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Magic: The Gathering Trackables Promotion


JL_HSTRE

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Well, at least it does say, " Geocache containers stay in one place for the duration of their lifecycle, while the trackable game pieces move from container to container".  Sheesh...

I don't believe many "new geocachers" will result  from this,  as they're only gonna  be looking for a game piece that's possibly housed in a CO's property.

Trackable loss may be an issue though, when the theme's  magic, wizards, treasure and all....

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1 minute ago, RuideAlmeida said:

 

??????  The first Magic cards were sold in 1993, while the first HP book only in 1997.

 

And we get the term "Muggle" from where? Your facts seem more accurate than mine, but I kinda got the idea that the three founders of this site were into Dungeons & Dragons and hide and seek. Somehow I have confused Harry Potter into this all. That being said, I thought Wherigo would have been more successful.

I have to agree, I see disappointment in the making here and no influx of new geocachers with the offers of theses trinkets. :D

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2 hours ago, rosebud55112 said:

I saw this this morning (as a M:tG player as well) and my heart just sank.  This will not work out well for geocaching.  Trackable loss, and cache losses to occur.  This seems to be an idea that someone at WotC had, but didn't discuss with Groundspeak.

I don't think this will hurt geocaching. During the Jeep promotion (over four years) the TB's disappeared pretty fast but it didn't really affect the game.

I managed to find a few each year and moved them along. I remember stories of people at events proudly displaying dozens of Jeep TB's they had stolen  collected

and people logging them saying "thanks for sharing."  I wouldn't be surprised to see the same thing with these. I think geocachers might be the only ones who DO move them along. Certainly people involved in "Magic" will just keep them.

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23 minutes ago, hukilaulau said:

I don't think this will hurt geocaching. During the Jeep promotion (over four years) the TB's disappeared pretty fast but it didn't really affect the game.

I managed to find a few each year and moved them along. I remember stories of people at events proudly displaying dozens of Jeep TB's they had stolen  collected

and people logging them saying "thanks for sharing."  I wouldn't be surprised to see the same thing with these. I think geocachers might be the only ones who DO move them along. Certainly people involved in "Magic" will just keep them.

I remember seeing a few yellow jeep TB's back then. One of my first reverse geocaches was logging a photo of a yellow jeep.

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4 hours ago, hukilaulau said:

I don't think this will hurt geocaching. During the Jeep promotion (over four years) the TB's disappeared pretty fast but it didn't really affect the game.

I managed to find a few each year and moved them along. I remember stories of people at events proudly displaying dozens of Jeep TB's they had stolen  collected

and people logging them saying "thanks for sharing."  I wouldn't be surprised to see the same thing with these. I think geocachers might be the only ones who DO move them along. Certainly people involved in "Magic" will just keep them.

Magic players will definitely keep them, since many of them are huge collectors of cards and memorabilia of the game. Similar scavenger hunts have been done for video games, where pieces of the hunt (entire fake human limbs) ended up stolen and never found again. There may be a couple that will move them along initially, but they'll disappear faster than an average promotional TB.

6 hours ago, rosebud55112 said:

I saw this this morning (as a M:tG player as well) and my heart just sank.  This will not work out well for geocaching.  Trackable loss, and cache losses to occur.  This seems to be an idea that someone at WotC had, but didn't discuss with Groundspeak.

I don't think we'll see cache loss, at least not much more than regular muggleing that occurs. They'll be in it for the TB (which will definitely disappear), but I find that particularly nerdy community to be pretty non-destructive and will most likely return the cache to its proper place. M:tG has a much older player base than other card games (with majority being between 21 and 50 years old), so it'll be less destructive.

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Yeah I don't see much hurt to geocaching, but I do see drama in their own community. Some will certainly want to collect the trackables, but there are bound to be the 'purists' who will loudly encourage people not to steal, since that defeats the purpose of them being out to move around and increase the value of the pieces for the community in story advancement and card releases. So there may be some infighting over there :P.

Smart players (or, those who want to collect the pieces) may find one and keep it, but also keep it moving. Doesn't look like there's any benefit whatsoever by dropping it for others to pick up. Place/retrieve if Visits don't count.

It's an intriguing (& unendorsed) experiment they're running, but I wager they didn't do a whole lot of research... that, or they took into account the ways people may not abide by the spirit of the activity. It does look like the geocachingvlogger took up the cause though :P

Edited by thebruce0
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28 minutes ago, thebruce0 said:

Yeah I don't see much hurt to geocaching, but I do see drama in their own community. Some will certainly want to collect the trackables, but there are bound to be the 'purists' who will loudly encourage people not to steal, since that defeats the purpose of them being out to move around and increase the value of the pieces for the community in story advancement and card releases. So there may be some infighting over there :P.

Smart players (or, those who want to collect the pieces) may find one and keep it, but also keep it moving. Doesn't look like there's any benefit whatsoever by dropping it for others to pick up. Place/retrieve if Visits don't count.

It's an intriguing (& unendorsed) experiment they're running, but I wager they didn't do a whole lot of research... that, or they took into account the ways people may not abide by the spirit of the activity. It does look like the geocachingvlogger took up the cause though :P

It surprises me how long certain companies have been in the business and know their customer base, but completely forget what they're like sometimes. It's optimism at its finest.

Didn't think of the place/retrieve. Min/maxer players would be very into that.

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17 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

Smart players (or, those who want to collect the pieces) may find one and keep it, but also keep it moving. Doesn't look like there's any benefit whatsoever by dropping it for others to pick up. Place/retrieve if Visits don't count.

It sounds like the Magic TB's need to get mileage, which can be done with tb visits.  No need to drop/retrieve.

" Once the trackable pieces have traveled a certain distance, new Ixalan preview cards will be unlocked for the community. "

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I just want to know how to begin. I just made my account on geocaching.com and I have an interest in this event. I have no interest in taking caches myself (I have participated in geocaching through scouts I understand the etiquette) although I understand some people may not be so inclined and will take the caches. This is a shame but only a bit more likely than someone stumbling upon one upon dumb luck and taking one. Anyway if anyone could tell me when and how to begin it would be much appreciated.

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4 hours ago, noncentric said:

It sounds like the Magic TB's need to get mileage, which can be done with tb visits.  No need to drop/retrieve.

" Once the trackable pieces have traveled a certain distance, new Ixalan preview cards will be unlocked for the community. "

Perhaps. I just meant that if they actually wanted the cards to physically travel (as intended of TBs) and not just be collected, they may expect and/or require actual Drop logs for tracking purposes rather than Visits, without realizing that one can just drop and retrieve and accomplish the same thing, and all without the card even leaving your home.  Getting distance on cards is rather unverified.

It's a neat idea but would have more substance if the tracking method were in some way more concrete and verifiable. I sense there will be a lot of "cheating", and a lot of arguing about what "cheating" really is, and a lot of people trying to get them to tighten the rules to inhibit "cheating". They're creating their own GC-style Find-log drama :P

 

3 hours ago, Perimish said:

I just want to know how to begin. I just made my account on geocaching.com and I have an interest in this event. I have no interest in taking caches myself (I have participated in geocaching through scouts I understand the etiquette) although I understand some people may not be so inclined and will take the caches. This is a shame but only a bit more likely than someone stumbling upon one upon dumb luck and taking one. Anyway if anyone could tell me when and how to begin it would be much appreciated.

That's awesome, Perimish! Welcome. If you visit the Help center, there are introductory videos and how-to guides for getting started. Make sure you've got a decent smartphone or a dedicated handheld GPS, and you should be good to go :) Find it, sign it, put it back as you found it. Basically. Very basically. ;)

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6 hours ago, Perimish said:

I just want to know how to begin. I just made my account on geocaching.com and I have an interest in this event. I have no interest in taking caches myself (I have participated in geocaching through scouts I understand the etiquette) although I understand some people may not be so inclined and will take the caches. This is a shame but only a bit more likely than someone stumbling upon one upon dumb luck and taking one. Anyway if anyone could tell me when and how to begin it would be much appreciated.

To begin, there's Geocaching 101 and the Help Center.  Have fun and welcome.  :)

At its simplest level, geocaching requires these 8 steps:

  1. Register for a free basic membership.
  2. Visit the :Hide and Seek a Cache" page.
  3. Enter your postal code and click "search."
  4. Choose any geocache from the list and click on its name.
  5. Enter the coordinates of the geocache into your GPS Device.
  6. Use your GPS device to assist you in finding the hidden geocache.
  7. Sign the logbook and return the geocache to its original location.
  8. Share your geocaching stories and photos online.

 

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On 8/16/2017 at 0:28 PM, cerberus1 said:

To begin, there's Geocaching 101 and the Help Center.  Have fun and welcome.  :)

At its simplest level, geocaching requires these 8 steps:

I'm exactly in the same boat as Perimish: I am a Magic player with a daughter who also plays Magic. We have dabbled in geocaching, but this event has got us more interested. What we don't understand is how to find the Ixalan pieces: Is it possible to search for them, or is it hit and miss?

I'm also a little bit disappointed at the presumptions made that Magic players will take the pieces or take caches. It's a good community: We're gamers, this is a game, and we just want to play.

Cheers!

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No malice intended - it wasn't a slight at every Magic player. But guaranteed there are always a few bad apples in the bunch. ;) (especially in gaming communities)  Good on you for not being one!

And hey, if there aren't any problematic players, then you have an absolutely amazing gaming community!

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21 minutes ago, Swedebit said:

I'm exactly in the same boat as Perimish: I am a Magic player with a daughter who also plays Magic. We have dabbled in geocaching, but this event has got us more interested. What we don't understand is how to find the Ixalan pieces: Is it possible to search for them, or is it hit and miss?

I'm also a little bit disappointed at the presumptions made that Magic players will take the pieces or take caches. It's a good community: We're gamers, this is a game, and we just want to play.

Cheers!

It hasn't started yet far as I know, but I bet that as soon as they get this thing straight with Groundspeak, they'll have a plan.  :) 

Since you responded to me, I assume you noticed who I responded to  - a magic player.  They stated "I have no interest in taking caches myself (I have participated in geocaching through scouts I understand the etiquette) although I understand some people may not be so inclined and will take the caches".   

 - Well,  "Having no interest.." shouldn't have even be mentioned it they knew anything about the hobby.

As one who's seen how many "weekend and done" players treat the hobby (those containers belong to us, not the site...) I believe the same.

Many will be playing their game, not ours, so again, no real reason to follow any of our guidelines and rules, or even bother to learn what this hobby's even about. 

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Where the hell is the form to submit??? Tried Safari, Firefox, and Google Chrome, but nothing to click within the blog post, nor in the special page https://www.geocaching.com/promotions/promo/magic/ where it says "Please complete this form to request a Magic: The Gathering Treasure Piece trackable.".

The countdown to closing is ticking down, but seems to be not closed yet.

Which form, and where???

Edited by Dr.MORO
Typos...
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3 minutes ago, kunarion said:

 

The form states that "Wufoo hosts this submission form".  Do you have anything set up to block anything (ad blockers, stuff like that)?

 

Do have ad blockers, do is turned off for Geocaching.com, and will know if it's on/off, and can turn on/off.

Still nothing...

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It worked for me two minutes ago. I filled out the form and requested a game piece.

I also looked at a map of active pieces. There are only three in the USA, all in Washington state. One appears to be in a cache, one it's unclear where it is, and one has been "discovered"  at an event but not placed in a cache

 

(I used Google Chrome)

Edited by hukilaulau
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2 minutes ago, hukilaulau said:

It worked for me two minutes ago. I filled out the form and requested a game piece.

I also looked at a map of active pieces. There are only three in the USA, all in Washington state. One appears to be in a cache, one it's unclear where it is, and one has been "discovered"  at an event but not placed in a cache

 

Did you discover the one on the promo?

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8 minutes ago, Dr.MORO said:

 

Do have ad blockers, do is turned off for Geocaching.com, and will know if it's on/off, and can turn on/off.

Still nothing...

 

You don't have a lot of time to hack into that form.  If it's still not working tomorrow, get with a local cacher and see if they can fill it out.  Or contact me, I'll fill it out.

I was surprised to even see one of these forms.  Usually, I hear about it, go there, and it says, "we're full, buh-bye".  So this one's either run very differently, or it's just a way to collect contact info. :ph34r:

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5 minutes ago, kunarion said:

 

You don't have a lot of time to hack into that form.  If it's still not working tomorrow, get with a local cacher and see if they can fill it out.  Or contact me, I'll fill it out.

I was surprised to even see one of these forms.  Usually, I hear about it, go there, and it says, "we're full, buh-bye".  So this one's either run very differently, or it's just a way to collect contact info. :ph34r:

Why would it be "full" when they are randomly picking 1,500 cachers to receive a Magic trackable? 

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9 minutes ago, SeattleWayne said:

Why would it be "full" when they are randomly picking 1,500 cachers to receive a Magic trackable? 

Because most often, coin promotions are not randomly picking, they have application slots that fill up.  Usually, I hear about it, and it says "we're full, buh-bye".  Sorry for the confusion.

Edited by kunarion
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2 minutes ago, kunarion said:

Because most often, coin promotions are not randomly picking, they have application slots that fill up.  Usually, I hear about it, and it says "we're full, buh-bye".  Sorry for the confusion.

No worries, Kurarion. I just hope people don't think they're actually getting a trackable after filling out the form. 

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2 minutes ago, SeattleWayne said:

No worries, Kurarion. I just hope people don't think they're actually getting a trackable after filling out the form. 

 

But everyone is so excited to properly log the Trackables and place them immediately into caches!  Many people will be disappointed if they can't. :P

Edited by kunarion
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Not sure what happened to Dr. Moro - but it isn't a Mac issue. I use a Mac as well and was able to see the form, fill it out, and submit it using Chrome. I'm betting he has an extension that is blocking it for some reason. Maybe try a different computer or a mobile device?

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31 minutes ago, KBLAST said:

Not sure what happened to Dr. Moro - but it isn't a Mac issue. I use a Mac as well and was able to see the form, fill it out, and submit it using Chrome. I'm betting he has an extension that is blocking it for some reason. Maybe try a different computer or a mobile device?

I too am using a Mac, and had no issues. 

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Ok, so opened Win7 in Boot Camp via VMware, installed Win Google Chrome, as Win Firefox somehow did not show the form, and finally saw the form to submit. (Did NOT install nor open IE...)

Submission was good, I think, although will not know if it was a successful one or not until I hear back from GCHQ.

We'll all see...

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31 minutes ago, Dr.MORO said:

Ok, so opened Win7 in Boot Camp via VMware, installed Win Google Chrome, as Win Firefox somehow did not show the form, and finally saw the form to submit. (Did NOT install nor open IE...)

Submission was good, I think, although will not know if it was a successful one or not until I hear back from GCHQ.

We'll all see...

They may just announce the winners in a blog post. GS may not contact those who did not get selected. 

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I am a bit disappointed. I tried to sign up for the free trackables but the form would not submit. I emailed support, and of course the issue was mine not theirs. I went out and bought a new phone and by the time I got it set up I missed the deadline for signing up. I have been playing Magic for years and I was really looking forward to the idea of Magic and Geocaching working together. Support supposedly had no other way to submit my request so I guess I will wait and see what comes next. 

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