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What is Good about Pokeman Go that could enhance your Geocaching Experience?


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I read there are 3 million active GeoCachers. In less than a month, there are 21 million active Pokemon GO players.

 

Wow.

 

It's amazing how smartphones have changed the world. I remember when I started geocaching, reading a lot of scorn for people (like me) who found caches with an Iphone. I think that is a real shame - when you can see how that platform is in the hands of so many people, especially kids. This is one aspect of PG I think could really help geocaching. If everything they read tells them they're "doing it wrong" by using what they're most comfortable with, there's a good chance they'll move onto something that's more in line with the tools they use.

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Big post! :)

 

Ok so I've had PG for two days, after being out for just over a week. Here's my experience and some thoughts...

 

An excellent write-up. This was really helpful for me.

Your perspective on the lasting power of geocaching, as well as the similarities and differences between the GC pastime and the PG game are insightful.

Thanks for sharing your experience and perspective.

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I read there are 3 million active GeoCachers. In less than a month, there are 21 million active Pokemon GO players.

 

Wow.

 

It's amazing how smartphones have changed the world. I remember when I started geocaching, reading a lot of scorn for people (like me) who found caches with an Iphone. I think that is a real shame - when you can see how that platform is in the hands of so many people, especially kids. This is one aspect of PG I think could really help geocaching. If everything they read tells them they're "doing it wrong" by using what they're most comfortable with, there's a good chance they'll move onto something that's more in line with the tools they use.

 

I would have gave up geocaching a few years ago if it were not for the smartphone renewing my interest. :)

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I read there are 3 million active GeoCachers. In less than a month, there are 21 million active Pokemon GO players.

 

Wow.

 

It's amazing how smartphones have changed the world.

 

Although smart phones are used pretty much everywhere in the world they're not used in the same way, nor are they as ubiquitous in many countries in the world.

 

Pokemon Go is not available in all countries and the disparity in the number of caches by country (related to it's population and/or size) is huge. Luxembourg has almost 3 times as many geocaches as China. Of the 246 "official" countries/territories listed on the site, over 200 of them have fewer than 1000 geocaches.

 

 

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I read there are 3 million active GeoCachers. In less than a month, there are 21 million active Pokemon GO players.

 

Wow.

 

It's amazing how smartphones have changed the world. I remember when I started geocaching, reading a lot of scorn for people (like me) who found caches with an Iphone. I think that is a real shame - when you can see how that platform is in the hands of so many people, especially kids. This is one aspect of PG I think could really help geocaching. If everything they read tells them they're "doing it wrong" by using what they're most comfortable with, there's a good chance they'll move onto something that's more in line with the tools they use.

 

I would have gave up geocaching a few years ago if it were not for the smartphone renewing my interest. :)

 

No one can go against the tide of history. As recently as 2-3 years ago, there was a definite attitude of scorn toward using phones in caching. The objective reason given was that the accuracy was poor. And then the accuracy of phone GPS began to quickly improve....

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As for the Blue, my comment was to Understandblue, whose forum picture is mostly blue. Her views are very different than those of another active forum member who in her forum picture is wearing Green. Spirited debate to follow.

B)

Ah, got it. Thanks. I'm a bit slow picking up on such things at times. (It doesn't help that we've been discussing blue/green deployment at work recently, which took me down a mental rabbit trail immediately.)

Next week are you studying the Hawthorn Effect? :ph34r:

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I read there are 3 million active GeoCachers. In less than a month, there are 21 million active Pokemon GO players.

 

Wow.

 

It's amazing how smartphones have changed the world. I remember when I started geocaching, reading a lot of scorn for people (like me) who found caches with an Iphone. I think that is a real shame - when you can see how that platform is in the hands of so many people, especially kids. This is one aspect of PG I think could really help geocaching. If everything they read tells them they're "doing it wrong" by using what they're most comfortable with, there's a good chance they'll move onto something that's more in line with the tools they use.

 

I would have gave up geocaching a few years ago if it were not for the smartphone renewing my interest. :)

 

No one can go against the tide of history. As recently as 2-3 years ago, there was a definite attitude of scorn toward using phones in caching. The objective reason given was that the accuracy was poor. And then the accuracy of phone GPS began to quickly improve....

 

My main reason was we didn't get cell service in my area, but that has changed now that we have several towers. :)

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I skimmed through most of this thread and found a lot of discussion but little on topic.

 

This is not a discussion of the Pokemon game. The question was about geocaching.

 

 

I think it's a legitimate question.

 

Geocaching is a game we all love, but it's also a franchise of sorts. The website that puts all this together for us is a business. Most of us don't like to think of that end of it, but it's there and important.

 

We need the business and website to thrive and continue for our game to continue. I personally believe every business needs to keep an updated current business model to continue to thrive and compete in today's world.

 

We may not need a whole lot more players, but geocaching.com does need revenue from premium accounts to continue to provide us with this fantastic service. It's a valid question on how to take things from this other game to keep our game alive and fresh. How could this be improved to ensure it's survival in what has now become a competitive market of location based games?

 

In addition to keeping this game thriving, it's good to see how we can enhance our enjoyment of this game. What fun could be added?

 

 

So the question was whether there are things we can learn from that game that can enhance our game.

 

I think it's a question worth exploring.

 

* I think the idea of different levels is a good one. That would also get me to keep playing.

 

*I like the idea of souvenirs for things, although that's being used already. I like the souvenirs.

 

****I like the idea of destination caches.

This is a really big one for me.

I was able to find one of the ape caches and then see how people still flock to what USED TO BE an ape cache. People WANT destinations in geocaching.

 

I think that's probably how the challenge caches evolved. People WANT something to shoot for. Rather than just find random caches, they wanted goals to attain.

 

So new things in geocaching might run with that.

 

How could GS create higher interest?

 

Destination caches are something people have been wanting for years but essentially don't get.

 

Heck, they've been traveling to Brazil now to get the last Ape cache. If that doesn't show they want destination caches, I don't know what does.

 

 

Besides these things the OP mentioned, I can't add more to this discussion since I've never played the Pokemon game.

I do believe we've got to take lessons for life from everywhere though.

Rather than blasting it for it's short-comings, maybe learn from it, take from it anything we want, and keep on cachin'.

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Geocaching has been dying for awhile and Pokemon Go has made it more evident than ever. Souvenirs and stats that nobody cares about, but the most hardcore. Loads of unmaintained and/or abandoned geocaches. People finding nothing but shopping mall geocaches, while ignoring multis and mysteries. But, enough of this... Some young punks on bicycles took over my team's gym. Time for payback. Back to finish rant later :P

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I think that's probably how the challenge caches evolved. People WANT something to shoot for. Rather than just find random caches, they wanted goals to attain.

 

 

I think you are on to something there. Whilst some don't like challenges (or souvenirs), for many they add an additional dimension to the "game".

 

It is ironic that in other threads we are discussing how restricted challenges are now.

 

Sure, for many just finding a cache is enough; they don't need souvenirs or challenges to provide extra incentive. When souvenirs started they were largely met with disdain on this forum. Yet look at the interest when new souvenirs are launched.

 

Geocaching and P-Go are very different games. Geocaching is about taking you to specific locations, and (generally) searching for something physical. And each time you go to different places, as once you've found a cache, you've found it. With P-Go, it draws you to some specific locations, but more generally people find them doing their "normal routes".

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Geocaching has been dying for awhile and Pokemon Go has made it more evident than ever. Souvenirs and stats that nobody cares about, but the most hardcore. Loads of unmaintained and/or abandoned geocaches. People finding nothing but shopping mall geocaches, while ignoring multis and mysteries.

I beg to differ. Geocaching is going strong, larger and more popular than ever. And when PG fades out, geocaching will still be going strong. (this coming from a PG level 19 in 4 days)

 

I think you are on to something there. Whilst some don't like challenges (or souvenirs), for many they add an additional dimension to the "game".

 

It is ironic that in other threads we are discussing how restricted challenges are now.

I think this throws back to a comment from my earlier post. Challenge caches are a sort of natural evolution of the geocaching experience, moving towards what a lot of gamified type experiences embrace (numbers, stats, achievements, recognition for goal completion, etc). And so it's telling that challenge caches are getting a hammer down to stop them from going haywire and having an enormous altering effect on the core geocaching experience. I love challenge caches, but there was a reason for the moratorium, and the devil's advocate in me understands GS's desire to reign in the drive for statistics crunching rather than, you know, just going out and finding caches.

 

They haven't been cut out entirely like Geocaching Challenges were because we all see the value in what Challenge Caches provide for the pastime. They're not that bad, but there does need to be some level of restraint on them, to help keep that geocaching fundamental aspect the primary experience; to help keep geocaching rooted and distinct from "other games" (or methodologies they adopt with the main purpose of attracting a sizeable demographic, which GS doesn't need to do - the activity itself is enough to do that).

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Pokemon-Go is a more structured game with particular goals, requiring more specific equipment (a smartphone) and more specific software.

It is a singular application with no safety oversight.

Its structure is rigid. It requires no real imagination.

Participation is one-dimensional (find and catch the pocket monsters).

 

Geocaching is a less structure game with goals that are determined by each individual player.

Required equipment is a GPS-equipped device such as a handheld GPS, automotive GPS, smartphone, or tablet.

Application software is general: a web-browser, perhaps some enhancements as provided by various vendors, like GSAK, Wherigo, various geocaching apps.

Its structure is flexible, requiring many volunteers and quite a bit of imagination for implementing and hiding caches and for seeking them out.

Participation is multi-dimensional and is tailored to each individual player.

 

The great thing about geocaching is that you can make of it what you will.

There are some rules. There is some oversight.

However, the goals and ratings are up to each individual player to decide for themselves.

Therefore, some players may apply structure to direct the game in some manner (such as the use of Project-GC), but the structure is merely an overlay that can be changed at will by the player.

Could a Pokemon-GO-style overlay be created and made available? Sure. I'm sure enterprising developers could manage that if they saw profit potential.

The nice thing about an overlay is that its adoption is entirely voluntary. If you don't want it, you don't use it.

 

Does Groundspeak need to do anything to bring this about?

Probably not. The flexibility of the game platform is already there.

The supporting infrastructure is also already there with the effort of many volunteers.

Edited by sir dumil
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For me, geocaching is about four things.

  • Finding things that others have hidden (Thrill of the find)
  • Seeing new and interesting locations
  • Completing self-assigned challenges (GeoTour, Jasmer, etc.)
  • Getting exercise

What about PG enhances my Geocaching experience. Nothing directly, however, PG has started to get me to exercise more. In turn, this will allow me to continue to be able to go out for geocaches that require a bit of hiking.

 

I don't (but should) do 'formal' exercising at a gym. Why don't I go to the gym? Because there is nothing to do while exercising. Geocaching got me out and about because I was doing something while exercising. As noted elsewhere, geocaches are static. Once found, I have no interest in finding them again. In my area (within 4 miles of my apartment), there are 60 geocaches. I have already found 33 of them. That leaves about a months worth of geocaches left within walking distance. With PG, there is something to do while walking around.

 

With PG, I have altered the route that I take while walking to/from the parking lot at work, doubling the distance. I may start walking to work from home, because PG breaks up the monotony of just walking.

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What we can learn from PG is that our games must have priority over everything else in life. Turn on your computer (oh, that's right, you already have it on) and you'll see in today's news the video of the Washington news briefing on the ISIS threat. At that briefing, a reporter is playing Pokémon. The speaker calls him out on it, the reporter continues with the game, and later the speaker asks, "Did you catch one?" The reporter says, "No, the signal isn't very good in here."

:rolleyes:

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I read there are 3 million active GeoCachers. In less than a month, there are 21 million active Pokemon GO players.

 

Wow.

 

It's amazing how smartphones have changed the world. I remember when I started geocaching, reading a lot of scorn for people (like me) who found caches with an Iphone. I think that is a real shame - when you can see how that platform is in the hands of so many people, especially kids. This is one aspect of PG I think could really help geocaching. If everything they read tells them they're "doing it wrong" by using what they're most comfortable with, there's a good chance they'll move onto something that's more in line with the tools they use.

 

It's interesting to speculate on what things would be like if there were 7 times as many cachers. For one, due to the enormous inflow of dues money, events would feature lobster, not hot dogs. On the downside, a single power trail would stretch from Boston to Washington, DC.

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On the downside, a single power trail would stretch from Boston to Washington, DC.

Ooh, wonder if a full Lewis & Clarke historic powertrail is feasible from Illinois to Oregon ;P

 

You're not thinking big enough. The Silk Road is said to be ~4300 miles long with all the routes included. Place a cache ever 528' along the route and you'll get a lot of caches.

 

Of course a power trail would not be limited to a single road/trail.

 

 

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I think Pokemon Go is OK, but for me it feels a bit too much like busy work. There's a feeling that is similar to "games" like Cookie Clicker. You keep doing it but you don't know why (not that I have played Cookie Clicker, but I've played other mobile games that had a similar effect and I was never happier then once I'd deleted the "game"). But I'm still playing it sometimes. I can't get my kids excited about geocaching, but they want to play Pokemon Go, so I'm trying to combine the two. They look for pokemon and I look for a cache, but this doesn't work all that great because there's nothing much in pokemon go once you get into the woods. Anyway, I definitely don't hate pokemon go, but I do think it's going to peter out after a while.

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It amuses me that Pokémon is spelled incorrectly in the title of this forum topic.

 

Hmmmmmmm, a forum typo -- how very *unusual*! :grin:

 

 

I'm in the unfortunate situation of having a child at exactly the right age to be into this stuff, so I can't get away with pronouncing it "Pokey Man" or "Polka Man." Still hoping it all kind of dies down this week so I don't have to hear about it when the kid gets home from summer camp.

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Pokeman... They should be named like, Joe Pokeman...

 

Ah, Friends:

Phoebe: Hey! Why isn't it 'Spiderman'? You know, like Goldman, Silverman.

 

Chandler: Cuz it's... it's not his last name. It's not like 'Phil Spiderman'. He's a spider, man. You know, like... Goldman is a last name, but there's no Gold Man.

 

Phoebe: Oh, okay. ...There should be Gold Man!

 

:laughing:

Edited by thebruce0
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It amuses me that Pokémon is spelled incorrectly in the title of this forum topic.

 

Hmmmmmmm, a forum typo -- how very *unusual*! :grin:

 

 

I'm in the unfortunate situation of having a child at exactly the right age to be into this stuff, so I can't get away with pronouncing it "Pokey Man" or "Polka Man." Still hoping it all kind of dies down this week so I don't have to hear about it when the kid gets home from summer camp.

 

Your kid will drag you down the street, kicking and screaming, to play Pokemon. And you'll love it!

:D

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It amuses me that Pokémon is spelled incorrectly in the title of this forum topic.

 

Hmmmmmmm, a forum typo -- how very *unusual*! :grin:

 

 

I'm in the unfortunate situation of having a child at exactly the right age to be into this stuff, so I can't get away with pronouncing it "Pokey Man" or "Polka Man." Still hoping it all kind of dies down this week so I don't have to hear about it when the kid gets home from summer camp.

 

Your kid will drag you down the street, kicking and screaming, to play Pokemon. And you'll love it!

:D

 

It's not a great fit for me. I don't use any GPS-enabled apps on my phone unless I'm stuck, and I don't play any games on it unless I can immediately plug the phone back in. I can't let my kid kill my phone battery to play a game no matter how fun and popular it is. I need it to be a phone. (Hence my hope that it will sort of go away, because it's going to be an irritant for the rest of the summer and it has to be a hard no.)

Edited by narcissa
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It's not a great fit for me. I don't use any GPS-enabled apps on my phone unless I'm stuck, and I don't play any games on it unless I can immediately plug the phone back in. I can't let my kid kill my phone battery to play a game no matter how fun and popular it is. I need it to be a phone. (Hence my hope that it will sort of go away, because it's going to be an irritant for the rest of the summer and it has to be a hard no.)

 

And here i thought i was the only person on the planet who pretty much only used my phone to, you know,, talk on! :laughing:

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It amuses me that Pokémon is spelled incorrectly in the title of this forum topic.

 

Hmmmmmmm, a forum typo -- how very *unusual*! :grin:

 

 

I'm in the unfortunate situation of having a child at exactly the right age to be into this stuff, so I can't get away with pronouncing it "Pokey Man" or "Polka Man." Still hoping it all kind of dies down this week so I don't have to hear about it when the kid gets home from summer camp.

 

My son is in a local summer camp this week run by the University where I work (he's one of the few campers that isn't staying in the dorms). They have a no-pokemon policy but I suspect that it's going to be hard to enforce. On Friday they're taking a trip downtown to an area called "the Commons" that probably has the highest concentration of Pokestops and gyms than anywhere else in town. About a week ago there was a picture in the paper of our mayor playing pokemon on the Commons.

 

 

 

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It's not a great fit for me. I don't use any GPS-enabled apps on my phone unless I'm stuck, and I don't play any games on it unless I can immediately plug the phone back in. I can't let my kid kill my phone battery to play a game no matter how fun and popular it is. I need it to be a phone. (Hence my hope that it will sort of go away, because it's going to be an irritant for the rest of the summer and it has to be a hard no.)

 

And here i thought i was the only person on the planet who pretty much only used my phone to, you know,, talk on! :laughing:

 

I use my phone for all sorts of stuff when I'm at home or work or otherwise close to a charger. When I'm out and about, it's put away and only used when needed. All the other features are nice, but it is, primarily, a phone.

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It's not a great fit for me. I don't use any GPS-enabled apps on my phone unless I'm stuck, and I don't play any games on it unless I can immediately plug the phone back in. I can't let my kid kill my phone battery to play a game no matter how fun and popular it is. I need it to be a phone. (Hence my hope that it will sort of go away, because it's going to be an irritant for the rest of the summer and it has to be a hard no.)

 

And here i thought i was the only person on the planet who pretty much only used my phone to, you know,, talk on! :laughing:

 

I use my phone for all sorts of stuff when I'm at home or work or otherwise close to a charger. When I'm out and about, it's put away and only used when needed. All the other features are nice, but it is, primarily, a phone.

 

Smartphones have been touted as "the end of boredom." On the hand, some say we're losing our creativity by being entertained. (No, that was inane 1950's television that turned our minds to mush. :anibad: ) However, while sitting waiting for an appointment, if there are no good magazines and no one to talk with, what should we do, practice origami with dollar bills or broaden our knowledge with a smartphone?

:grin:

Edited by wmpastor
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It's not a great fit for me. I don't use any GPS-enabled apps on my phone unless I'm stuck, and I don't play any games on it unless I can immediately plug the phone back in. I can't let my kid kill my phone battery to play a game no matter how fun and popular it is. I need it to be a phone. (Hence my hope that it will sort of go away, because it's going to be an irritant for the rest of the summer and it has to be a hard no.)

 

And here i thought i was the only person on the planet who pretty much only used my phone to, you know,, talk on! :laughing:

 

I use my phone for all sorts of stuff when I'm at home or work or otherwise close to a charger. When I'm out and about, it's put away and only used when needed. All the other features are nice, but it is, primarily, a phone.

 

Smartphones have been touted as "the end of boredom." On the hand, some say we're losing our creativity by being entertained. (No, that was inane 1950's television that turned our minds to mush. :anibad: ) However, while sitting waiting for an appointment, if there are no good magazines and no one to talk with, what should we do, practice origami with dollar bills or broaden our knowledge with a smartphone?

:grin:

 

I just don't use my phone that way very much if I can't plug it in. I may need to call someone or look up something important and the phone is no use to me if it's dead. I know other people use their phones more heavily away from home and allow their children to use them, but that doesn't work for me.

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It's not a great fit for me. I don't use any GPS-enabled apps on my phone unless I'm stuck, and I don't play any games on it unless I can immediately plug the phone back in. I can't let my kid kill my phone battery to play a game no matter how fun and popular it is. I need it to be a phone. (Hence my hope that it will sort of go away, because it's going to be an irritant for the rest of the summer and it has to be a hard no.)

 

And here i thought i was the only person on the planet who pretty much only used my phone to, you know,, talk on! :laughing:

 

I use my phone for all sorts of stuff when I'm at home or work or otherwise close to a charger. When I'm out and about, it's put away and only used when needed. All the other features are nice, but it is, primarily, a phone.

 

Smartphones have been touted as "the end of boredom." On the hand, some say we're losing our creativity by being entertained. (No, that was inane 1950's television that turned our minds to mush. :anibad: ) However, while sitting waiting for an appointment, if there are no good magazines and no one to talk with, what should we do, practice origami with dollar bills or broaden our knowledge with a smartphone?

:grin:

 

I just don't use my phone that way very much if I can't plug it in. I may need to call someone or look up something important and the phone is no use to me if it's dead. I know other people use their phones more heavily away from home and allow their children to use them, but that doesn't work for me.

 

I try to not leave the house without my portable charger in tow (the thing is a beast but I can get 4-5 full charges for my phone off of it). I don't have my nose constantly buried in my phones screen when I'm out but some apps, especially Pokemon Go, are real battery drains. Even more so if it's a sunny day and you have to turn the screen brightness way up. If you only use your phone sparingly, a small lipstick sized charger is great for emergency uses and peace of mind.

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It's not a great fit for me. I don't use any GPS-enabled apps on my phone unless I'm stuck, and I don't play any games on it unless I can immediately plug the phone back in. I can't let my kid kill my phone battery to play a game no matter how fun and popular it is. I need it to be a phone. (Hence my hope that it will sort of go away, because it's going to be an irritant for the rest of the summer and it has to be a hard no.)

 

And here i thought i was the only person on the planet who pretty much only used my phone to, you know,, talk on! :laughing:

 

I use my phone for all sorts of stuff when I'm at home or work or otherwise close to a charger. When I'm out and about, it's put away and only used when needed. All the other features are nice, but it is, primarily, a phone.

 

Smartphones have been touted as "the end of boredom." On the hand, some say we're losing our creativity by being entertained. (No, that was inane 1950's television that turned our minds to mush. :anibad: ) However, while sitting waiting for an appointment, if there are no good magazines and no one to talk with, what should we do, practice origami with dollar bills or broaden our knowledge with a smartphone?

:grin:

 

I just don't use my phone that way very much if I can't plug it in. I may need to call someone or look up something important and the phone is no use to me if it's dead. I know other people use their phones more heavily away from home and allow their children to use them, but that doesn't work for me.

 

I try to not leave the house without my portable charger in tow (the thing is a beast but I can get 4-5 full charges for my phone off of it). I don't have my nose constantly buried in my phones screen when I'm out but some apps, especially Pokemon Go, are real battery drains. Even more so if it's a sunny day and you have to turn the screen brightness way up. If you only use your phone sparingly, a small lipstick sized charger is great for emergency uses and peace of mind.

 

I had one and the one time I wanted to use it, it was out of charge. Not a useful option for me, but I can see how they are useful for people who play phone games or use their devices more heavily than I do. I just can't relenquish my phone to a child for the purpose of playing a game. It's my phone.

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It's not a great fit for me. I don't use any GPS-enabled apps on my phone unless I'm stuck, and I don't play any games on it unless I can immediately plug the phone back in. I can't let my kid kill my phone battery to play a game no matter how fun and popular it is. I need it to be a phone. (Hence my hope that it will sort of go away, because it's going to be an irritant for the rest of the summer and it has to be a hard no.)

 

And here i thought i was the only person on the planet who pretty much only used my phone to, you know,, talk on! :laughing:

 

I use my phone for all sorts of stuff when I'm at home or work or otherwise close to a charger. When I'm out and about, it's put away and only used when needed. All the other features are nice, but it is, primarily, a phone.

 

Smartphones have been touted as "the end of boredom." On the hand, some say we're losing our creativity by being entertained. (No, that was inane 1950's television that turned our minds to mush. :anibad: ) However, while sitting waiting for an appointment, if there are no good magazines and no one to talk with, what should we do, practice origami with dollar bills or broaden our knowledge with a smartphone?

:grin:

 

I just don't use my phone that way very much if I can't plug it in. I may need to call someone or look up something important and the phone is no use to me if it's dead. I know other people use their phones more heavily away from home and allow their children to use them, but that doesn't work for me.

 

i can't remember the last time i needed to make an emergency call, but taught the kids how to do so from a locked phone's lockscreen. no games, but research is allowed sparingly. regular calls are usually handled at home, when it doesn't interrupt our activities/conversations with the kids.

 

getting 8 hours (battery) of screen on time is normal for both of our smartphones, but they rarely see more than two hours a day, caching/hiking included. a quick charger replenishes either phone in two hours or both in about three and a half.

 

 

pokemon has been great so far. the kids have really enjoyed meeting other people and searching new places along trails. i was surprised how much more fun it was vs looking for another static geocache that was placed solely to be difficult to find, instead of fun. i bet this is a big portion of the reason the apps been downloaded fifty million times since release.

 

fifty million. wow.

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It's not a great fit for me. I don't use any GPS-enabled apps on my phone unless I'm stuck, and I don't play any games on it unless I can immediately plug the phone back in. I can't let my kid kill my phone battery to play a game no matter how fun and popular it is. I need it to be a phone. (Hence my hope that it will sort of go away, because it's going to be an irritant for the rest of the summer and it has to be a hard no.)

 

And here i thought i was the only person on the planet who pretty much only used my phone to, you know,, talk on! :laughing:

 

I use my phone for all sorts of stuff when I'm at home or work or otherwise close to a charger. When I'm out and about, it's put away and only used when needed. All the other features are nice, but it is, primarily, a phone.

 

Smartphones have been touted as "the end of boredom." On the hand, some say we're losing our creativity by being entertained. (No, that was inane 1950's television that turned our minds to mush. :anibad: ) However, while sitting waiting for an appointment, if there are no good magazines and no one to talk with, what should we do, practice origami with dollar bills or broaden our knowledge with a smartphone?

:grin:

 

I just don't use my phone that way very much if I can't plug it in. I may need to call someone or look up something important and the phone is no use to me if it's dead. I know other people use their phones more heavily away from home and allow their children to use them, but that doesn't work for me.

 

i can't remember the last time i needed to make an emergency call, but taught the kids how to do so from a locked phone's lockscreen. no games, but research is allowed sparingly. regular calls are usually handled at home, when it doesn't interrupt our activities/conversations with the kids.

 

getting 8 hours (battery) of screen on time is normal for both of our smartphones, but they rarely see more than two hours a day, caching/hiking included. a quick charger replenishes either phone in two hours or both in about three and a half.

 

 

pokemon has been great so far. the kids have really enjoyed meeting other people and searching new places along trails. i was surprised how much more fun it was vs looking for another static geocache that was placed solely to be difficult to find, instead of fun. i bet this is a big portion of the reason the apps been downloaded fifty million times since release.

 

fifty million. wow.

 

I'm sure it's a fun game, given how popular it is, but I can't toss out all of the family rules and routines we have around devices just because there's a new game. Just not the right thing for us. We don't use phones for geocaching either, because of ruggedness and battery issues. We each have our own GPS.

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I try to not leave the house without my portable charger in tow (the thing is a beast but I can get 4-5 full charges for my phone off of it). I don't have my nose constantly buried in my phones screen when I'm out but some apps, especially Pokemon Go, are real battery drains. Even more so if it's a sunny day and you have to turn the screen brightness way up. If you only use your phone sparingly, a small lipstick sized charger is great for emergency uses and peace of mind.

 

I had one and the one time I wanted to use it, it was out of charge. Not a useful option for me, but I can see how they are useful for people who play phone games or use their devices more heavily than I do. I just can't relenquish my phone to a child for the purpose of playing a game. It's my phone.

 

I always recommend the AA battery packs. I hate carrying around a potential brick. Pocket full of batteries and you're set. Or, if you run out, you don't need to sit and recharge, just find a corner store and with a few bucks you've got another couple of charges. That is the portable charger I'll always highly recommend for heavy users.

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I try to not leave the house without my portable charger in tow (the thing is a beast but I can get 4-5 full charges for my phone off of it). I don't have my nose constantly buried in my phones screen when I'm out but some apps, especially Pokemon Go, are real battery drains. Even more so if it's a sunny day and you have to turn the screen brightness way up. If you only use your phone sparingly, a small lipstick sized charger is great for emergency uses and peace of mind.

 

I had one and the one time I wanted to use it, it was out of charge. Not a useful option for me, but I can see how they are useful for people who play phone games or use their devices more heavily than I do. I just can't relenquish my phone to a child for the purpose of playing a game. It's my phone.

 

I always recommend the AA battery packs. I hate carrying around a potential brick. Pocket full of batteries and you're set. Or, if you run out, you don't need to sit and recharge, just find a corner store and with a few bucks you've got another couple of charges. That is the portable charger I'll always highly recommend for heavy users.

 

Helpful suggestion for those who need these accessories.

 

For me, carrying these bulky add-ons really defeats the purpose of having a nice, sleek phone. I don't use it heavily when I'm out of the house and it's off-limits to children, so the battery typically lasts me all day unless I do something really unusual.

 

I know other parents are more liberal about letting children use these devices, but we just find they're so distracting and addictive (for adults and children). Other families we know are constantly having battles over these devices. That's not an issue in our home because it's just a hard no at all times.

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I know i'm out of touch with what's hot these days, just set in my ways i suppose. In all these years, pokemon stuff has never been interesting to me. I know there's more to it than this but my thinking is that a person installs the app, then they navigate somehow to pick up pokemon characters. Maybe some are worth more points or something. Maybe some are more rare to find which makes things a bit more exciting for players. I'm sure there are other things that add to player's fun. But for me, none of this grabs my attention.

 

Unfortunately for me, geocaching seems to be going in this direction as well. I don't believe anything PG would enhance my geocaching experience as it seems to be just another game to score points/characters/whatever.

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I try to not leave the house without my portable charger in tow (the thing is a beast but I can get 4-5 full charges for my phone off of it). I don't have my nose constantly buried in my phones screen when I'm out but some apps, especially Pokemon Go, are real battery drains. Even more so if it's a sunny day and you have to turn the screen brightness way up. If you only use your phone sparingly, a small lipstick sized charger is great for emergency uses and peace of mind.

 

I had one and the one time I wanted to use it, it was out of charge. Not a useful option for me, but I can see how they are useful for people who play phone games or use their devices more heavily than I do. I just can't relenquish my phone to a child for the purpose of playing a game. It's my phone.

 

I always recommend the AA battery packs. I hate carrying around a potential brick. Pocket full of batteries and you're set. Or, if you run out, you don't need to sit and recharge, just find a corner store and with a few bucks you've got another couple of charges. That is the portable charger I'll always highly recommend for heavy users.

 

Helpful suggestion for those who need these accessories.

 

For me, carrying these bulky add-ons really defeats the purpose of having a nice, sleek phone. I don't use it heavily when I'm out of the house and it's off-limits to children, so the battery typically lasts me all day unless I do something really unusual.

 

I know other parents are more liberal about letting children use these devices, but we just find they're so distracting and addictive (for adults and children). Other families we know are constantly having battles over these devices. That's not an issue in our home because it's just a hard no at all times.

 

Was at the Wallyworld store one day when i noticed a display full of cheap phone accessories. One of the devices was a keychain sized (approx 1"x1"x3.5") 2200mAh rechargeable battery stick. Was made by Memorex and cost $3 so figured i wouldn't be out much if it didn't work. To my surprise, this little booger works great. Will completely recharge the phone at least once before it itself needs recharging. While it's not really made for this, it'll recharge my 7" tablet to around 90%. The other thing i like is that it holds its own charge for a long time (not like a nicad battery that self discharges quickly). Being so small, it's easy to slip in the pocket, purse, or geocaching bag.

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I try to not leave the house without my portable charger in tow (the thing is a beast but I can get 4-5 full charges for my phone off of it). I don't have my nose constantly buried in my phones screen when I'm out but some apps, especially Pokemon Go, are real battery drains. Even more so if it's a sunny day and you have to turn the screen brightness way up. If you only use your phone sparingly, a small lipstick sized charger is great for emergency uses and peace of mind.

 

I had one and the one time I wanted to use it, it was out of charge. Not a useful option for me, but I can see how they are useful for people who play phone games or use their devices more heavily than I do. I just can't relenquish my phone to a child for the purpose of playing a game. It's my phone.

 

I always recommend the AA battery packs. I hate carrying around a potential brick. Pocket full of batteries and you're set. Or, if you run out, you don't need to sit and recharge, just find a corner store and with a few bucks you've got another couple of charges. That is the portable charger I'll always highly recommend for heavy users.

 

Helpful suggestion for those who need these accessories.

 

For me, carrying these bulky add-ons really defeats the purpose of having a nice, sleek phone. I don't use it heavily when I'm out of the house and it's off-limits to children, so the battery typically lasts me all day unless I do something really unusual.

 

I know other parents are more liberal about letting children use these devices, but we just find they're so distracting and addictive (for adults and children). Other families we know are constantly having battles over these devices. That's not an issue in our home because it's just a hard no at all times.

 

The "hard no" to using phones (or other limits) is hard to maintain when a substantial percentage of classmates at school get to do or have certain things....

:signalviolin:

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I try to not leave the house without my portable charger in tow (the thing is a beast but I can get 4-5 full charges for my phone off of it). I don't have my nose constantly buried in my phones screen when I'm out but some apps, especially Pokemon Go, are real battery drains. Even more so if it's a sunny day and you have to turn the screen brightness way up. If you only use your phone sparingly, a small lipstick sized charger is great for emergency uses and peace of mind.

 

I had one and the one time I wanted to use it, it was out of charge. Not a useful option for me, but I can see how they are useful for people who play phone games or use their devices more heavily than I do. I just can't relenquish my phone to a child for the purpose of playing a game. It's my phone.

 

I always recommend the AA battery packs. I hate carrying around a potential brick. Pocket full of batteries and you're set. Or, if you run out, you don't need to sit and recharge, just find a corner store and with a few bucks you've got another couple of charges. That is the portable charger I'll always highly recommend for heavy users.

 

Helpful suggestion for those who need these accessories.

 

For me, carrying these bulky add-ons really defeats the purpose of having a nice, sleek phone. I don't use it heavily when I'm out of the house and it's off-limits to children, so the battery typically lasts me all day unless I do something really unusual.

 

I know other parents are more liberal about letting children use these devices, but we just find they're so distracting and addictive (for adults and children). Other families we know are constantly having battles over these devices. That's not an issue in our home because it's just a hard no at all times.

 

The "hard no" to using phones (or other limits) is hard to maintain when a substantial percentage of classmates at school get to do or have certain things....

 

I haven't found this to be the case. We're generally liberal with other privileges, particularly experiential things, so I think it balances out. But using the phones that we need for our daily lives? That has to be a hard no.

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I know i'm out of touch with what's hot these days, just set in my ways i suppose. In all these years, pokemon stuff has never been interesting to me. I know there's more to it than this but my thinking is that a person installs the app, then they navigate somehow to pick up pokemon characters. Maybe some are worth more points or something. Maybe some are more rare to find which makes things a bit more exciting for players. I'm sure there are other things that add to player's fun. But for me, none of this grabs my attention.

 

Unfortunately for me, geocaching seems to be going in this direction as well. I don't believe anything PG would enhance my geocaching experience as it seems to be just another game to score points/characters/whatever.

 

I wouldn't like to see geocaching become more competitive than it already has, but I think this new game also speaks to an interest in an interactive GPS-based experience. There must be room for opportunity with that kind of thing without making it about points.

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Pokeman Go is sorta a competitor of Geocaching. Fortunately, this is not a zero sum game that challenges Geocaching, but there are some intriguing possibilities that could be adopted by Groundspeak to enhance the game playing experience for all of us.

 

I have been playing Pokeman with the son for the last couple of days and have achieved the lofty level of 5!

 

There are really cool Pokeman features that Groundspeak could adopt that would keep the integrity of the game while getting us all off the couch and into the woods.

 

These ideas are just random “out-of-box”stream of consciousness thoughts. I know some are good, and I know some will not work, but this OP is simply starting a dialogue with the community.

 

The question is simple.. What is good about Pokeman Go that could enhance your Geocaching experience?

 

Thoughts.

 

1) Implement the level system. Put in a ton of factors such as quality, geography, numbers of course, hides, events, souvenirs, recent finds, d/t ratings, tbs owned and moved…. Etc.. then, everyone is ranked from level 1 to 100. I have 6,000 finds What does that really mean compared to the universe?.. Bah.. what is my motivation to go out next weekend to pick up a few caches…. BUT if I am level 49 and it takes me 20 caches, a Wherigo, and a 3/3 challenge cache to hit level 50 I am motivated to get my arse out into the woods this weekend and cache away!! The devil is in the details, but a newbie geocacher should be able to hit level 50 in say 6 months with heavy weights on “what you have done for me lately” stats.

 

2) How about encouraging more social interaction? Perhaps 2 or 3 who log a cache make an automatic event? Not for every cache, just once a day.

 

3) Allow geocachers to join up in a group, or guild. Then rank guilds on their poweress. Geocaching doesn’t lend itself to pvp, but leveraging social interactions could be awesome.

 

4) I don’t have an issue with Groundspeak making money off of TB’s. In fact, I love coins and Tbs. So let’s put those stats right up at the top with hides and finds! I like the upcoming summer challenge. Encourage tb acquisition and movement as much as possible. Don’t forget supply and demand… e.g. only certain levels, or certain caches found, or certain souvenirs, attendees of mega events can acquire some Tb’s….. BONUS.. You get credit when others log.

 

5) The cool thing about Pokeman is I can sit outside drinking a glass of wine and smoking a cigar. They just come up and I catch them. Over and over again. When I started geocaching I cleared out my hometown and I realized the game took on a new turn as I needed to travel. Bear with me here, but how about allowing everyone to relog caches? Every 10, 14 or 30 or days or so? I suspect we lose a lot of cachers who don’t have the commitment or gas money to go outside their home. I was in Colorado for the mega event two weeks ago. I sherphad a contingent of SoCal cachers to the oldest cache in Colorado, Tarryall. I logged Tarryall back in 2012. Would it upset the universe if I got credit for another find on this cache 4 years later?

 

Final Note: Groundspeak does not allow me to log directly into the forums with my geocaching account as I have an accent on my name. Their platform does not accommodate “unusual” spellings. When I questioned, I was told to change my name to access the forums. I said no. I was not changing my name. My geocaching name is Réd if you want to check me out. So, that is why I log under Redsockpuppet!

 

THIS! Believe me... TONS of people! Once they clean out the area, they are done and I lost track how many people just stop caching because they cleaned out the area. Its over two dozen people! Just think how many people that will be in the whole USA! I asked a few of them over the years since I know a few of them personal and they all said this... we dont have the money to travel. Its a rich man hobby an another person told me.

 

Now, would I be caching more if theres more caches in my area? Sure I would. That simple.

 

GS needs to find a way to refresh their game.

 

This is a problem. We are still new to geocaching but are already finding out we have to travel 20 miles out at this point. After that we are talking an hour. So far, we are able to cache from relatives houses, when we visit, so that gives us more of an opportunity. After that, it will be only when we travel for vacationing. I mean, this is okay, but it will only be sporadic not every weekend like we are doing now. Sad really. We love it so.

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I skimmed through most of this thread and found a lot of discussion but little on topic.

 

This is not a discussion of the Pokemon game. The question was about geocaching.

 

 

I think it's a legitimate question.

 

Geocaching is a game we all love, but it's also a franchise of sorts. The website that puts all this together for us is a business. Most of us don't like to think of that end of it, but it's there and important.

 

We need the business and website to thrive and continue for our game to continue. I personally believe every business needs to keep an updated current business model to continue to thrive and compete in today's world.

 

We may not need a whole lot more players, but geocaching.com does need revenue from premium accounts to continue to provide us with this fantastic service. It's a valid question on how to take things from this other game to keep our game alive and fresh. How could this be improved to ensure it's survival in what has now become a competitive market of location based games?

 

In addition to keeping this game thriving, it's good to see how we can enhance our enjoyment of this game. What fun could be added?

 

 

So the question was whether there are things we can learn from that game that can enhance our game.

 

I think it's a question worth exploring.

 

* I think the idea of different levels is a good one. That would also get me to keep playing.

 

*I like the idea of souvenirs for things, although that's being used already. I like the souvenirs.

 

****I like the idea of destination caches.

This is a really big one for me.

I was able to find one of the ape caches and then see how people still flock to what USED TO BE an ape cache. People WANT destinations in geocaching.

 

I think that's probably how the challenge caches evolved. People WANT something to shoot for. Rather than just find random caches, they wanted goals to attain.

 

So new things in geocaching might run with that.

 

How could GS create higher interest?

 

Destination caches are something people have been wanting for years but essentially don't get.

 

Heck, they've been traveling to Brazil now to get the last Ape cache. If that doesn't show they want destination caches, I don't know what does.

 

 

Besides these things the OP mentioned, I can't add more to this discussion since I've never played the Pokemon game.

I do believe we've got to take lessons for life from everywhere though.

Rather than blasting it for it's short-comings, maybe learn from it, take from it anything we want, and keep on cachin'.

Right on! I enjoy getting new souvenirs...right now they have the "agent" thing going on. Love this! Levels would be cool, with a special souvenir when you reach that particular level or solve a challenge. They could do weekly challenges, with a variety of levels for each one, say three new challenges a week. One with an easy challenge, one with a moderate challenge and one with a difficult challenge. That way folks can choose which one they want or try for all three. The souvenirs should be really cool too.

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I wouldn't like to see geocaching become more competitive than it already has, but I think this new game also speaks to an interest in an interactive GPS-based experience. There must be room for opportunity with that kind of thing without making it about points.
Are you suggesting multiple short-term "interactive GPS-based experiences" (like Wherigos or InterCaches)? Or are you suggesting a more long-term "interactive GPS-based experience" of some sort?
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