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Reviewer’s perspective of hiding a geocache


Max and 99

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Blog post: Reviewer’s perspective of hiding a geocache

 

As we begin 2022, the Year of the Hide, we want to share what it’s like from the community volunteer reviewer’s perspective when a geocache is submitted for publication. We spoke with the reviewer, Rock Rabbit, to ask them a few questions about the process and for any tips or tricks for new cache owners.

As a reviewer, what are the key elements you’re checking for when you’re reviewing a geocache for publication? 

First and foremost, I review for compliance with the guidelines. I check for other things too, but guideline violations are by far the greatest reason why I have to send cache pages back to the owner for more work. The best thing you can do to help expedite your review is to check your cache page against the guidelines again before you submit it for review. If something about your cache is non-compliant, fix it before you submit it.

Believe me, all reviewers understand that the guidelines seem long and tedious when you’re excited about your new cache. Keep in mind that HQ and the global team of community volunteer reviewers have spent 20 years on those guidelines out of necessity, to help protect the environment and foster a good relationship with land managers. Helping to steward the game is a big part of a reviewer’s role. We want to publish your cache and we do our best during review to help you be successful as a cache owner long after the review is completed.  

 

What are some misconceptions you think cache hiders have when they’re going through the cache submission process? 

Many new cache hiders think that a reviewer goes out to personally inspect your cache as part of the review process. There simply isn’t enough time to travel around and visit new caches when they are submitted. Instead, we do the best we can with online maps and tools and ask you questions about your cache.

Sometimes reviews start very quickly, and sometimes they take a few days. We review your cache as soon as we are able. Since we are volunteers and review during our spare time after our paying job and taking care of our families we aren’t always able to review the new cache listing right away.

Some geocachers look at our reviewer profile and think we are inexperienced because the profile shows few or no finds. That is because many of us have separate accounts for playing the game and for reviewing. We’ve all found hundreds, thousands, if not tens of thousands of caches, and hidden many of our own.  

What questions do you tend to ask the most when a cache owner submits a listing that might raise some concerns?

  • How is your cache hidden? 
  • What container did you use? 
  • If it’s not close to your home, how do you plan to maintain it?

What are the most popular questions you get asked from new cache hiders in the submission process?

Many new cache hiders will place a geocache that appears available on the map but is already occupied by another geocache. Some locations are not available because a Multi-Cache or Mystery may use the location, therefore the most popular question that I receive is “How can I find a place to hide my cache if I don’t know where the caches with hidden coordinates are?”

I am not able to tell you where those containers are because it wouldn’t be fair to the cache owners or other geocachers. You can find all of the Mystery Caches and multi-stage caches within a 2-mile radius, or you are welcome to submit your cache for a coordinate check before you hide your cache and I’ll tell you if the location is OK to use. 

To do this, submit your cache for review, but say in your reviewer note that the cache is not ready to publish and you only want a location check. I’ll check it and disable it for you to continue to work on it. Then you can finish it or use the cache page for another cache if it doesn’t work out. Everything can be edited before publication.

What are the best tips you can give to a new cache hider when they submit a new cache for review?

  1. Check your cache against the hiding guidelines before you submit it.
  2. The further away you get from urban areas, the more likely you will find places available to hide geocaches.
  3. Hide the largest container that the location will support.
  4. Check the Regional Geocaching Policies Wiki for areas where geocaching is restricted before you choose a cache location.
  5. Pick several potential locations, so you have others to fall back on if your first choice is not available.
  6. Your container must be hidden and ready to find when you submit it for review because, when it’s published, the local geocachers will race to find it first!
  7. Mind briansnat’s sage advice: “When you go to hide a geocache, think of the reason you are bringing people to that spot. If the only reason is for the geocache, then find a better spot.”

 

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I read this and thought it a good read with very useful information. I especially use the idea of sending a cache page submission for a coordinate check. That really does avoid disappointment. One thing I always do is post, in a Reviewer Note, photos of the cache container, a close-up of the cache location and a wider shot of GZ. This really does help get my cache published with a minimum of fuss.

 

7 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

You can find all of the Mystery Caches and multi-stage caches within a 2-mile radius

Has the rule changed regarding multicaches? Is there now a 2 mile (3.2km for us Down-Under) radius restriction for this type of cache or am I interpretting this incorrectly?

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2 hours ago, Calypso62 said:

I read this and thought it a good read with very useful information. I especially use the idea of sending a cache page submission for a coordinate check. That really does avoid disappointment. One thing I always do is post, in a Reviewer Note, photos of the cache container, a close-up of the cache location and a wider shot of GZ. This really does help get my cache published with a minimum of fuss.

 

Has the rule changed regarding multicaches? Is there now a 2 mile (3.2km for us Down-Under) radius restriction for this type of cache or am I interpretting this incorrectly?

I don't think that was worded very well.  This is the closest I could find in the Help Center:

Geo-art restrictions

Any cache type can be used to create geo-art. However, in addition to the regular guidelines, some restrictions apply.

mLOPZ-y0brcQvzVV2yocJEUOuv0cMK-CQlou4nhPHEtHgo_VqZDN519OP2EgYa6WLg2rcr5Pn0iGnUhLFToAmTZeL2EMiy0HDSjiby14sGe6H1xNWiwfebClmpb67V-9RCl2VB8L  NQXdFYWyJiE8CgvO_G90EobUNIM1UE2lAU68ZTXsCywoWoN5JYEAV4FAFWElGsU2giDmKMDxduUUj-FH1tFJMbF4BB9tf650HMPDGzerXc38Y82NfSVArqRZoBDt9KEotk4SM1FZ Letterbox Hybrids and Wherigo Cache finals should not be more than 2 miles (3.2 km) from their posted coordinates.
gIdXRG-Qewh6wExth0eB0CICoUrAeKKFvC-XmRPeEWc2iUUP_76gcLvoA__0RP1_MoxCo3dpliDe8yqxazo8r3XJAAfJxVB0gsYyC2xsGMqgIZUTwfWLFZSyKfm-X2XuPf0Ao0pH

Multi-Caches that consist of a  virtual waypoint and a projection will generally not be published when used for geo-art.

 

I see no distance restrictions for Multi caches in the Help Center:

https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=127&pgid=559

Edit: although I'm guessing this is an error, maybe it's a hint at an upcoming release note? 

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

You can find all of the Mystery Caches and multi-stage caches within a 2-mile radius

 

When I saw this coming from a Reviewer, I thought there must have been a rule change I was unaware of. Like you, Max and 99, I can't see any distance restriction for multicaches in the Help Centre. Thanks for your help. 👍

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1 hour ago, Calypso62 said:

One thing I always do is post, in a Reviewer Note, photos of the cache container, a close-up of the cache location and a wider shot of GZ. This really does help get my cache published with a minimum of fuss.

 

Yes, that's something I always do too. That way it makes it clear that the cache is actually in place and that the location in the photos is consistent with the description, map and satellite images. A photo of a cache in a cave when the satellite image shows an open field, a road or someone's house will hopefully ring alarm bells! The other thing I always try to include is a screenshot showing where the cache is on the local government's zoning map, so that it's clear the cache is on public land open to recreation.

 

My latest submission, which went in on Monday morning, is for a 5-stage multi and has a total of 13 photos attached to the reviewer note. Perhaps that's overkill but hopefully any question the reviewer might have about the locations, waypoint objects or container will be answered by one of them.

Edited by barefootjeff
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1 hour ago, Max and 99 said:

I think it would be helpful if the Help Center stated that you must tell the Reviewer how to solve your puzzle cache. Since it is now required, the Help Center should state that.

 

Never heard about this requirement. To verify that the cache meets guidelines a reviewer needs to know how coordinates are provided. Not to know exactly how you solve the puzzle. For example, if final coordinates are provided by a word checker (Certitudes etc.), It is not important to review the puzzle that gives the codeword. Knowing that there is a way to get final coordinates meets the requirement of using GPS.

 

In some special cases, when a CO is known to make totally unsolvable mystery caches, it may be good idea to review the mystery piece by piece. This means that the reviewer must solve the mystery, for example, play a dozen 500 piece jigidi puzzles to verify that it finally gives coordinates as the CO stated. :o

 

Edited by arisoft
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25 minutes ago, arisoft said:

 

Never heard about this requirement. To verify that the cache meets guidelines a reviewer needs to know how coordinates are provided. Not to know exactly how you solve the puzzle. For example, if final coordinates are provided by a word checker (Certitudes etc.), It is not important to review the puzzle that gives the codeword. Knowing that there is a way to get final coordinates meets the requirement of using GPS.

 

In some special cases, when a CO is known to make totally unsolvable mystery caches, it may be good idea to review the mystery piece by piece. This means that the reviewer must solve the mystery, for example, play a dozen 500 piece jigidi puzzles to verify that it finally gives coordinates as the CO stated. :o

 

 

It's a requirement here to provide the full solution to puzzle caches in the reviewer note. This is from the profile of one of the Australian reviewers (Bunjil):

 

image.png.1e786b00bf0b97a4db111895e31acb66.png

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39 minutes ago, arisoft said:

 

Never heard about this requirement. To verify that the cache meets guidelines a reviewer needs to know how coordinates are provided. Not to know exactly how you solve the puzzle. For example, if final coordinates are provided by a word checker (Certitudes etc.), It is not important to review the puzzle that gives the codeword. Knowing that there is a way to get final coordinates meets the requirement of using GPS.

 

In some special cases, when a CO is known to make totally unsolvable mystery caches, it may be good idea to review the mystery piece by piece. This means that the reviewer must solve the mystery, for example, play a dozen 500 piece jigidi puzzles to verify that it finally gives coordinates as the CO stated. :o

 

https://forums.geocaching.com/GC/index.php?/topic/294567-updated-cache-placement-requirementsguidelines/#comment-5026333

 

https://forums.geocaching.com/GC/index.php?/topic/294569-geocachingcom-release-notes-april-24th-2012/

Edited by Max and 99
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1 hour ago, arisoft said:

This means that the reviewer must solve the mystery, for example, play a dozen 500 piece jigidi puzzles to verify that it finally gives coordinates as the CO stated.

 

That is the reason, why we ask for a detailed description or a walkthrough for every mystery, and a screenshot of the completation screen of every jiggidy puzzle (unless it's <9pieces).

If the CO in question isn't willing to give that to us, we're totally okay with that, and we're starting to solve that all by ourself in our spare time (after the paid job, the family, the friends, our hobbies, the other reviewing duties, our geocaching tours, our quality geocaching mystery solving time etc.pp) which might take some time. 

So the more detailed your description of the cache, the gz, the hide and probably the way to solve the mystery is, the lesser question we have, and the quicker you've got that miraculous mail saying "Your Geocache has been published"!

 

 

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3 hours ago, Max and 99 said:

Since it is now required

 

1 hour ago, Max and 99 said:

These threads are talking about the guidelines 10 years ago. It's not in the current guidelines. Maybe it should be, and reviewers from some regions apparently act like it is, but it isn't.
 

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4 minutes ago, GerandKat said:

That is the reason, why we ask for a detailed description or a walkthrough for every mystery

 

Is there some reviewers-only guideline that requires reviewers to verify a puzzle is solvable, or is that something the reviewers in your region just decided to do/keep doing?

Asking because this doesn't seem to be what the reviewers in my area do.

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56 minutes ago, GerandKat said:

That is the reason, why we ask for a detailed description or a walkthrough for every mystery, and a screenshot of the completation screen of every jiggidy puzzle (unless it's <9pieces).

 

There seems to be some demand for "Owner’s perspective of hiding a geocache" blog :D

 

This is not only my own but shared opinion of some fellow cache owners. One practical reason why some (may be experienced) geocachers are not willing to disclose all information about the cache (if not asked), is a long list of mystical rules the cache owner is not possible to know, but the reviewer is using against publishing, if the explanation is too detailed.

 

For example, Once I explained that the mystery is using steganography and accidentally disclosed also the name of the method. I got a response that there is a secret rule that using steganography in a geocache requires that there is more than one on-line service available for decrypting the message.

 

I don't mean that cache owners are trying to circumvent the guidelines but trying to avoid unnecessary problems simply because something that is practically irrelevant has been mentioned.

Edited by arisoft
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6 hours ago, Calypso62 said:

Has the rule changed regarding multicaches? Is there now a 2 mile (3.2km for us Down-Under) radius restriction for this type

Nothing has changed on Multi-cache stage distances. The Help Center article linked from the Cache Saturation guideline section, on avoiding saturation issues suggests that finding all staged caches within 2 miles of your proposed cache location will work, much of the time. It will too. 

 

Explain how to solve puzzle was directly in the Mystery section of the guidelines when I started hiding (2003) and remained there until the last major revision. Now it's in the link Help Center Article

Before you submit the cache page, post a Reviewer Note with an explanation of how the puzzle is solved.

 

2003: If you choose to submit a cache of this type please give as much detailed information as possible to the approver when you submit the cache.  The approver may still need more information before approving the listing. Please cooperate with these requests.  ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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23 minutes ago, Isonzo Karst said:

Explain how to solve puzzle was directly in the Mystery section of the guidelines when I started hiding (2003) and remained there until the last major revision. Now it's in the link Help Center Article

Before you submit the cache page, post a Reviewer Note with an explanation of how the puzzle is solved.

Thank you. I mistakenly only looked at the submitting process.

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1 hour ago, Isonzo Karst said:

Explain how to solve puzzle was directly in the Mystery section of the guidelines when I started hiding (2003) and remained there until the last major revision. Now it's in the link Help Center Article

Before you submit the cache page, post a Reviewer Note with an explanation of how the puzzle is solved.

Thanks, I being was lazy and didn't check for rules in the help center.

 

That said, it seems this is being interpreted fairly differently. E.g. if a CO says you get coordinates from a jigidi, is that enough? Or does the reviewer verify the jigidi actually gives the correct coordinates and that the jigidi is discoverable?  Is there some part of the world where FTF hunters don't regularly run into broken puzzles? Or puzzles where searching the 2 miles around the bogus coordinates is the most viable solve path?

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