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2 hours ago, Team OPJim said:

Bottom line, is I am hoping that someone in Groundspeak will take note and never do that [find 35 caches regardless of type or quality] for future promotions.

I really don't understand why you find that so much worse than any other possibility for a promotion. It's one thing to suggest it lacked originality or even to say it disappointed you. It's another thing to say they should never do anything like that again. What kind of promotion would it be if it didn't encourage people to go out geocaching?

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3 hours ago, dprovan said:

What kind of promotion would it be if it didn't encourage people to go out geocaching?

 

There's a big difference between "go out geocaching" and "find lots of caches". Most times when I go out geocaching, it's to find one cache, not dozens of them. Looking at the attendees from our local Cache Carnival event earlier this year (most of our local active cachers plus a few from further afield), about a third have completed Mystery at the Museum, but to do that they all had to make use of power trails (mostly the Dog's Head up north). So it seems "go out geocaching" is now becoming synonymous with "go do a power trail". If that's your thing, great, otherwise it's sorry, you're in the wrong game.

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25 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

There's a big difference between "go out geocaching" and "find lots of caches".

No, sorry, there's no difference. It doesn't promote your kind of geocaching, but it does promote geocaching.

 

27 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

So it seems "go out geocaching" is now becoming synonymous with "go do a power trail". If that's your thing, great, otherwise it's sorry, you're in the wrong game.

Sorry, I don't see it that way. I had no trouble finding the 35 caches in a week by prioritizing cache rich areas which I normally would have done, but not as soon. None of them were even a series, let alone a power trail. 35 caches is -- what? -- 2 a day if you go out every day after spending a week or two going through the first 3 levels? That's encouraging caching, plain and simple, not even remotely encouraging excessive caching.

 

Naturally I don't mind if you didn't like it, but it's a promotion intended to make people geocaching in a different way, not just some exercise designed to fit your existing habits.

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17 minutes ago, dprovan said:

35 caches is -- what? -- 2 a day if you go out every day after spending a week or two going through the first 3 levels? That's encouraging caching, plain and simple, not even remotely encouraging excessive caching.

 

Well that's assuming people don't have to do other distracting things like maybe go to work. I would imagine that most people in full-time work with other family commitments would struggle to spend more than one day a week caching, so two caches a day won't get them far.

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5 hours ago, The Jester said:

2 caches a day is the average, not just 2 caches per caching day.  I know lots of cachers around here that work full time, have a family, have other interests than just caching and have no problem maintaining a streak - some for several years now - so 2 a day for a short while is nothing.  Others, non-streakers, still manage family/work/etc. and still manage to find time for more than an average of 2 a day.

 

It all comes down to choices - if you want to do the promotion, do what it takes (yes, some will have to do more planning/driving/whatever than others, but that's the way it is for all areas of life); if you don't want to do the promotion, fine don't do it, but don't bellyache about for the whole time of the promotion.

 

I really am amazed at the number of people, involved in a sport of finding caches, that are complaining about "having to" find caches.  Make your choice - and then live with it.

 

 

That's fine if you live in a place where there are lots of caches. Limiting it to low D/T traditionals, which is what you need to do if the goal is to find lots of caches quickly in these promotions, there are only about 200 such caches in my entire region (1681 square kilometres), so at two a day they won't last very long, and there are plenty of places with much lower cache densities than mine. You can't find caches that aren't there, well unless you resort to the Found It = Didn't Find It techniques I suppose. It's not just this promotion, it's more that the last five promotions have all been numbers-chases requiring that sort of find rate. It's not sustainable in low-cache-density regions.

Edited by barefootjeff
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12 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Well that's assuming people don't have to do other distracting things like maybe go to work. I would imagine that most people in full-time work with other family commitments would struggle to spend more than one day a week caching, so two caches a day won't get them far.

 

I think I could handle two caches a day.  It's going out every day to find two caches that may offer nothing more than a +1 in my find count and +1 to a 35 cache goal,  so that I could get a piece of digital artwork, that I would find tedious.  

4 hours ago, lee737 said:

I really am amazed at the number of people, involved in a sport of finding caches, that are complaining about "having to" find caches.  Make your choice - and then live with it.

I don't complain about "having to" find caches.   I am amazed at the number of people that consider simply finding a cache, with no consideration for the quality whatsoever, is satisfactory way to play the game.  More than that, I am amazed at the number of people that not only are satisfied just finding a cache, but insist that just finding a cache without consideration for the quality of the hide, location, state of the container should satisfy everyone else.  For many, geocaching is more than adding a +1 to ones find count. 

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1 hour ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

More than that, I am amazed at the number of people that not only are satisfied just finding a cache, but insist that just finding a cache without consideration for the quality of the hide, location, state of the container should satisfy everyone else.  For many, geocaching is more than adding a +1 to ones find count.

 

Yeah, I pretty much gave up on this promotion when the remaining four clue caches I drove 190km to get included a rusty fake bolt on a sewer vent and a bison tube suspended inside a suburban rainwater drain. So instead my caching for the weekend before last was a single D3/T3 mystery that took a fair chunk of the day for the hike there and back and, last Saturday, a 10km hike  with ten others to help celebrate a mate's 1000th find, a great caching day in my book even though it was a +0 to my find count. And I spent yesterday out on my kayak exploring some old communications cables I discovered near one of my hides, trying to unravel the enigma of the Postmaster General's Retreat. I guess I'm not cut out to be a modern-day cacher.

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8 hours ago, The Jester said:

I really am amazed at the number of people, involved in a sport of finding caches, that are complaining about "having to" find caches.  Make your choice - and then live with it.

 

Maybe the difference is some of us don't think of this as a sport of "finding caches", but a hobby exploring unique areas through others.  

I remember when "the language of location" meant just that.   I'm amazed that some around much earlier somehow forgot... 

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17 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

Well that's assuming people don't have to do other distracting things like maybe go to work. I would imagine that most people in full-time work with other family commitments would struggle to spend more than one day a week caching, so two caches a day won't get them far. 

Well, no, the fact that it's 2 caches a day doesn't assume anything, it's just arithmetic.

 

I work full time and have other family commitments, yet I average 2 caches a day, anyway. I just go out for a walk instead of sitting around eating lunch.

 

But the point is that it's reasonable. I'm not claiming it fits everyone's geocaching habits. After all, as a promotion, I expect it to be more geared towards getting people with less experience to go out and get more experience. It's not intended to change people that have thoroughly explored geocaching and have developed an approach they're perfectly happy with.

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1 hour ago, dprovan said:

After all, as a promotion, I expect it to be more geared towards getting people with less experience to go out and get more experience. It's not intended to change people that have thoroughly explored geocaching and have developed an approach they're perfectly happy with.

 

It looks to me to be geared towards the less experienced cachers. The issues that people are complaining about are because they already out cached their local area. If the event is aimed to spur the 'occasional cacher'/ less experienced cacher to increase their activity, then it would appear to be potentially successful. I imagine this to be the case too as it makes sense from a business point of view; increase the caching habits of the less active = make more money.

 

Unfortunately, those more invested in the hobby already may struggle getting the required numbers. But I guess they already supply a steady stream of income to GS, whether it be Premium membership, TB codes or merchandise, so there is no need to increase their caching habits anyway.

 

It is the 'completists' who are hurt the most. Those people want the souvenir, but may have cached out everywhere local to gain the previous souvenirs. But there seems to be nothing GS can do to remedy this.

 

I'll take my cynical hat off now. For what is it is worth, I enjoyed the promotion. I finished it yesterday and as I am fairly new getting back into the hobby there was plenty of caches for me to go at.

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10 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

 

That's fine if you live in a place where there are lots of caches. Limiting it to low D/T traditionals, which is what you need to do if the goal is to find lots of caches quickly in these promotions, there are only about 200 such caches in my entire region (1681 square kilometres), so at two a day they won't last very long, and there are plenty of places with much lower cache densities than mine. You can't find caches that aren't there, well unless you resort to the Found It = Didn't Find It techniques I suppose. It's not just this promotion, it's more that the last five promotions have all been numbers-chases requiring that sort of find rate. It's not sustainable in low-cache-density regions.

As I mentioned in the second paragraph, some people - if they want to do the promotion - will have to work harder.  It's still a choice of how much work you (in general) are willing to do.  You (personally) have made it very clear, over many threads, that the extra work need for the promotions is something you choose not to do.  Fine.

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3 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

 

Maybe the difference is some of us don't think of this as a sport of "finding caches", but a hobby exploring unique areas through others.  

I remember when "the language of location" meant just that.   I'm amazed that some around much earlier somehow forgot... 

Call it what you want - RASH (Recreational Activity, Sport, Hobby). 

 

And since I started in 2001 I remember that even some of the early caches didn't take you to "unique areas".  "The Language of location" never said anything about the quality of the 'spot' (location).  A spot in the middle of the forest, a spot in the middle of parking lot, or a spot on the top of mountain are all "locations".  The very first cache - a spot on the side of the road without view or other unique quality - doesn't seem to match what you expect, or did you forget...

 

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7 hours ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

I don't complain about "having to" find caches.   I am amazed at the number of people that consider simply finding a cache, with no consideration for the quality whatsoever, is satisfactory way to play the game.  More than that, I am amazed at the number of people that not only are satisfied just finding a cache, but insist that just finding a cache without consideration for the quality of the hide, location, state of the container should satisfy everyone else.  For many, geocaching is more than adding a +1 to ones find count. 

When I first started this sport (or whatever you call it) caches were so few, yes just finding a cache was satisfying, I suppose some of that has stuck with me.  Does that mean every cache is equally as enjoyable?  No.  But I'm never disappointed that I made the "find" - I don't every recall thinking "I wish I hadn't found this cache".

 

As to "consideration for the quality of the hide, location, state of the container" - well some of that is subjective and unknown until you find the cache.  I recall a LPC that if you stopped looking at the lamp post and turned around you (if it was a clear day) had an amazing view of Mt Rainier.  On a cloudy or rainy day, it was just another LPC 30 feet from a big box store parking lot in a micro park between other parking lots.  I've seen fairly new ammo cans hides that were full of water, I just checked on one of mine that's been out for years in same environment that is pristine inside.

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4 hours ago, dprovan said:

I work full time and have other family commitments, yet I average 2 caches a day, anyway. I just go out for a walk instead of sitting around eating lunch. 

 

For the 22 years before retiring a couple of years back, I worked in an industrial area in northern Sydney, taking the train up from the Central Coast for my daily commute. There are about ten caches within lunch time walking distance of my office, so yeah, 2 caches a day would exhaust that option in a week.

 

image.png.572e7f6c122975e4be089973b0f4242f.png

 

For half the year I left home in darkness and returned home in darkness so not much chance of doing any caching before or after work either. Not everyone lives or works in places with enough caches to sustain two finds a day for any length of time. That's the point I'm trying to make. Some, in fact lots of places just don't have very many caches and even newcomers to the game would struggle with the succession of high-numbers-chase promotions we're now getting.

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3 hours ago, The Jester said:

As I mentioned in the second paragraph, some people - if they want to do the promotion - will have to work harder.  It's still a choice of how much work you (in general) are willing to do.  You (personally) have made it very clear, over many threads, that the extra work need for the promotions is something you choose not to do.  Fine.

 

I did try. I put in 334km of driving just to get the first seven caches in order to reveal the jewels and see what more travelling would be needed to go further with it. Too much, way too much.

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56 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

For the 22 years before retiring a couple of years back, I worked in an industrial area in northern Sydney, taking the train up from the Central Coast for my daily commute. There are about ten caches within lunch time walking distance of my office, so yeah, 2 caches a day would exhaust that option in a week.

 

For half the year I left home in darkness and returned home in darkness so not much chance of doing any caching before or after work either. Not everyone lives or works in places with enough caches to sustain two finds a day for any length of time. That's the point I'm trying to make. Some, in fact lots of places just don't have very many caches and even newcomers to the game would struggle with the succession of high-numbers-chase promotions we're now getting.

 

Yup.  That's why I didn't get many souvenirs for the 31 Days of August.  I don't do night caching.  Since I retired last year, I've been working on at least one cache per day.  Averaging three a day this year.  393 days with a find.  But I live in a cache rich area.  And I have to travel further and further.  But it's one of my hobbies and exercise.  And lots of DNFs I can go search for again!  Thirty minute drive today.  So probably about thirty miles.   But I don't cache in New York City, Westchester or Long Island anymore.  (On my 35 mile list.)

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„Kto chce hľadá spôsob. Kto nechce, hľadá dôvod.“ —  František Vláčil

 

Transl. 

„If you want, you're looking for the way. I you don't, you're looking for excuses.“

 

To be fair - low density area can really be problem, especially when there are only few owners caching.

Still, there are ways ..

 

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11 hours ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

 

I am amazed at the number of people that not only are satisfied just finding a cache, but insist that just finding a cache without consideration for the quality of the hide, location, state of the container should satisfy everyone else.  For many, geocaching is more than adding a +1 to ones find count. 

I count myself as one of those. I don't mind what the container is so long as it is placed and maintained as per the guidelines. I just enjoy the hunt and, if it takes me to a nice or memorable place, all the better. There's many a time when I've hunted down a cache which, on paper, looked like it had nothing going for it but has taken me to a cool place I would never have otherwise discovered. My expectations aren't high as to "the quality of the hide,  location, state of the container" therefore I have less chance of being disappointed. (I only have one cache on my ignore list and never use filters). I am also not obsessed with find count even though it may appear to some that I am, it just increases in line with the way I play the game.

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9 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

For half the year I left home in darkness and returned home in darkness so not much chance of doing any caching before or after work either. Not everyone lives or works in places with enough caches to sustain two finds a day for any length of time. That's the point I'm trying to make. Some, in fact lots of places just don't have very many caches and even newcomers to the game would struggle with the succession of high-numbers-chase promotions we're now getting.

I think it would be more accurate to say you don't have time for the hobby. It's just incidental that that means you didn't have time for the promotion. It makes me think of someone that likes to play golf and has time for a round every other month complaining that there are tournaments every weekend that they can't play in.

 

Even with my rich caching environment, I didn't do 31 days straight for the 2013 promotion, and I only made it to 35 caches last year. It never occurred to me to worry about it. Not all promotions are within my range.

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1 minute ago, dprovan said:

I think it would be more accurate to say you don't have time for the hobby. It's just incidental that that means you didn't have time for the promotion. It makes me think of someone that likes to play golf and has time for a round every other month complaining that there are tournaments every weekend that they can't play in.

 

It's not a question of time, the limiting factor is still the number of available caches within a reasonable travelling distance. I don't think 334km of driving for just seven P&G caches and a couple of consolation souvenirs is good value for money, and it got a whole lot worse when I looked at the distribution of jewel caches around here, let alone the prospect of then having to get another 35 on top of that. And if I was still working, no matter how many lunch breaks I devoted to caching, once I depleted those ten caches within walking distance of the office, that would be it. I'll say it again; you can't find caches that aren't there no matter how much time you have. At least here I have the option of a day trip to Sydney or Newcastle, spare a thought for those in the more remote towns like Narrabri with 22 caches and its nearest population centres (each some 60km away) of Gunnedah (23 caches) and Moree (also 23 caches). Places like that are more the rule than the exception for rural communities in Australia and I doubt any of those folk are into 2-cache-a-day streaks or seeing any benefit from this succession of numbers-chase promotions.

 

If I want to continue to play this game for many more years ahead I have to do it at a sustainable rate. Ideally I'd want my find rate to equal the rate at which new caches appear, but the latter has now almost dried up completely (only 14 new caches in my region this year and two of those are mine) so all I can do is try to find a balance between travelling more and finding fewer caches each year.

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I think at this point it is now well established that any souvenir promotion is more difficult to achieve for cachers who live in areas with few caches nearby that they neither own nor have found.  As is finding new caches in the first place.

 

Perhaps we can all accept that fact as a given, and stop beating this dead horse this up every time there is a new souvenir promotion that requires finding multiple caches.

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Some (maybe many) have roundly complained about the final challenge of this promotion, but there have only been a couple suggestions of how to make it better.

Why not offer up ideas for the next promotion, instead of repeating how much you didn't like or couldn't complete this one?

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I got to wondering if there is more to the Mystery than we're seeing.  Why did TPTB choose 35 caches for final?  So I looked at the number series - 1 6 15 35 - and realized it fits a pattern -  2 X 3 = 6, 3 X 5 = 15, 5 X 7 = 35 - all the multipliers are prime numbers progressing ... Hmmm.

 

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5 minutes ago, The Jester said:

I got to wondering if there is more to the Mystery than we're seeing.  Why did TPTB choose 35 caches for final?  So I looked at the number series - 1 6 15 35 - and realized it fits a pattern -  2 X 3 = 6, 3 X 5 = 15, 5 X 7 = 35 - all the multipliers are prime numbers progressing ... Hmmm.

 

When you leave out the Detective Clue, you're right. It fits the pattern.

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6 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

When you leave out the Detective Clue, you're right. It fits the pattern.

In almost all number series the 1 is the anchor.  Besides it's also 1 X 1 (still prime numbers).

 

The other pattern is binary based - 1,  then add (5 X 1), then add (5 X 2), then add (5 X 4)...

 

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1 hour ago, Max and 99 said:

But the number 1 is not prime.

 

For those scratching their heads wondering why...

 

The definition of a prime number is a positive integer that has exactly two positive divisors. 1 only has one positive divisor (1 itself), so it is not prime.

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6 hours ago, hzoi said:

I think at this point it is now well established that any souvenir promotion is more difficult to achieve for cachers who live in areas with few caches nearby that they neither own nor have found.  As is finding new caches in the first place.

 

Perhaps we can all accept that fact as a given, and stop beating this dead horse this up every time there is a new souvenir promotion that requires finding multiple caches.

 

Agreed.

 

It's worth remembering the following with respect to these promotions:

  • You don't have to earn all of the souvenirs. Not doing so isn't a failure. In almost all cases, any cacher can earn at least one, often two of the available souvenirs. That's more than you had before.
  • These are marketing promotions intended to draw in new and infrequent cachers. If you're already a frequent cacher, the promotion probably isn't targeting you.
  • The promotion may seem unusually easy/hard to you, and that's to be expected. TPTB have had to choose the requirements such that many cachers can meet them, not cater to the extreme ends of the spectrum.
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3 hours ago, The Jester said:

I got to wondering if there is more to the Mystery than we're seeing.  Why did TPTB choose 35 caches for final?  So I looked at the number series - 1 6 15 35 - and realized it fits a pattern -  2 X 3 = 6, 3 X 5 = 15, 5 X 7 = 35 - all the multipliers are prime numbers progressing ... Hmmm.

 

So the next promotion might require 77 finds? Cool..... :)

 

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13 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

It's not a question of time, the limiting factor is still the number of available caches within a reasonable travelling distance.

There are as many caches within 10 miles of the location you showed on your map as there are within 10 miles of me. So I fail to see the difference other than I have time to go find the ones beyond walking distance.

 

Besides, I thought I already covered the point about limited caches when I said it makes no sense to worry about promoting the hobby where there's no cache population to promote it into. But, having said that, that doesn't appear to apply to the area you're talking about.

 

13 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

If I want to continue to play this game for many more years ahead I have to do it at a sustainable rate. Ideally I'd want my find rate to equal the rate at which new caches appear, but the latter has now almost dried up completely (only 14 new caches in my region this year and two of those are mine) so all I can do is try to find a balance between travelling more and finding fewer caches each year.

Now we're talking about an issue entirely unrelated to the promotion.

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48 minutes ago, dprovan said:

There are as many caches within 10 miles of the location you showed on your map as there are within 10 miles of me. So I fail to see the difference other than I have time to go find the ones beyond walking distance.

 

Of course, that location is where I worked in northern Sydney and that radius includes much of that city. I only mentioned it because you said I should have been able to get two caches a day every day by going for a walk during the lunch break. My daily commute to there from where I live was an hour and a half each way.

 

5 hours ago, K13 said:

Some (maybe many) have roundly complained about the final challenge of this promotion, but there have only been a couple suggestions of how to make it better.

Why not offer up ideas for the next promotion, instead of repeating how much you didn't like or couldn't complete this one?

 

I've suggested looking back to the style of promotions a few years ago like 7 Souvenirs of August, Road Trip, Mission GC and Mary Hyde that weren't numbers chases but instead had a different task to perform each week. This one, which was supposed to be all about solving the Mystery at the Museum, might have worked better had it actually involved solving a mystery instead of just being a numbers chase. In last year's Hidden Creatures, I mentioned at the time that I'd hoped it might have involved some play on attributes associated with each creature (like maybe tying the Wading Required attribute to an amphibean, for example) instead of just being find 100 caches. With a mix of cache types, D/T ratings, sizes, attributes and anything else on every cache page I suppose, there's plenty of scope to create an entertaining challenge that doesn't require finding 50 or 100 caches.

Edited by barefootjeff
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On 7/11/2019 at 3:53 PM, MartyBartfast said:

Interesting, just saw a cache with this:

image.png.153f56dbd97e6aa3a4e01b04a9f9b3f5.png

 

 

I wonder if it's hidden from everyone because it hasn't been released yet, or hidden from those who (like me) haven't got the Detective clue yet, but those who have will be able to see this clue.

 

 

And for the benefit of any passing Lackey, I quite like the way this seems to be playing out, it certainly seems more interesting and engaging than some of the other summer promotions.

 

 

 

That particular clue is only hidden from those who have not yet completed the previous level(s). Anyone who has gathered all the Detective and Evidence Clues would be able to see what that clue is. It could be Evidence clues, or Gem clues. It's not a Detective Clue.

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5 hours ago, Keystone said:

Let's get back to the topic of discussing the Mystery at the Museum promotion.

OK!  I'm happy to report that my husband and I both completed the MATM, found all the gems, and successfully returned them to the vault to earn the final souvenir today.  I wasn't sure we would, but we only needed 16 (me) and 14 (he) more.  I'd solved a couple of series of puzzles not too far away, and the finals were sort of grouped, with a few trads and a multi along the way, so we decided to just go and spend the afternoon finding a bunch of urban caches and get this done!

 

The early part (finding the clues and the jewels) was interesting, and challenging, as we were on the road and away from our home area.  Targeting the specific caches we needed made for some interesting outings, and we did manage to get all the jewels on our road trip.  We found some interesting and challenging caches along the way too!  Then we found out we needed 35 more, in our home area, that we had cached out (pretty much) in our personal challenge for a cache a day in 2018.  We grabbed a few newly published ones (even got a FTF!!), and a few we hadn't found yet, but we knew as time got down to August 11 that we'd have to plan an outing to get these last ones or it wasn't going to happen!

 

We did it today,  found some very well done, themed containers and hides, and the requisite LPC's as well, I was able to drop a travel bug (didn't find any to pick up though), and we were reminded how glad we are that our "streak"  for 2018 is over and we don't have to do this every day!  It was fun (sort of) - gave us focus for our geocaching (not that we need it, but it was fun).  I'm interested to see what the next promotion will be.  

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17 hours ago, The A-Team said:

These are marketing promotions intended to draw in new and infrequent cachers.

 

I disagree with the infrequent cachers portion of this.  It might draw some of them in but they're infrequent cachers for a reason and I'm not sure that a virtual souvenir is going to get them to cache more than they do.  If they're infrequent, there's already a good chance that they don't care about souvenirs to begin with since they don't cache regularly anyway.  My assumption is that it was their hope that it would draw in more infrequent cachers but I'd be a bit surprised if that many opted to change their habits to do this one.  Most of my friends who have completed this one are regular cachers or new cachers.  

 

This one certainly is geared toward newer cachers and this one was, I believe, specifically targeted to increase the use of the official app, as the only other way to see the clues was via the website, which was more tedious to use when out in the field, which is what I did when I had a couple DNFs and needed another to meet the completion criteria.  I also believe that they had hoped that the disabled caches that received the detective/clues/gems would get fixed up because the CO would realize that there might be more cachers visiting the caches due to the promotion.  I'd be interested to know how many of the caches that were part of this that were either disabled or had NM logs were fixed up by the CO.

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7 hours ago, coachstahly said:

I'd be interested to know how many of the caches that were part of this that were either disabled or had NM logs were fixed up by the CO. 

 

I got my detective from a disabled cache that was re-enabled in the first week of the promotion, but it had only been disabled for four weeks while the CO came up with a replacement for the damaged container so it was likely he would have enabled it then even if there'd been no promotion, especially as he himself doesn't appear to be participating (he only has the detective souvenir).

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Just finished this one tonight with a couple of park and grabs. I really enjoyed this promo. Did some different caching and had a blast.

I wonder, do you think there will be a final 'news cast' that raps up the promo? that would be so cool. Will we find out who the perps are?

That would be really awesome and #extra :)

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On 8/8/2019 at 9:50 AM, coachstahly said:

I'd be interested to know how many of the caches that were part of this that were either disabled or had NM logs were fixed up by the CO.

In my immediate (10-20 mi) area, there were only a couple.  None were fixed up by the CO during the promotion.

Further out, though, (20-50 mi) I noticed several had recent [bona fide] maintenance.

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On 8/8/2019 at 9:50 AM, coachstahly said:

I disagree with the infrequent cachers portion of this.  It might draw some of them in but they're infrequent cachers for a reason and I'm not sure that a virtual souvenir is going to get them to cache more than they do.  If they're infrequent, there's already a good chance that they don't care about souvenirs to begin with since they don't cache regularly anyway. 

I became an infrequent cacher "for a reason".  While the virtual souvenir did not change that reason, it did change my choice of free time (also infrequent) activity.  When the opportunity presented itself, I felt very fortunate to have already solved a 48-puzzle geoart that satisfied all requirements but three.  Frankly, it was an enjoyable experience, not a long line of guardrail hangers or what-have-you, and it topped my finds-in-a-day by 30.  The satisfaction was in the hunt, absolutely, but the souvenir was the catalyst ... and quite tasty icing on the cake.

 

It's not so much that I, as an infrequent cacher, don't care about souvenirs ... more like if that chance hadn't come up, I would have made peace with the fact that it was unattainable for me, given my circumstances (as I have done in the past).

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11 hours ago, DIGGEMUP said:

I noticed that a lot of caches in my area were found in the last few days by cachers who had found them previously, I guess the original logs were deleted & 'new' found logs created to get the required number for the souvenir, but hey ho, if it makes them happy.

 

It's sad that some feel they need to do things like this, but I'm not surprised. There always seems to be some kind of questionable tactics used during the souvenir promotions. For example, during the promotions where you could earn points for dropping trackables, people would just drop and retrieve the same trackables over and over to rack up points.

 

These are probably the same people that don't log DNFs because they think it's somehow evidence that they're a failure.

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I had fun with this promotion. I really liked the planning involved in deciding which caches to go after for the first three levels. The fourth level was more of a chore because I don't tend to go after large numbers of caches at once, but I managed it (barely). I was a little worried when a few DNF's left me with one cache to go at 9 pm last night, but I found a self-advertised guardrail cache that avoided the need for a long and slightly suspicious after dark search.

 

During this time, I put a pretty good dent in a local geotour, found several awesome gadget caches, and found my first letterbox hybrid. I also ended up with a new Longest Streak of 12 days (previous best was 4) and a new Best Month.

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