Removing Favorite Points-new game?!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

12 hours ago, The A-Team said:

 

I don't agree with your definitions of "banter", "generally", or "a". Let's argue about that for 10 pages.

 

No, let's not.  We can agree to disagree in only 5 pages.

[+JL_HSTRE]

On 10/28/2019 at 6:41 PM, arisoft said:

The main reason is the permanent nonexistense for any reason.

 

By that logic, everyone is a failure because everyone dies.

[+JL_HSTRE]

For most people I suspect the removal of Favorite Points from Archived caches is mostly because they have run out of FPs and are looking for a way to get more. I did that once, but have kept a steady surplus of FPs since then. I've heard about other people doing it too.

[+hzoi]

10 hours ago, lee737 said:

The reviewers around here are like fast bowlers, take your eye off the ball and you'll cop it in the box (it's a cricket term, nothing profane).

 

I know cricket isn't a very fast paced game, but even with tea breaks, it's uncommon to take one's eye off the ball for 30 days at a time - which is the standard deadline for responding to a reviewer when a cache is deficient.

 

I've only ever watched cricket on TV, so you may be privy to more glacially paced test matches, of which I may be unaware.  But according to the internet, the longest match ever played was nine days of cricket spread over 12 days.  So I think allowing 30 days to fix a problem isn't exactly fast bowling.

 

My two pence.

[+arisoft]

1 hour ago, JL_HSTRE said:

By that logic, everyone is a failure because everyone dies.

 

"Everyone dies" is a black swan

[+lee737]

5 hours ago, hzoi said:

 

I know cricket isn't a very fast paced game, but even with tea breaks, it's uncommon to take one's eye off the ball for 30 days at a time - which is the standard deadline for responding to a reviewer when a cache is deficient.

 

I've only ever watched cricket on TV, so you may be privy to more glacially paced test matches, of which I may be unaware.  But according to the internet, the longest match ever played was nine days of cricket spread over 12 days.  So I think allowing 30 days to fix a problem isn't exactly fast bowling.

 

My two pence.

 

No argument here, I think the one month periods are very generous and too long myself.....

[+JL_HSTRE]

5 hours ago, hzoi said:

So I think allowing 30 days to fix a problem isn't exactly fast bowling.

 

You don't even need to fix the problem within 30 days; merely leave a brief note demonstrating you are not ignoring the listing and plan to do something about it.

[+barefootjeff]

1 hour ago, JL_HSTRE said:

You don't even need to fix the problem within 30 days; merely leave a brief note demonstrating you are not ignoring the listing and plan to do something about it.

 

The issue isn't the 30 days to fix it or leaving a brief note, it's a situation like the Blue Mountains one where the walking track is closed indefinitely. Then, if you don't want the cache archived, you have to post a note every 30 days and if you miss just one the executioner's axe will fall without any further notice. Some people have hectic lives and sometimes things get forgotten.

[+lee737]

I find its a pretty fair system - you do get plenty of notice, and a warning to keep up the monthly updates before the axe comes out....

[+barefootjeff]

25 minutes ago, lee737 said:

I find its a pretty fair system - you do get plenty of notice, and a warning to keep up the monthly updates before the axe comes out....

 

In most cases it probably is, but in the context of this thread it seems a bit harsh to remove an FP from an otherwise perfectly good cache that was reviewer-archived because of a book-keeping oversight during an extended period of disablement over which the CO had no control (a track closure, for example). I've seen a few really good caches get the axe in these circumstances because the CO was a bit slack with the monthly updates. In fact I was probably lucky to get away with it with my Peat's Grave cache which I had to disable in August 2014 when the reserve was closed for a power line upgrade and then didn't post an update until mid October (which just said the reserve is still closed - it finally reopened a month after that). I'm surprised the reviewer didn't pounce on that one.

[+barefootjeff]

23 hours ago, L0ne.R said:

For me, FPs are foremost a community tool. FPs are a way to recommend caches to others, help them find caches they might enjoy too if they have similar caching styles to mine. 

 

I discovered during the Cache Carnival promotion that the caches getting lots of FPs (especially the 50+ ones) are almost the antithesis of the ones I give FPs to. The only cache I favourited during that promotion was a T4.5 which at the time had 24 FPs, but its container was a rusty ammo can (GZ gets a LOT of sea spray) so I'm sure you wouldn't like that one. On occasions I've been the only one to give an FP and on others the only one not to; nearly half the caches on my favourites list have less than ten FPs and none have fifty or more. We all have different tastes and I guess mine are pretty wide of mainstream caching.

Edited October 31, 2019 by barefootjeff

[+niraD]

15 hours ago, Team DEMP said:

Your recommendation analogy that matches some of the flow here would me more along the lines of going back into Yelp or similar review website and removing your old good rating for a restaurant after it closed. 

 

If I had a list of favorite restaurants on Yelp, then it would be really useful if closed restaurants were automatically removed from it by the system. What good is a list of favorite restaurants when many of the ones on the list are no longer open?

[+lee737]

2 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

 

In most cases it probably is, but in the context of this thread it seems a bit harsh to remove an FP from an otherwise perfectly good cache that was reviewer-archived because of a book-keeping oversight during an extended period of disablement over which the CO had no control (a track closure, for example). I've seen a few really good caches get the axe in these circumstances because the CO was a bit slack with the monthly updates. In fact I was probably lucky to get away with it with my Peat's Grave cache which I had to disable in August 2014 when the reserve was closed for a power line upgrade and then didn't post an update until mid October (which just said the reserve is still closed - it finally reopened a month after that). I'm surprised the reviewer didn't pounce on that one.

 

The reviewer would probably see it was yours, and know you'd be on top of things, and move on.....

[+lee737]

1 hour ago, barefootjeff said:

 

I discovered during the Cache Carnival promotion that the caches getting lots of FPs (especially the 50+ ones) are almost the antithesis of the ones I give FPs to. The only cache I favourited during that promotion was a T4.5 which at the time had 24 FPs, but its container was a rusty ammo can (GZ gets a LOT of sea spray) so I'm sure you wouldn't like that one. On occasions I've been the only one to give an FP and on others the only one not to; nearly half the caches on my favourites list have less than ten FPs and none have fifty or more. We all have different tastes and I guess mine are pretty wide of mainstream caching.

It's the tourist effect - tourists seem very free with their FPs - Sydney Harbour is a great example. Yes, they are pretty spectacular urban sights and famous landmarks, but 50-100FP worthy? I've seen a nano in a phone box with over 40 FPs near a different iconic spot in the Blue Mountains.....

[+barefootjeff]

1 minute ago, lee737 said:

 

The reviewer would probably see it was yours, and know you'd be on top of things, and move on.....

 

That was my third hide and I'd only been caching for a little over a year so I doubt I had much history with the reviewers, but maybe I got some newbie grace. A couple of decades back, a severe bushfire swept south along the ridge from Kariong to Patonga, forcing closure of the National Park and adjoining council reserves for six months or more due to the danger of falling trees, and the way this summer is shaping up a repeat is very much on the cards. I now have a lot of caches in there...

 

[+lee737]

It isn't looking good - I was planning a big day walk in that area this summer too.... hopefully we'll get some rain soon....

[+geodarts]

I am not against having archived caches on my list of favorites - I even have a locationless cache on my list.  I don't think of them of them as being recommendations - and never use them as a way to identify a cache that I may want to find  - but they do show what has been important to me in this game.   

 

Still, I go through the list from time to time and am in the process of doing that now.  A cache that is archived, has not been maintained, or simply seems less stellar now than it did at the time might be removed.   I try to keep the number of favorites within a certain range so removing a cache from my list is not meant to be personal.  

Edited October 31, 2019 by geodarts
Clarified

[+CAVinoGal]

This thread is simply reinforcing the fact that we all play the game our own way - and our way of viewing and awarding favorite points, and even taking them away, varies greatly from cacher to cacher.  There is no right or wrong way - and each of us can justify, to ourselves at least, and to others, whether they agree or not, why we award or take away favorite points.

 

I haven't ever taken a point away once I've awarded it, and I don't intend to.  I have 77 points I *could* award right now, but I save them for those caches that stand out to me for one reason or another.  And I don't always award them the day I log the cache.  If the cache is still as memorable and meaningful a month later, then I'll go back and give it a favorite.  I've gone back to some that even now I can recall and if I haven't given it a favorite, I will months later.  

 

Of the 1700+ caches I've found, I've given less than 100 favorite pts away, so only about 5% of my finds seem to be "favorite" worthy!  Am I too choosy?  Too picky?  Or do I just find a lot of mundane caches, and once in a awhile, one that really pops out as memorable?  I think I just live in fairly cache rich area, with a lot of lampost, guardrail, and pill bottle hides.  So the favs go to caches while traveling, or really outstanding, creative hides that pop up around me.  Once I've given a favorite point, I would not retract it - it WAS a favorite at the time I found it.  It's part of my caching history.

[+barefootjeff]

1 minute ago, CAVinoGal said:

Of the 1700+ caches I've found, I've given less than 100 favorite pts away, so only about 5% of my finds seem to be "favorite" worthy!  Am I too choosy?  Too picky?  Or do I just find a lot of mundane caches, and once in a awhile, one that really pops out as memorable?  I think I just live in fairly cache rich area, with a lot of lampost, guardrail, and pill bottle hides.  So the favs go to caches while traveling, or really outstanding, creative hides that pop up around me.  Once I've given a favorite point, I would not retract it - it WAS a favorite at the time I found it.  It's part of my caching history.

 

I think a lot depends on our caching environment. With no lampost hides (our lamposts don't have skirts covering their nuts) and relatively few urban micros in this neck of the woods, most of my finds are bushland smalls or regulars so I have to be pretty selective in allocating FPs and am constantly running out. There are many enjoyable caches I've done that are perfectly fine but just don't quite make it into my top ten percent, in fact there's only a handful of caches I've really wanted to award anti-favourite (revulsion?) points to and wished I hadn't attempted them.

[+DerDiedler]

2 hours ago, CAVinoGal said:

This thread is simply reinforcing the fact that we all play the game our own way - and our way of viewing and awarding favorite points, and even taking them away, varies greatly from cacher to cacher.  There is no right or wrong way - and each of us can justify, to ourselves at least, and to others, whether they agree or not, why we award or take away favorite points.

That´s just not the case. It might be the reality, but still it´s wrong that way.

This platform we all are using implemented the Favorite Popints by intention. And including a set of guidelines (please no discussion about how bendable the word guidelines is).

 

The operator of this plattform want´s us to hadle Favos like this (copy from help centre) (I highlighted some inteseting points):

 

4.7. Favorite points

Geocaching Favorite points are a simple way to track and share the geocaches that you enjoyed the most. Premium members can award Favorite points for

• Interesting or unusual locations.
• Cool hiding places.
• Creative cache container.
• Challenging Mystery Caches.

Geocachers can find the accumulated Favorite points of a cache in search results and on the cache page. Learn how to search for caches with a lot of Favorite points.

Earn Favorite points

Only Premium members earn Favorite points.

• One Favorite point just for being a Premium Member.
• One Favorite point for every 10 caches they find. (Duplicate finds and finds on your owned caches are also not included.)

The fine print: If you found caches as a Basic member, you are prorated Favorite points the first time you become a Premium member. If your subscription lapses for any reason, you will not earn Favorite points until you renew your Premium membership, at which time the Favorite points will start accruing again at one Favorite point per 10 finds.

Award Favorite points

Award a Favorite point to exceptional caches when you log your “Find”. To award a Favorite point to a cache you have found in the past, follow these steps:

1. Go to a cache page that you have logged as “found”.
2. Select the drop down that shows the Favorite points.
3. Select Add Favorite.

Event Caches cannot receive Favorite points. The goal of Favorite points is to recommend great caching experiences to others, it doesn't really make sense to spend a Favorite point on an event which has already taken place.

Archived caches keep their Favorite points. You can choose to remove a Favorite point from an archived geocache to award it to a new one. Visit your Favorites List to find out which of your Favorited caches are archived.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

To conclude from my point of view, Favos ARE ment to award caches. Not for things like keepint track of FTF or what ever. 

And Owners EARN Favos, so it´s not just a matter of giving and taking these points randomly. There is always another side who recive an arward and beeing happy about it.

 

And, it´s absolutely ok to take a Favo back from an archived cache. But no one have to. So there realy is no right or wrong way

Edited October 31, 2019 by DerDiedler

[+barefootjeff]

1 hour ago, DerDiedler said:

The operator of this plattform want´s us to hadle Favos like this (copy from help centre) (I highlighted some inteseting points):

 

I guess I'm doing it wrong then.

 

Quote

Premium members can award Favorite points for

• Interesting or unusual locations.
• Cool hiding places.
• Creative cache container.
• Challenging Mystery Caches.

 

Looking through my list of favs, maybe two thirds would at least in part be for interesting or unusual locations, with only a small smattering of the other three, but most often I award an FP for the journey to the cache. This particularly includes multis, which seem to be overlooked completely in the four options given. Come on, multis can be favourites too, can't they?

 

Quote

The goal of Favorite points is to recommend great caching experiences to others

 

It looks like LOne.R is right and I'm wrong. The weight of numbers suggest guard rail MKHs, bison tubes, preforms and take-a-selfie virtuals in tourist hotspots are what most consider great caching experiences, so I guess that's what we should be recommending with our points, not some plastic box under a rock ledge at the end of a grueling hike, climb, bike ride or paddle. Nup, I think I'll keep being an outlaw with my FPs until the FP police drag me away for remedial treatment.

[+DerDiedler]

@barefootjeff

I have the same feelings. And I am not saying that I would comply 100% with that guidelines. I´d also reward outstanding experiances whilst cache hunting, even when none of the listed four criteria is met.

[+IceColdUK]

1 hour ago, barefootjeff said:

Looking through my list of favs, maybe two thirds would at least in part be for interesting or unusual locations, with only a small smattering of the other three, but most often I award an FP for the journey to the cache. This particularly includes multis, which seem to be overlooked completely in the four options given. Come on, multis can be favourites too, can't they?

Surely the location doesn’t just mean the square metre around the cache box?  I take location to include the journey to GZ. For a multi even more so, because the journey is better defined.

[+IceColdUK]

3 hours ago, DerDiedler said:

4.7. Favorite points
 

Geocaching Favorite points are a simple way to track and share the geocaches that you enjoyed the most.

 

The goal of Favorite points is to recommend great caching experiences to others,

Generally these two goals will overlap, but not always...

Edited October 31, 2019 by IceColdUK

[+barefootjeff]

53 minutes ago, IceColdUK said:

4 hours ago, DerDiedler said:

4.7. Favorite points
 

Geocaching Favorite points are a simple way to track and share the geocaches that you enjoyed the most.

 

The goal of Favorite points is to recommend great caching experiences to others,

Generally these two goals will overlap, but not always...

 

I would not recommend most of my favourited caches (or my own hides for that matter) to numbers-chasers, cachers who cherish quick P&Gs or those who have young families looking for kid-friendly caches with good swag, and they are probably the great majority these days. Nor would I expect any of those to be seeking inspiration from my list of favourites either .

 

[+terratin]

I use fp for caches I enjoyed and want to remember. It's not to recommend it to other people but to remind myself that I thoroughly enjoyed or loved it. I wish I could award a fp to not finds, but that's a different story. Based on that I never remove them. But I always have enough fp to distribute as I really only use them for the best of the best.

[+papu66]

13 hours ago, BendSinister said:

 

Yes, I've found that too. I don't ever use them as a guide. And my own list is a list of favourite caches -- as it says on the lid -- not necessarily recommendations to others, though these notions probably overlap.

 

I find that I care way less about novel containers than many, for instance. It's usually more about the (mental or physical) journey {mannnnn) to the cache and, to a lesser extent, the final location itself. All I really require of the actual physical cache is that it has kept the log dry. LOL.

 

Each time I see a promotion or challenge based on raw number of FPs I can't help wondering why accessible traditional caches in high traffic areas need any further promotion.

I was about to reply to this thread, but noticed that my view of the value of fp system is perfectly summarized here. 

My favorites are in no way recommendations to others and I usually don't see any need to mention in my log when I give a fp. Like many others here, I would consider it bad form to remove fp even if cache is archived. Well, at least when you have plenty to spare. I get it that if you desperately want to award one and are short, then I would understand.

I checked my favorite list and roughly 5-10 % are currently archived. Two were already archived when found.

[+niraD]

8 hours ago, DerDiedler said:

And Owners EARN Favos

Really? The guidelines you quoted say that premium members earn them, so they can award them to their favorite caches. They do not say that cache owners earn them.

[+CAVinoGal]

9 hours ago, DerDiedler said:

11 hours ago, CAVinoGal said:

This thread is simply reinforcing the fact that we all play the game our own way - and our way of viewing and awarding favorite points, and even taking them away, varies greatly from cacher to cacher.  There is no right or wrong way - and each of us can justify, to ourselves at least, and to others, whether they agree or not, why we award or take away favorite points.

That´s just not the case. It might be the reality, but still it´s wrong that way.

 

9 hours ago, DerDiedler said:

So there realy is no right or wrong way

We seem to be in agreement, even though you disagreed!

 

The guidelines are very subjective:

9 hours ago, DerDiedler said:

Geocaching Favorite points are a simple way to track and share the geocaches that you enjoyed the most. Premium members can award Favorite points for

• Interesting or unusual locations. - What interests me may not interest you - and "unusual" is dependent on what you are accustomed to.  Barefoot Jeff's typical hike would be very unusual for me, for instance.
• Cool hiding places. - Again, totally subjective.  The first time you see a pill bottle under a lampost, it's cool - I never knew you could lift the skirt!  Now, we pull up to GZ and groan - just another LPC!  What I consider unique and different may be commonplace for someone else.
• Creative cache container. This one is a little less subjective, but still a matter of preference and perspective.  There's one type of hide common in our area that still stumps me nearly every time, even though we've even hidden a couple in the same manner!  If it's done well, it's a clever and tricky hide in plain sight that sometimes leads me to award it a favorite point.
• Challenging Mystery Caches. Challenges, or just challenging puzzles?? And what challenges me may be easy for you.  

 

We all have our own view of what a "favorite" point means, even with the guidelines!  I still say there is no right or wrong way to award (or take them back).  I don't think they *should* be taken back, but that's just my opinion and the guidelines state it can be done, so it's OK to do so regardless of what I think.  I can only do what I feel is right and nothing in the guidelines prevents THAT or says it's wrong.

[+arisoft]

7 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

I award an FP for the journey to the cache.

 

I do the same. The cache setup is not important when I enjoy the journey or environment or both

 

[+thebruce0]

9 hours ago, DerDiedler said:

Geocaching Favorite points are a simple way to track and share the geocaches that you enjoyed the most. Premium members can award Favorite points for

• Interesting or unusual locations.
• Cool hiding places.
• Creative cache container.
• Challenging Mystery Caches.

 

Clearly this is not an exhaustive, nor definitive list...

Edited October 31, 2019 by thebruce0

[+niraD]

27 minutes ago, CAVinoGal said:

I don't think they *should* be taken back

Why not? What if I change my mind about whether a cache is a favorite?

 

Let's say that I'm a new geocacher who has found only a couple dozen caches. One day, I struggle to find a cache, and eventually I discover a hiding place that I never would have considered before. It's amazing that someone even thought to hide a cache there! Of course, I'm going to award one of my few FP to that cache.

 

Some time later, I've found hundreds of caches, and I realize that that amazing hiding spot I found earlier isn't all that unique. In fact, a LOT of caches use it, and it's so common that it has a three-letter acronym. And on top of that, I've found other caches using that hiding spot that were done MUCH better than that first one.

 

If I no longer consider that cache to be one of my favorites, then why shouldn't I take back the Favorite Point?

[+kunarion]

28 minutes ago, niraD said:

Let's say that I'm a new geocacher who has found only a couple dozen caches. One day, I struggle to find a cache, and eventually I discover a hiding place that I never would have considered before. It's amazing that someone even thought to hide a cache there! Of course, I'm going to award one of my few FP to that cache.

 

Some time later, I've found hundreds of caches, and I realize that that amazing hiding spot I found earlier isn't all that unique. In fact, a LOT of caches use it, and it's so common that it has a three-letter acronym. And on top of that, I've found other caches using that hiding spot that were done MUCH better than that first one.

 

If I no longer consider that cache to be one of my favorites, then why shouldn't I take back the Favorite Point?

 

I don't remove them, but it's kinda-sorta how I place Favorites; I select the 1 in 10 that I especially liked.  So it makes sense that if I've run out of FPs and there's a new outstanding cache, my 1-in-10 might change.  However, if enough people mess it up for everyone else, it gets shut down by TPTB.  Remember being able to log a cache more than once?  FPs can be locked just as easily by HQ.  The "Oh yeah? Then why don't -cha make me" attitude of a lot of alleged Geocachers is fun as far as it goes, but when HQ eventually "makes you", it's like in Kindergarten... They make everyone.  We all get less freedom due to bad apples who can't handle freedom.  Not just because people selected (for example) a FP in a goofy way, but because they went out of their way to make it super messed-up.

 

I choose from things like a creative container, nice place, cool theme or presentation, and especially all three.  I never place a Favorite Point only due to being FTF nor finding a nickel in the parking lot nor seeing a bird or whatever, because when I'm traveling, I might choose what to hunt by selecting some highly Favorited caches.  I place a FP as I would want to find one.  I would wish for actual Geocachers to do the same and (present company excluded, of course ) not screw around with people.  But it's only a wish. 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2019 by kunarion

[+CAVinoGal]

52 minutes ago, niraD said:

1 hour ago, CAVinoGal said:

I don't think they *should* be taken back

Why not? What if I change my mind about whether a cache is a favorite?

 

Let's say that I'm a new geocacher who has found only a couple dozen caches. One day, I struggle to find a cache, and eventually I discover a hiding place that I never would have considered before. It's amazing that someone even thought to hide a cache there! Of course, I'm going to award one of my few FP to that cache.

 

Some time later, I've found hundreds of caches, and I realize that that amazing hiding spot I found earlier isn't all that unique. In fact, a LOT of caches use it, and it's so common that it has a three-letter acronym. And on top of that, I've found other caches using that hiding spot that were done MUCH better than that first one.

 

If I no longer consider that cache to be one of my favorites, then why shouldn't I take back the Favorite Point?

 

Yes, I'll concede. And the guidelines allow for this.  And I recognize it happens, if not for this reason or scenario then fav points get moved around when your experience changes or you need points to give to even better caches (in your estimation).

 

I tend to consider my fav points carefully, often awarding them weeks or months after visiting caches, if they still stick out in my mind for whatever reason.  Sometimes it's an immediate reaction, more often it's given later.  I would hesitate before removing any of the fav points I've given.  But that's me, and we all have our own reasoning.  

[+The A-Team]

13 hours ago, DerDiedler said:

To conclude from my point of view, Favos ARE ment to award caches. Not for things like keepint track of FTF or what ever. 

 

The text in the Help Center does support your view, but it also supports most of the other views expressed in this discussion:

• Record which caches I liked just for myself:

  Quote

  Geocaching Favorite points are a simple way to track and share the geocaches that you enjoyed the most.

• Recommend caches for others:

  Quote

  Geocaching Favorite points are a simple way to track and share the geocaches that you enjoyed the most.

• Keeping track of FTFs or any other personal criteria

  Quote

  Geocaching Favorite points are a simple way to track and share the geocaches that you enjoyed the most.

In the end, there's no "correct" or "incorrect" way to use FPs.

[+niraD]

3 hours ago, kunarion said:

However, if enough people mess it up for everyone else, it gets shut down by TPTB.

Do you really think Groundspeak would shut down the Favorites system just because people are moving their FP around? Does anyone really "mess up" the Favorites system by moving their FP around?

 

Or have I completely missed your point?

[+kunarion]

4 minutes ago, niraD said:

Do you really think Groundspeak would shut down the Favorites system just because people are moving their FP around? Does anyone really "mess up" the Favorites system by moving their FP around?

 

It may not occur to me how crazy people can act, when they're trying as hard as they can to be annoying.  In the example I already gave about multiple cache Find logs, I wouldn't think that the freedom creates chaos.  I find a cache I log it once, maybe I don't need it but I like the flexibility anyway.  But they shut off the ability to log more than one.  Go figure.

 

One day when they lock each FPs to its cache, people will be all over the Forum pronouncing how amazingly great the new restriction is.  When that starts, I'll ask what was really messing things up and let you know .

[+niraD]

2 minutes ago, kunarion said:

One day when they lock each FPs to its cache, people will be all over the Forum pronouncing how amazingly great the new restriction is.  When that starts, I'll ask what was really messing things up and let you know .

Well, if they were to give us any advance warning about such a change, then I would immediately remove all my FP. And going forward, I would be extremely selective about assigning FP.

 

[+barefootjeff]

4 hours ago, niraD said:

Why not? What if I change my mind about whether a cache is a favorite?

 

Let's say that I'm a new geocacher who has found only a couple dozen caches. One day, I struggle to find a cache, and eventually I discover a hiding place that I never would have considered before. It's amazing that someone even thought to hide a cache there! Of course, I'm going to award one of my few FP to that cache.

 

Some time later, I've found hundreds of caches, and I realize that that amazing hiding spot I found earlier isn't all that unique. In fact, a LOT of caches use it, and it's so common that it has a three-letter acronym. And on top of that, I've found other caches using that hiding spot that were done MUCH better than that first one.

 

If I no longer consider that cache to be one of my favorites, then why shouldn't I take back the Favorite Point?

 

Looking back through my early favourites, I don't see any I'd feel embarrassed about now, but I do remember finding a cache called The Guardian which was a magnetic box attached to a guard rail and thinking How cool is that! I didn't give it an FP though (I might have still been a Basic Member then), but if I had I'd probably leave it favourited as something to look back on and have a good chuckle about.

[+The A-Team]

1 hour ago, kunarion said:

One day when they lock each FPs to its cache, people will be all over the Forum pronouncing how amazingly great the new restriction is.  When that starts, I'll ask what was really messing things up and let you know .

 

I just can't believe such a situation would ever occur with FPs. To get well-and-truly "messed up" to the point that TPTB would put an end to it, cachers would need to award FPs only to objectively-crappy caches and never award them to "quality" caches. I just don't see that ever happening.

[+kunarion]

2 hours ago, The A-Team said:

 

I just can't believe such a situation would ever occur with FPs. To get well-and-truly "messed up" to the point that TPTB would put an end to it, cachers would need to award FPs only to objectively-crappy caches and never award them to "quality" caches. I just don't see that ever happening.

 

That depends on how bad the situation becomes.  I'm noticing things getting removed and deprecated to thunderous applause around here, the removals due to the "messin' with people and what cha gonna do about me doing that" issue.  Then they do something about that.  Didn't see that happening.

 

I know it could be hard to decide if a cache becomes so bad that it might even need a FP removed.  Some of the most creative caches are also the most fragile.  My point was not that I'm greatly concerned about a FP getting locked to its cache.  You can go check to verify that.  I really do get my posts clipped and then I get hammered about the clip.  Frequently.   Way too frequently. 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2019 by kunarion

[+barefootjeff]

14 hours ago, IceColdUK said:

16 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

Looking through my list of favs, maybe two thirds would at least in part be for interesting or unusual locations, with only a small smattering of the other three, but most often I award an FP for the journey to the cache. This particularly includes multis, which seem to be overlooked completely in the four options given. Come on, multis can be favourites too, can't they?

Surely the location doesn’t just mean the square metre around the cache box?  I take location to include the journey to GZ. For a multi even more so, because the journey is better defined.

 

For me, the journey starts when I get the notification email or see the cache's icon on the map. Often by the time I've read the description I've just about decided whether it's going to get an FP; some caches I just know from the first sentence that it's going to be really great (or not). The physical journey to GZ (or the start of a multi) can often be a very individual thing. We all start from different places and even if we all park at the same place, the hike (or paddle) can be a very different experience depending on the weather and season and even the disposition of the person doing it. I remember back in my muggle days doing a joint venture hike with a group of botanists - they were having a field day (FPs for sure if there'd been a cache) while those of us who couldn't tell an orchid from a weed just wanted to get to the summit so we could have lunch.

[+IceColdUK]

13 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Looking back through my early favourites, I don't see any I'd feel embarrassed about now, but I do remember finding a cache called The Guardian which was a magnetic box attached to a guard rail and thinking How cool is that! I didn't give it an FP though (I might have still been a Basic Member then), but if I had I'd probably leave it favourited as something to look back on and have a good chuckle about.

 

I feel the same way.  Of course not all styles of hides are going to be unique, but that first time you find something out of the ordinary, it is memorable.  For me, if it was worth a FP at the time, then it's still worth that point now, for introducing me to something different.

[+hukilaulau]

On 10/29/2019 at 4:03 AM, DerDiedler said:

For me it´s pointless to remove favorite points from archived caches. It´s like changing history. At the time I awarded the favo to a cache I did that for a reason. And that´s just part of my caching history and always will be. Even when a cache is replaced over time by a similar one, it´s not changing that the original one was a 1 out of 10 experiance.

 

By taking favos back from archived caches and award them to new cache, one would also change the worthy of his Favopoints.

Example: Given you have 1000 founds you can deploy 100 favos. 25% of all your founds have been archived over time. So you can take back 25 favos (when evenly distributed).

You then spread this 25 favos over the remaining 750 caches you have found and wich are still in game. Thereby you have decresed the worthy of your award from 1 out of 10 to 1 out of 7,5.

Not a verry important thing and out of perspective for pretty much every awarded CO. But still a fact.

Do you play poker? If so you must be a GTO math guy. I don't want you at my table!

But I do get your point.

[+bflentje]

I think the easiest way to conclude this ridiculously lame thread is just say..

 

                            If you need more favorite points, go find (10) more caches.

[+niraD]

22 minutes ago, bflentje said:

I think the easiest way to conclude this ridiculously lame thread is just say..

 

                            If you need more favorite points, go find (10) more caches.

 

Or if you prefer...

 

                            I have plenty of favorite points. I just recycled them from caches that are no longer favorites.

[+kunarion]

41 minutes ago, bflentje said:

If you need more favorite points, go find (10) more caches.

 

Wait. If I have one Favorite Point, it's bad form to award it and then remove it and then award it elsewhere and keep moving it around as if I've earned many points?

 

This reminds me very much of the no-rules Christmas party game “Dirty Santa Gift Exchange” where one person gets a gift and the group fights over it. I mean, there are rules, but we're all expected to cheat and be cutthroat and “dirty” and super unfair to each other... for just that one game, just that one exception. Then we return to playing fair in other activities.

 

How pretty much every facet of Geocaching is encouraged and required to be played at all times exactly the same as a “Dirty Santa Gift Exchange”, I've never understood. Oh, right, it's because there are “no rules”, therefore “Geocaching” is in fact a “Dirty Santa Gift Exchange”. 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2019 by kunarion