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Caching Connoisseur


Max and 99

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To earn the Caching Connoisseur souvenir, earn 60 points on your Friend League starting October 1 at noon UTC through October 29 at noon UTC. This month, earn higher points for finding geocaches with 10 or more Favorite points. A true connoisseur could achieve this score by finding four great caches. How many will it take you?

 

To earn the Caching Connoisseur souvenir, earn 60 points individually on your Friend League beginning Monday, October 1 at noon UTC and ending at noon UTC Monday, October 29. During this time, earn higher points for finding geocaches with 10 or more Favorite points! A true connoisseur could achieve this score by finding four great caches. How many will it take you?

The scoring*:

Found a geocache with less than 10 Favorite points: 5

Found a geocache with 10+ Favorite points: 15

Attended Event: 5

Drop Trackable: 1

For example, if you log a geocache with over 10 Favorite points you will earn 15 points for logging the find, giving you a total of 15 points on your Friend League! There are no extra points for Difficulty/Terrain ratings this month.

*The Friend League will not reflect this scoring until Monday, October 1 at noon UTC.

FAQ:

How do I play?

Find different geocache types to individually collect 60 points on the Friend League between Monday, October 1 at noon UTC and Monday, October 29 at noon UTC and earn the Caching Connoisseur souvenir.

How can I earn points?

If you log a cache, attend an event, or perform other geocaching actions, you collect points.

 

Edited by Max and 99
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45 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

Edit: I was tricked. Friends don't help.

 

Of course not, they aren't actual friends.  The other 2/3rds has hundreds of "friends", but none have helped her with anything.    ;)

 

At a recent event, I was kinda surprised how many actually think of this "connoisseur", "ultimate" marketing stuff as meaning anything.

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If you've found all the local caches with lots of Favorite Points, travel!  If the point goals (designed for casual geocachers) are not high enough to meet your definition of "connoisseur," set a higher personal goal!

 

This month I went on a great roadtrip, driving from Pittsburgh to Boulder Colorado and back again.  We found 138 caches, hand-picked in order to color in counties, score Jasmer grids, complete challenge caches, etc.  When faced with hundreds of caches to score a new county along the Interstate, we used favorite points as our filter whenever possible.  Those 138 caches translated to 9,633 favorite points, or an average of 70 per cache.  That's pretty good for the USA, or you could call it "a lunchtime stroll in Prague."  :P The highest favorite points came from the St. Louis Arch virtual (995 FP's), Tarryall (oldest cache in Colorado, and my milestone find #7000, with 936 FP's), and Missouri's First - Watts Mill (866 FP's).  My friend also found Mingo (2585) which I'd found previously, so that isn't counted in the above totals.

 

I'll be sure to pick out some highly favorite caches at the beginning of next month to score this upcoming souvenir in style.  It's all about the effort you put in on researching fun caches to find, and sorting/filtering on favorite points generally produces great results.

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3 hours ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

 

It becomes more difficult for those that don't live in a cache dense area with lots of caches with a lot of favorite points.  

Yes, it is slightly more difficult, but not much. Is finding 12 caches within 29 day period considered difficult? :) 

Edited by EggsTheBest
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4 hours ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

It becomes more difficult for those that don't live in a cache dense area with lots of caches with a lot of favorite points.  

 

Any 12 caches within the month... (12 * 5 = 60)

ETA: d'oh, echoed EggsTheBest's comment, heh

Edited by thebruce0
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2 hours ago, Moun10Bike said:

The folks who post in this forum are generally pretty engaged already, so it's no surprise that most people here think that the qualifications for these souvenirs are too low. However, the average premium member finds about 92 caches a year (about 7.5 per month) while overall the rates are less than half that. The medians are likely well below even those numbers. I haven't spoken to the marketing department about their reasoning, but I imagine that they are trying to entice those who are not quite as active to get outside to cache a bit more.

 

I totally agree. I think it's pretty cool how all these different promos are set up to get casual cachers caching. I know for me it really helps. I never have enough time to cache as much as I would like, and the 'reward' of a souvenir is just enough to get me to choose to cache over mowing the lawn! LOL With the hidden creatures, I challenged my self to try to get all 100, got to 91 which for me was more than enough to feel like I acomplished something. I have found more caches this year than in any other year, also got my #1,000! Pretty good for caching for 15 years! Looking forward to scouting out some fav point caches (like I did for the Planet Promo).

Thanks for keeping me caching!

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11 hours ago, Moun10Bike said:

The folks who post in this forum are generally pretty engaged already, so it's no surprise that most people here think that the qualifications for these souvenirs are too low. However, the average premium member finds about 92 caches a year (about 7.5 per month) while overall the rates are less than half that. The medians are likely well below even those numbers. I haven't spoken to the marketing department about their reasoning, but I imagine that they are trying to entice those who are not quite as active to get outside to cache a bit more.

That certainly would explain the seemingly (to us) easy qualifications.  In our area (WNY), the majority of the people we run into at events find way more than 92 caches in a year.  Then again, there are plenty of cachers we know who don't go to events (and, presumably, even more that we DON'T know, since we never see them at events).

 

Before I read the details of the scoring, I was hoping for some sort of sliding scale: 0-5 favorites = 1 point, 6-10 favorites = 2 points, 11-15 favorites = 4 pts, 16-20 favorites = 7 points, 21+ favorites = 10 points.  I know this wouldn't work well in cache-sparse areas or cached-out areas.  And would probably be confusing to many people.  But then, I like math and there are plenty of areas we haven't cached in, even within 60 minutes of home.

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14 hours ago, EggsTheBest said:

Yes, it is slightly more difficult, but not much. Is finding 12 caches within 29 day period considered difficult? :) 

 

It really depends on where you live/geocache.  I've been to several places where finding 12 caches in a year would be difficult.  The first time I found a cache in Ethiopia there were only 6 in the entire country.  When I found one in Tanzania there were no other caches within a 4 hour drive.

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Absolutely, I fully agree it's great to get people on the 'low end' out caching and trying new things, encouraging the outdoors and having fun in the hobby... I think the concern is that with the focus on that end, almost exclusively, the souvenirs have very little value for the other half of the worldwide community for whom qualification is little to no effort at all. There were some campaigns that had tiers, and that allowed a bit more of a challenge for people who could easily qualify no day 1, for example. A little more time, a little more effort, a little more push.

 

To contrast, "Caching Connoisseur" implies an active search and sensing for quality caches (ie, finding caches with favourites). The qualifications require at least a handful of caches, but if you want the souvenir easily you would follow theme and seek high favourite caches (which aren't limited by accessibility).

 

For "Adrenaline Junkie" the theme seems much more bold that the cache you find are 'extreme'. Yes, a 3 terrain could be extreme for some people, but it's presented as more universally extreme (hiker atop a mountain?) and so one wouldn't expect to qualify as an Adrenalien Junkie by finding at most six 1/1's. The minimum requirement seemed very much contrary to the theme.

 

In Planetary Pursuit, there were tiers to work towards over time. Growing rewards for people who'd average far above a typical find collection for the period.

In Hidden Creatures, it felt more like a journey as you progress through the quantity of finds and earned the different creatures.

 

In those last two the high end tiers were certainly more difficult for a vast majority of the worldwide community, but they were there, they were something people could strive towards.

Of course, not everyone would therefore get every souvenir. But does everyone have to be able to? If everyone does, then there's no real value in the accomplishment, there's no push or drive. People who can put the effort don't need to put the effort if the only effort to complete is the least put forward by anyone.  Everyone gets a medal isn't motivation or value. That doesn't mean it has to be a competition inherently, against anyone else, but having that goal to reach (which not everyone will) makes it only a competition against yourself to get there.

 

 

So, yeah, I don't think there shouldn't be "easy" souvenirs to get the below-average casual cachers out and active. But please, keep the higher end rewards for people who can and will put forth effort to go for the extreme end (relatively speaking).  Gauging where that high end reward should be, what the qualifications should be, is something that would come with more worldwide stats to analyze, but at least put something there for the rest of the people to be inspired and motivated to work towards ;), and please, don't be swayed by people who demand that they be able to receive everything.

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21 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

Absolutely, I fully agree it's great to get people on the 'low end' out caching and trying new things, encouraging the outdoors and having fun in the hobby... I think the concern is that with the focus on that end, almost exclusively, the souvenirs have very little value for the other half of the worldwide community for whom qualification is little to no effort at all.  There were some campaigns that had tiers, and that allowed a bit more of a challenge for people who could easily qualify no day 1, for example. A little more time, a little more effort, a little more push.

 

Correct - in fact, we just had two, as you point out.

 

There used to only be one big souvenir promotion a year.  So far this year we've had three, and two of those catered to the numbers set.  I'm OK with one that's not aimed entirely at me, as long as the next one tries to incorporate a bigger shot group.

Edited by hzoi
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These are souvenirs not rewards or trophies. You are in control of the caches you choose to find, commentate, and remember when you look at the pixels in your profile. When I look at September’s Adrenaline rush I will remember struggling to find a selection of caches I could do with my sister at a very busy time of the year. When you look at yours you may remember an epic climb up a mountain.

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21 hours ago, Team Taran said:

These are souvenirs not rewards or trophies. You are in control of the caches you choose to find, commentate, and remember when you look at the pixels in your profile. When I look at September’s Adrenaline rush I will remember struggling to find a selection of caches I could do with my sister at a very busy time of the year. When you look at yours you may remember an epic climb up a mountain.

 

A very good point.  Souvenirs are, by definition, a token of remembrance.   Some have received the adrenaline rush souvenir for just going out and finding a few caches as they'd do any other time of the year.   For someone that made an epic climb up a mountain, or struggled to find a specific selection of cache, they may want a token of remembrance for their efforts.  GS adds souvenirs to our profiles, for doing things that aren't memorable whether we want them or not.

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I got much more of an adrenaline rush with today's caches than any I found for that souvenir.  250' climb in a quarter mile.  Then I decided I was not going to try climbing down that cliff.  So I added another two miles to my hike.  The climb up the cliff gave me quite an adrenaline rush!   The four caches that I found were great caches.  But without a lot of finds, they did not have a lot of favorite points.  So, only twenty points.  These souvenirs are not very meaningful.  

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On 9/26/2018 at 11:14 AM, Moun10Bike said:

The folks who post in this forum are generally pretty engaged already, so it's no surprise that most people here think that the qualifications for these souvenirs are too low. However, the average premium member finds about 92 caches a year (about 7.5 per month) while overall the rates are less than half that. The medians are likely well below even those numbers. I haven't spoken to the marketing department about their reasoning, but I imagine that they are trying to entice those who are not quite as active to get outside to cache a bit more.

 

Thanks for putting some context around the promotion, Moun10Bike.  While I am one of the pretty engaged for whom this souvenir is another gimme, it makes sense.

 

However, (well not really however, more like how about this), wouldn't it be cool to have some souvenirs that are stats based not time limited promotions like this.  For example, an adrenalin junkie type of souvenir might be based on a cacher having found over 10, 20, whatever, T5 caches in their entire caching career.  It would be a type of achievement souvenir that any cacher could complete at some point and in their own time.  As I understand it, this is what the concept of souvenirs was originally created for.  I remember reading somewhere that they were designed to act like achievement badges in video games - completed so many miles in a racing game, achievement unlocked.

 

Edited by funkymunkyzone
typo
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21 hours ago, funkymunkyzone said:

 

Thanks for putting some context around the promotion, Moun10Bike.  While I am one of the pretty engaged for whom this souvenir is another gimme, it makes sense.

 

However, (well not really however, more like how about this), wouldn't it be cool to have some souvenirs that are stats based not time limited promotions like this.  For example, an adrenalin junkie type of souvenir might be based on a cacher having found over 10, 20, whatever, T5 caches in their entire caching career.  It would be a type of achievement souvenir that any cacher could complete at some point and in their own time.  As I understand it, this is what the concept of souvenirs was originally created for.  I remember reading somewhere that they were designed to act like achievement badges in video games - completed so many miles in a racing game, achievement unlocked.

 

 

Sounds a lot like Challenge Caches to me and one that breaks the time rule starting from the time published which is prohibited. Though I'd be a fan of those too, challenge rules seem a bit restrictive and honestly I see no difference between a hard challenge and a puzzle cache that is so obscure one ore two people ever find.

 

How about a variable challenge based upon your stats. So take your average number of finds a month and maybe add a few. 

 

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15 minutes ago, MNTA said:

 

Sounds a lot like Challenge Caches to me and one that breaks the time rule starting from the time published which is prohibited. Though I'd be a fan of those too, challenge rules seem a bit restrictive and honestly I see no difference between a hard challenge and a puzzle cache that is so obscure one ore two people ever find.

 

How about a variable challenge based upon your stats. So take your average number of finds a month and maybe add a few. 

 

 

I disagree - I don't see it as anything like a challenge cache.  It's simply an achievement.  A challenge cache has a cache that you have to visit meaning it's limited to locals or visitors to a specific place.

 

Otherwise, all souvenirs can be described as a lot like challenge caches.  Found a cache in country x... 

Edited by funkymunkyzone
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On 10/1/2018 at 10:02 PM, funkymunkyzone said:

It would be a type of achievement souvenir that any cacher could complete at some point and in their own time.  As I understand it, this is what the concept of souvenirs was originally created for.  I remember reading somewhere that they were designed to act like achievement badges in video games - completed so many miles in a racing game, achievement unlocked.

 

 

The promotion based souvenirs probably should have been called "achievement badges" if that's what they were trying to emulate.   However, souvenirs for finding a cache in different countries/states,  attending specific events, or for specific locations like Groundspeak HQ align more with the "real life" definition of a souvenir.  

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During the moratorium there was extensive discussion about the challenge concept (obviously).

One thing I heavily advocated for even before that, when the issue of date-limited challenges was a thing, was that very distinction:

* A "challenge", which is effectively issued to everyone equally, meaning date limited (finds before a date don't count) and everyone starts at 0. That means yes, harder for veterans and easier for newbies and heavily dependent on how many still-findable caches are available for them.

* An "achievement", which is a completely open statistical threshold. Get to this point any time in your caching career, and you earn it. Veterans may already qualify, newbies will need to work towards qualification.

 

Now we seem to have a similar categorization in souvenirs -

* Location-based and career-stat souvenirs are the achievements (do this once any time and you earn it).

* The temporary promo souvenirs are the actual challenges - everyone starts at zero and difficulty is relative. Which is probably another reason why they seem to be so easy. I think there'd be a dip in the difficulty graph where the challenge at the extreme end would actually be too difficult for veterans who've cleared out their finds :)

 

But yeah, at least a separation for these two styles of souvenirs would get - as the Crazy Russian Hacker says - a big tumbs up from me!

Edited by thebruce0
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5 hours ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

 

The promotion based souvenirs probably should have been called "achievement badges" if that's what they were trying to emulate. 

 However, souvenirs for finding a cache in different countries/states,  attending specific events, or for specific locations like Groundspeak HQ align more with the "real life" definition of a souvenir.  

 

Yep.   We like the location-based, event,  and date-specific souvenirs best.  

When they first came out, the other 2/3rds jokingly said she can stop buying fridge magnets now.  :D

 

Most of these new marketing promotions could have had something similar to what a popular third-party site puts out, giving folks "badges" for their achievements

They're "souvenirs" only because that's where they're placed ... in with your souvenirs.

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1 hour ago, cerberus1 said:

 

Yep.   We like the location-based, event,  and date-specific souvenirs best.  

When they first came out, the other 2/3rds jokingly said she can stop buying fridge magnets now.  :D

 

Most of these new marketing promotions could have had something similar to what a popular third-party site puts out, giving folks "badges" for their achievements

They're "souvenirs" only because that's where they're placed ... in with your souvenirs.

 

And that's why many have asked for a way to organize the souvenirs tab by "type", so that region and location-based souvenirs can show up together and "achievements" grouped together.  I've suggested in the past that an editable "achievements/badges" tab in our profiles would be useful for better organizing our profiles.  Currently, the only tab that is editable is the "bio" tab, so all those badges that are very common in Europe (mostly the UK) could be put on their own tab and use the "bio" tab for, well, biographical information.

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11 hours ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

 

The promotion based souvenirs probably should have been called "achievement badges" if that's what they were trying to emulate.   However, souvenirs for finding a cache in different countries/states,  attending specific events, or for specific locations like Groundspeak HQ align more with the "real life" definition of a souvenir.  

 

I like the idea of there being variety in how different souvenirs work.  I'd like to see more souvenirs based on criteria other than country/state/event.  For example, maybe "10 year anniversary" for people who have been caching for 10 years, or ones for finding x number of D5 or T5 caches, etc...  I think there's a lot of potential fun to be had with the system.  And of course, as always, if someone doesn't care about souvenirs, they are not forced to! :)

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13 hours ago, funkymunkyzone said:

 

I like the idea of there being variety in how different souvenirs work.  I'd like to see more souvenirs based on criteria other than country/state/event.  For example, maybe "10 year anniversary" for people who have been caching for 10 years, or ones for finding x number of D5 or T5 caches, etc...  I think there's a lot of potential fun to be had with the system.  And of course, as always, if someone doesn't care about souvenirs, they are not forced to! :)

 

Earlier this year I got a certificate of recognition for 20 years of service where I work.  I wouldn't consider that a souvenir, but rather an accomplishment.  Splitting up GS souvenirs as souvenirs and accomplishments/badges would align them with how the real world refers to a physical souvenir or some sort of certificate or award for an accomplishment.   

 

For example,  getting a souvenir for finding a cache in China would be similar to purchasing a souvenir t-shirt while visiting the great wall, but finding geocaches in 20 (or more, as in your case) countries would be an accomplishment and some sort of digital artwork which represents that accomplishment (and calling it an achievement badge) would be more accurate than awarding a souvenir for an accomplishment.

 

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And this all ties in to suggestions for challenge caches as well. Namely, remove the physical cache component and just let people 'qualify' for..something. Obviously I'm not a fan of that, the physical cache is an essential component of the 'challenge cache'. But, certain statistical achievement souvenir/badges already rewarded to profiles would certainly make verifying qualifications for some challenges that much easier. =P

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On 05/10/2018 at 1:40 AM, NYPaddleCacher said:

 

Earlier this year I got a certificate of recognition for 20 years of service where I work.  I wouldn't consider that a souvenir, but rather an accomplishment.  Splitting up GS souvenirs as souvenirs and accomplishments/badges would align them with how the real world refers to a physical souvenir or some sort of certificate or award for an accomplishment.   

 

For example,  getting a souvenir for finding a cache in China would be similar to purchasing a souvenir t-shirt while visiting the great wall, but finding geocaches in 20 (or more, as in your case) countries would be an accomplishment and some sort of digital artwork which represents that accomplishment (and calling it an achievement badge) would be more accurate than awarding a souvenir for an accomplishment.

 

I totally get what you're saying re the definition of the word "souvenir".

 

I'm just looking at it with two things in mind:

Firstly there is no achievements system on the website, so rather than build one, the souvenirs system could easily cater for it. As in, it analyses your found logs and through a set of rules determines if you have earned a souvenir.  Thsts not a reason to have it, just saying the capability exists.

Secondly, I'm sure I remember reading back in the early days that part of the intention of souvenirs was indeed to have an equivalent of achievement badges, like in video games. Now I have searched and I cant find that anymore, so it is what it is, a memory.

 

I dont think any baby animals would be harmed by having achievement type souvenirs... and variety is the spice of life...

 

PS congrats on 20 years.

Edited by funkymunkyzone
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On ‎9‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 11:36 AM, Max and 99 said:

To earn the Caching Connoisseur souvenir, earn 60 points on your Friend League starting October 1 at noon UTC through October 29 at noon UTC. This month, earn higher points for finding geocaches with 10 or more Favorite points. A true connoisseur could achieve this score by finding four great caches. How many will it take you?

 

To earn the Caching Connoisseur souvenir, earn 60 points individually on your Friend League beginning Monday, October 1 at noon UTC and ending at noon UTC Monday, October 29. During this time, earn higher points for finding geocaches with 10 or more Favorite points! A true connoisseur could achieve this score by finding four great caches. How many will it take you?

The scoring*:

Found a geocache with less than 10 Favorite points: 5

Found a geocache with 10+ Favorite points: 15

Attended Event: 5

Drop Trackable: 1

For example, if you log a geocache with over 10 Favorite points you will earn 15 points for logging the find, giving you a total of 15 points on your Friend League! There are no extra points for Difficulty/Terrain ratings this month.

*The Friend League will not reflect this scoring until Monday, October 1 at noon UTC.

FAQ:

How do I play?

Find different geocache types to individually collect 60 points on the Friend League between Monday, October 1 at noon UTC and Monday, October 29 at noon UTC and earn the Caching Connoisseur souvenir.

How can I earn points?

If you log a cache, attend an event, or perform other geocaching actions, you collect points.

 

I can also see this as getting some of the good cache hiders to hide more good caches to help others gain the souvenir. Of course, a cache that gets 10+ favs in a few weeks is pretty rare. However, I could see that happening in a larger city (like Prague lol). See, America needs more German engineers! 

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13 hours ago, funkymunkyzone said:

Firstly there is no achievements system on the website, so rather than build one, the souvenirs system could easily cater for it. As in, it analyses your found logs and through a set of rules determines if you have earned a souvenir.  Thsts not a reason to have it, just saying the capability exists.

 

Another possibility would be to partner with a site like badgegen, which already has code which reads found it data and generates quite a variety of achievement badges.  Quite a few already use it an display those badges on their profile Bio page.  Creating a separate achievements tab with badgegen integrated in would be a start.  Then allow users to edit a portion of that page to add all those achievement badges that are so popular in the UK.  

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I was surprised to see Moun10Bike 's  post about the average premium member only getting 72 a year. I thought we were slackers by getting in the 200's most of the time. We may break 300 this year and I'm a bit nudged by the souvenirs. Souvenirs have caught on here in New Mexico but they seem to be prized more by the high number cachers. Whatever works.

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On 10/7/2018 at 5:50 PM, tealeaf said:

I was surprised to see Moun10Bike 's  post about the average premium member only getting 72 a year. I thought we were slackers by getting in the 200's most of the time. We may break 300 this year and I'm a bit nudged by the souvenirs. Souvenirs have caught on here in New Mexico but they seem to be prized more by the high number cachers. Whatever works.

 

I have been geocaching, and a premium member,  for 11 years and have only had one year with more than 300 finds.  I got more than 200 the first three years but haven't found more than 100 a year since.  You can thank me for bringing down the average and making your stats look better. 

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I went on a geocaching roadtrip last weekend - my first since the latest promotion began.  I wasn't keeping track of my points, so it was quite a surprise when the "you've earned a souvenir" message popped up.  Coincidentally, that happened when I finished logging one of my primary targets for the roadtrip:  Grand View, a two stage letterbox hybrid cache in a Victorian cemetery overlooking Chillicothe, Ohio.  I wanted to find this cache, more than 150 miles from my home, as part of qualifying for the "Ohio History Challenge."  The cache made my "Top 5% Greatest Cache Hunts" bookmark list - one of the first 100 bookmark lists ever created on Geocaching.com.

 

I like how I earned this souvenir in style!  Here is the view at stage one of the cache:

 

b81c5650-55c0-4bf9-b9b1-fa0ec0495235.jpg

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I'd love to see a stats breakdown of how many people earned the tiered souvenirs (such as hidden creatures).  If we see a dramatic spread between 1/2/3 finds in the month to 100 finds in the month, then we may have a better idea of GS's decision to run a single-simple-achievement campaign for an entire month.

 

Even then, is it 'not worth' providing a higher-difficulty tier souvenir for people who'd achieve it, even if it were <1% of the global community?

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I earned this souvenir after finding my first multi...I've been very timid about going after them, especially since I've been so busy over the years that geocaching hasn't been something I could do much of. This souvenir didn't motivate me to go geocaching more, but it's nice to see more of these kinds of souvenirs now. I liked the multi-tiered ones like Hidden Creatures, it offered a good challenge (for me...since I was working in a forested area where caches were around, but I had to walk miles to get to them), albeit a tough one.

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1 hour ago, DreamMachine74 said:

I earned this souvenir after finding my first multi...I've been very timid about going after them, especially since I've been so busy over the years that geocaching hasn't been something I could do much of. This souvenir didn't motivate me to go geocaching more, but it's nice to see more of these kinds of souvenirs now. I liked the multi-tiered ones like Hidden Creatures, it offered a good challenge (for me...since I was working in a forested area where caches were around, but I had to walk miles to get to them), albeit a tough one.

 

At first I thought that you meant after ONLY finding a multi! You found a lot!

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Considering I've been playing for over four years, I've found a pretty sad amount of caches...albeit it's better than this time last year, where I was around nearly half as less as I have now. My cache finds are a puny pile comparative to most other folks I see.....but in the next few years, I'll try and go for more caches, now that I'm more comfortable with it.

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2 hours ago, DreamMachine74 said:

Considering I've been playing for over four years, I've found a pretty sad amount of caches...albeit it's better than this time last year, where I was around nearly half as less as I have now. My cache finds are a puny pile comparative to most other folks I see.....but in the next few years, I'll try and go for more caches, now that I'm more comfortable with it.

 

Just go out and find as many (or as few) caches as you want to find. :)

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2 hours ago, funkymunkyzone said:

 

Just go out and find as many (or as few) caches as you want to find. :)

Haha, I will. I'm being strategic however, as I'm going for a challenge that limits by finds per month...(Just because I need a certain amount of caches for the next few months...which'll be increasingly harder to find as it gets colder)

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Just 2 cents from an souvenir skeptic and even more so skeptic about promoting geocaching person:

 

If I had to design requirements for getting a "Connoisseur" souvenir it would definitely have one element: An upper limit of found caches where, if exceeded, no souvenir would be awarded. But I guess that would not rouse enthusiasm among the community ;)

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On 10/16/2018 at 11:49 AM, Hynz said:

Just 2 cents from an souvenir skeptic and even more so skeptic about promoting geocaching person:

 

If I had to design requirements for getting a "Connoisseur" souvenir it would definitely have one element: An upper limit of found caches where, if exceeded, no souvenir would be awarded. But I guess that would not rouse enthusiasm among the community ;)

 

Seeing as these are marketing campaigns geared toward having people find more geocaches, not less, I think Groundspeak might not see things your way, either.

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On 10/16/2018 at 2:49 AM, Hynz said:

If I had to design requirements for getting a "Connoisseur" souvenir it would definitely have one element: An upper limit of found caches where, if exceeded, no souvenir would be awarded. But I guess that would not rouse enthusiasm among the community ;)

If Groundspeak is going to use the Souvenir to encourage numbers-oriented cachers to try the "Connoisseur" mindset, then they can't penalize those who keep finding caches in their usual way after (or before) qualifying for the Connoisseur Souvenir.

 

But I would think that they could encourage a "Connoisseur" mindset more by not granting points for other caches. There are Souvenirs that require an EarthCache, or that require a mystery/puzzle cache, or that require an event, or that require something else specific. You can't bypass those requirements by just finding a bunch of 1/1 traditional caches.

 

I think the current promotion would have been more effective if the only caches that scored points were the ones that fit the current Souvenir's theme.

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48 minutes ago, niraD said:

I think the current promotion would have been more effective if the only caches that scored points were the ones that fit the current Souvenir's theme.

Pretty much the same sentiment with the last one too. IMO, even moreso. The last one was all about adrenaline. But the explicitly allowed you to qualify using zero (implied by cache properties) adrenaline.  At least with the connoisseur, there was nothing about the cache specifically the cries "top quality" - the requirements imply seeking high favourite point caches, but the theme could at least be interpreted as paying closer attention to the caches you're searching for for good experiences. Debateable. But IMO, the previous one couldn't be less consistent with its theme...

But agreed, this one definitely could have been more effective by not being as flexible as it was for what provides points towards the souvenir.

 

Why give points for any basic find at all? The whole point is to focus on the theme. Draw attention to a certain cache property or attribute or experience. Makes the effort seem pointless if you can qualify with enough of any cache whatsoever. That's not incentive to earn the souvenir, that's telling people they can get the souvenir even by just ignoring it caching normally. Nothing special about that

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