. The entire point to all this is, I think we all want caches and trackables to be as described. Being responsible game players keeps it fun for all!

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There are the expectations of the game, and then there are the expectations of other cachers which vary widely. Trackables have always been an ephemeral sort of thing. Once they're out in the world, things happen no matter how controlling you try to be.

 

Not controlling Narcissa, just an expectation that if one wants to play the game, then one should understand it's general concepts. Are you saying that one should just be able to take trackables and then not log them? BTW, I am having a fairly polite conversation on PM with the cacher that fails to do timely online logs. He is somewhat "old school" without smartphone, but apparently has access to the internet to message. The entire point to all this is, I think we all want caches and trackables to be as described. Being responsible game players keeps it fun for all!

 

I'm saying you'll burn out pretty fast if you insist on shouting at every geocacher who forgets to log a trackable. With trackables in particular, it's always been the wild west and there's absolutely no mechanism for enforcement.

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I'm saying you'll burn out pretty fast if you insist on shouting at every geocacher who forgets to log a trackable. With trackables in particular, it's always been the wild west and there's absolutely no mechanism for enforcement.

 

Narcissa, I rarely worry about what goes on in Geocaching in the real world. In the specific situation I was using as the example, we have a premium member cacher that doesn't see the need to log trackables online in a reasonable amount of time. In fact in PM discussion with him, he has hinted that he holds many trackables that do not get logged for sometime. (Weeks as opposed to days...) If you are advocating that this is ok, then I really hope you are not someone that likes to pick up trackables! I'm not talking about the person that forgets to log something now and then, or even the person that is on vacation and unable to log for several days. I am speaking of those individuals that simply chose to ignore the rules and make it miserable for everybody else. The rest of my initial post above was just venting the obvious. Most the time I enjoy getting out and enjoying nature and the sites as I look for geocaches. A trackable now and then makes it that much more fun. Also fun to read the logs on my caches and see where my bugs travel too. But there are many new cachers out there with all the free apps, and if those of us that have played a while are not willing to share our knowledge with them, well we too are missing out on the opportunity to get to know someone and keep caching the fun it was meant to be. OTOH, when there are members out there that know better, will then sometimes a polite reminder is in order. I don't believe any of us like seeing trackables disappear, or enjoy looking for a cache to move a trackable, only to find out that none of the numerous trackables listed are in the cache!

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This thread is about false "found it" logs, and specifically the effect of such logs when they appear amidst DNF logs, possibly creating a false impression that the cache is there, but hard to find.

 

The recent posts about not logging travel bug retrievals promptly is a conversation that belongs over in the travel bug forum section with the 837 other threads about not logging travel bug retrievals promptly. Feel free to start a new thread there or to ask a moderator to split off the existing posts into a new thread there.

 

But as for this thread, it should get back on topic. Thanks.

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This thread is about false "found it" logs, and specifically the effect of such logs when they appear amidst DNF logs, possibly creating a false impression that the cache is there, but hard to find.

 

The recent posts about not logging travel bug retrievals promptly is a conversation that belongs over in the travel bug forum section with the 837 other threads about not logging travel bug retrievals promptly. Feel free to start a new thread there or to ask a moderator to split off the existing posts into a new thread there.

 

But as for this thread, it should get back on topic. Thanks.

 

Thanks Keystone. I hadn't found that other thread yet when I saw this one. Probably would be prudent to split these comments over to that forum if you can.

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I'm sure I'm speaking to the choir here, but it's really pretty simple. If you are going to play the game, keep it fun for everyone and at least try to learn the rules and play by them!

Yep.

With +/- 1% ever entering these forums, yeah, pretty-much.

 

There are few actual rules in this hobby.

Instead we have guidelines which is meant to keep things light, so we all have fun. :)

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I'm saying you'll burn out pretty fast if you insist on shouting at every geocacher who forgets to log a trackable. With trackables in particular, it's always been the wild west and there's absolutely no mechanism for enforcement.

 

Narcissa, I rarely worry about what goes on in Geocaching in the real world. In the specific situation I was using as the example, we have a premium member cacher that doesn't see the need to log trackables online in a reasonable amount of time. In fact in PM discussion with him, he has hinted that he holds many trackables that do not get logged for sometime. (Weeks as opposed to days...) If you are advocating that this is ok, then I really hope you are not someone that likes to pick up trackables! I'm not talking about the person that forgets to log something now and then, or even the person that is on vacation and unable to log for several days. I am speaking of those individuals that simply chose to ignore the rules and make it miserable for everybody else. The rest of my initial post above was just venting the obvious. Most the time I enjoy getting out and enjoying nature and the sites as I look for geocaches. A trackable now and then makes it that much more fun. Also fun to read the logs on my caches and see where my bugs travel too. But there are many new cachers out there with all the free apps, and if those of us that have played a while are not willing to share our knowledge with them, well we too are missing out on the opportunity to get to know someone and keep caching the fun it was meant to be. OTOH, when there are members out there that know better, will then sometimes a polite reminder is in order. I don't believe any of us like seeing trackables disappear, or enjoy looking for a cache to move a trackable, only to find out that none of the numerous trackables listed are in the cache!

 

Sometimes I have to step back and remember that I was new to geocaching once. The first cache I ever found had a travel bug. I picked it up and thought I logged it correctly. Turns out I completely bolloxed it up. Next day I received an e-mail from the travel bug owner. He fixed my mistake and wrote me a very nice travel bug logging "how too". I was impressed that he would take the time to help me out, although I'm sure he was also thinking about all the other travel bugs I'd mess up in the near future.

 

To me inaccurate travel bug inventories have more to do with cache and travel bug owners who at least have some level of control.

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Just a reminder. I was not specifically speaking of brand new cachers, but rather someone that has been around a while and considers them self an experienced cacher. I think we all know a few of those. OTOH, I have enjoyed meeting new folks on the cache trail and have had some good conversations with them. I think most enjoy caching as a fun "treasure hunt" for all. But as with any game or group, there will always be a few that just don't get it...those are the ones I'm primarily speaking of.

Edited by colbinator
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