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Announcing Virtual Rewards 3.0

Geocaching HQ

By Geocaching HQ
in General geocaching topics

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thebruce0

+thebruce0

Posted
Posted
On 2/22/2022 at 2:33 PM, barefootjeff said:
On 2/22/2022 at 1:23 PM, bflentje said:

 

Seriously. Groundspeak should send you a bill for disk space usage.

 

Sorry, I was just trying to answer MNTA's question about ideas on what to ask when there are no signs and I thought the best way to describe my example was with a photo, as just saying "pothole" for me conjures up a hole in the road. For the record, that image is about 150kB. Should I send HQ a box of floppy disks?

 

OT, but keep in mind, the forum software may store the original uploaded photo, and pre-create alternate sizes for different display contexts. You do upload quite a lot of images in the forum ;P

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barefootjeff

+barefootjeff

Posted
Posted (edited)
9 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

 

OT, but keep in mind, the forum software may store the original uploaded photo, and pre-create alternate sizes for different display contexts. You do upload quite a lot of images in the forum ;P

 

Last time I looked at my calendar it said 2022, not 1992. We're talking a couple of hundred kB per image tops (many of my screen shots are only a few tens of kB), and whenever I've repeated a previously uploaded image I've used a link rather than another upload, so even with any auto-generated alternate sizes (which are all going to be smaller than the original) all up over the years I've probably uploaded well under 100MB of images. Most cloud providers give anyone who wants it a gigabyte of storage for free and a terrabyte for the price of a weekly cup of coffee, so I really don't think it's a problem but I'll try not to do it anymore.

 

Edit to add: A check reveals that, over my entire caching career, I've uploaded 1255 images to the forums. Most are less than 100kB, with many being screenshots of website/app problems or solutions that are only 10 or 20 kB, so my guesstimate of 100MB total is likely pretty close. To put it into perspective, that's less than a sixth of a single CD-R. Perhaps I could post them a whole CD-R and we can call it quits for the rest of my caching career, but I think HQ would still end up ahead.

Edited by barefootjeff
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colleda

+colleda

Posted
Posted
34 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Last time I looked at my calendar it said 2022, not 1992. We're talking a couple of hundred kB per image tops (many of my screen shots are only a few tens of kB), and whenever I've repeated a previously uploaded image I've used a link rather than another upload, so even with any auto-generated alternate sizes (which are all going to be smaller than the original) all up over the years I've probably uploaded well under 100MB of images. Most cloud providers give anyone who wants it a gigabyte of storage for free and a terrabyte for the price of a weekly cup of coffee, so I really don't think it's a problem but I'll try not to do it anymore.

Just a drop in the ocean Jeff. Nice to see pics.

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Brabenecz

Brabenecz

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 2/8/2022 at 6:41 PM, Geocaching HQ said:

(This information is repeated from a just-published Geocaching Blog post.)

 

Get ready for Virtual Rewards 3.0!

 

2022 is the Year of the Hide. As part of this, Geocaching HQ is thrilled to reward cache owners who have given so much to the game with Virtual Rewards 3.0, a limited number of Virtual Caches for the geocaching community.

 

An opt-in web page is now available for cachers to apply for a Virtual Reward. The page is open until February 26, 2022.

*

*

*

 

Rules for Virtual Rewards 3.0 are unfair. I take care of 14 geocaches for 18 years. It costs a lot of time and money. Because today is looking for geocaches much more people than in 2003 and geocachers behavior is terrible. Points are on the first place and geocache is not interested, as well as nature. I want to create a new Virtual Geocache in cooperation with the National Park, unfortunately it is not possible because of ungrateful rules. You forcing me to break the rules and I'm not going to do it. I can't hide another physical geocache. I couldn't take care of it and that contradicts my principles. I wanted to do something good for geocaching but it's futile. The time is changing, today everything is a problem:-(

 

Edited by Brabenecz
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lee737

+lee737

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, Brabenecz said:

 

Rules for Virtual Rewards 3.0 are unfair. I take care of 14 geocaches for 18 years. It costs a lot of time and money. Because today is looking for geocaches much more people than in 2003 and geocachers behavior is terrible. Points are on the first place and geocache is not interested, as well as nature. I want to create a new Virtual Geocache in cooperation with the National Park, unfortunately it is not possible because of ungrateful rules. You forcing me to break the rules and I'm not going to do it. I can't hide another physical geocache. I couldn't take care of it and that contradicts my principles. I wanted to do something good for geocaching but it's futile. The time is changing, today everything is a problem:-(

 

As with any selection process, guidelines and criteria were chosen to filter through the applicants - this will never be perfect - your situation probably highlights this. Perhaps for future releases a history of older, well maintained caches by an active player will be given more weight.... 

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thebruce0

+thebruce0

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, barefootjeff said:
On 2/28/2022 at 11:33 AM, thebruce0 said:

[...] You do upload quite a lot of images in the forum ;P

 

Last time I looked at my calendar it said 2022, not 1992 [...]

 

Just to close off my part of this OT strand, I wasn't trying to tell you stopitnow!1! ;) Just chiming in on the observation (note my tonguey emote in my comment). I agree, in the grand scheme the space used is relatively negligible. (though there's always bandwidth use by people using the forums to consider - but that's a different thing). Of all users in the forum, you probably do post the most images though ;) Anyway, back to the topic... :omnomnom:

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Gill & Tony

+Gill & Tony

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, BirdSearcher said:

I was happy to be awarded a virtual today (hurray!) and at the same time I discovered that there is a new webcam in my community. Does anyone know whether I could have my virtual use the webcam? Should I ask one of my local reviewers?

If in doubt, ask a reviewer.

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Team Canary

+Team Canary

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, rustynails. said:

Nope, nothing.

 

Sad HQ doesn't consider someone with 3000 favorite points worthy of a virtual. A lot of time and work goes into creating interesting hides.

 

I feel the same way.

 

Signed up 16 years ago, 13500 Finds, president of the local geocaching association, with years on the committee, 60 Hides, 150 odd Favourite Points.

 

So disappointed!

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barefootjeff

+barefootjeff

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

Of all users in the forum, you probably do post the most images though ;)

 

Maybe you should have a look in the Off Topic forum, particularly the threads like Photos for Shirley, More Photos for Shirley and Caption Wanted. Those folk leave me for dead...

 

Back on topic, so far the local FB groups have been pretty quiet, with only one from up in the north of the state posting that she'd received one. There are a couple of local cachers who've become slightly more active recently after a hiatus during their university studies, so maybe one of them might have applied and been successful. If so, I'm sure whatever they come up with would be awesome. But maybe I'm being selfish, what this area probably needs more is some 1.5/1.5 virtuals to offset the generally higher terrain physical caches. In hindsight my T4 preferred option probably wouldn't have been a good outcome for the community. So yes, I'm looking forward to seeing anything around here that does eventuate, as I've enjoyed all the virtuals I've done from the first two releases.

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Team Canary

+Team Canary

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Maybe you should have a look in the Off Topic forum, particularly the threads like Photos for Shirley, More Photos for Shirley and Caption Wanted. Those folk leave me for dead...

 

Back on topic, so far the local FB groups have been pretty quiet, with only one from up in the north of the state posting that she'd received one. There are a couple of local cachers who've become slightly more active recently after a hiatus during their university studies, so maybe one of them might have applied and been successful. If so, I'm sure whatever they come up with would be awesome. But maybe I'm being selfish, what this area probably needs more is some 1.5/1.5 virtuals to offset the generally higher terrain physical caches. In hindsight my T4 preferred option probably wouldn't have been a good outcome for the community. So yes, I'm looking forward to seeing anything around here that does eventuate, as I've enjoyed all the virtuals I've done from the first two releases.

 

Central Coast is in need of some easier caches to get new finders interested and active.

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ChriBli

+ChriBli

Posted
Posted
On 2/25/2022 at 2:37 AM, rustynails. said:

Looking at the above pie chart - Global distribution of Virtual Rewards Caches 1.0 and 2.0.:  You can see U.S.A is allotted only 15% of 4000 virtual caches (600).  This leaves 3400 for the rest of the world. I'm guessing there are more cachers in the U.S. compared to all other countries together. At 600 our chances here are very slim. 

Germany seems to be the country with the most active cachers at least. From the latest "Year in Review" infographic:

info.jpg.cfdfe53694cb1e89c8e8cc7130a18265.jpg

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barefootjeff

+barefootjeff

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Team Canary said:

 

Central Coast is in need of some easier caches to get new finders interested and active.

 

Wønka has been providing a steady stream of low D/T traditionals down this end of the coast, but he's the one who just missed out on qualifying for a virtual with his total of 19 FPs. His and my hides tend to complement each other, with neither of us likely to tread on each other's toes with placement overlaps. There are still a good number of older low D/T caches around which any new players can experience but most seem to just find a handful then get bored and disappear.

 

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tomfuller & Quill

+tomfuller & Quill

Posted
Posted

With only 2032 finds and less than 30 favorite points, I have been selected. I plan to visit the location of my Virtual 3.0 tomorrow.  I plan to ask if they object to being a virtual geocache. Hundreds if not thousands of people take selfies at the location every year just because it is now unique.  First line of the description is: "There is no need to enter the store"

I'm hoping to have mine published within the next week "The One and Only".

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lee737

+lee737

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, tomfuller & Quill said:

I plan to ask if they object to being a virtual geocache. Hundreds if not thousands of people take selfies at the location every year just because it is now unique. 

 In that situation, I probably wouldn't ask! :D But YMMV....

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Isonzo Karst

+Isonzo Karst

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, BirdSearcher said:

a new webcam in my community. Does anyone know whether I could have my virtual use the webcam?

https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=127&pgid=899

 

Acceptable logging tasks

The purpose of the required logging task is to show that the geocacher was at the location. Anything other than that should be optional.

 

I think you could have your coords at the location where a webcam would capture an image of the seeker, but any image from any source would need to be okay.  Ie, unlike a current webcam cache, a selfie would "show that the geocacher was at the location".

 

 

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Joe_L

+Joe_L

Posted
Posted

I was surprised I received one of the virtuals, what with my flyweight credentials (1,000 finds over 11 years; 20 favorite points; 7 active hides, two of which were placed at the start of the pandemic).  I've got to do alot of thinking about this because so many of the classic regional locations are occupied by a cache of some sort already.

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Rustynails

+Rustynails

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, Joe_L said:

I was surprised I received one of the virtuals, what with my flyweight credentials (1,000 finds over 11 years; 20 favorite points; 7 active hides, two of which were placed at the start of the pandemic).  I've got to do alot of thinking about this because so many of the classic regional locations are occupied by a cache of some sort already.

 

HQ required 20 + favorite points to qualify,  yet favorite points weren't considered. At almost 3000 favorite points, I get no virtual award.

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MNTA

+MNTA

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, BirdSearcher said:

I was happy to be awarded a virtual today (hurray!) and at the same time I discovered that there is a new webcam in my community. Does anyone know whether I could have my virtual use the webcam? Should I ask one of my local reviewers?

 

  • You may suggest the use of an existing webcam for a photo, but you must also accept regular photos.
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MNTA

+MNTA

Posted
Posted (edited)

So was fortunate to have won a virtual myself. Going to follow the advice of some to take a few adventurous folks out to the desert to a dry lake bed (well only dry in the summer)  Assuming the reviewer will allow me to place a vacation virtual.

 

I was thinking of asking people to take a picture using forced perspective photography but not requiring. Encourage folks to have fun with it. Little dinosaurs looking huge, squishing your friends head, or holding your car in your hand. The lakebed is very distinctive so any picture will do. Fallback will be a public road sign question nearby no google street view :)

Edited by MNTA
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MartyBartfast

+MartyBartfast

Posted
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Posted (edited)
18 hours ago, rustynails. said:

HQ required 20 + favorite points to qualify,  yet favorite points weren't considered. At almost 3000 favorite points, I get no virtual award.

Err, they were, anyone who had at least 20 FPs were given the chance to apply, anyone with less than 20 FPs weren't, so you went into the draw along with anyone who had 20,21,22,...3000,3001

 

You seem to feel that you should have priority over anyone with fewer FPs than you, but if that was the case then anyone with 3001+ FPs would have priority over you and you could then be guaranteed not to get one.

 

The notification said that there were 5 clear criteria for being allowed to apply, and then people were randomly selected from the applications submitted - assuming this was followed (and there's no reason to think otherwise) then it's all fair and above board and done as they said they would do it.

Edited by MartyBartfast
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TheLimeCat

+TheLimeCat

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, GeoElmo6000 said:

As a side effect of receiving a Virtual Reward 3.0, I get a constant reminder on my dashboard that "Some of your hides may need attention".  Yes, that would be the virtual cache you gave me!

Please, bestow upon me this burden, so that I may suffer in your stead. 

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Rustynails

+Rustynails

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, MartyBartfast said:

 

 

You seem to feel that you should have priority over anyone with fewer FPs than you, but if that was the case then anyone with 3001+ FPs would have priority over you and you could then be guaranteed not to get one.

 

 

Please don't assume, I never said priority. I just asked for a little consideration for many hours of work and thought that goes into creating interesting hides that get awarded favorite points. 

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barefootjeff

+barefootjeff

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, rustynails. said:

Please don't assume, I never said priority. I just asked for a little consideration for many hours of work and thought that goes into creating interesting hides that get awarded favorite points. 

 

There are lots of COs who put in many hours of work over many years to create interesting hides, but not all will get virtuals because it's a limited release with an eligibility bar and a random draw beyond that. The 1.0 release copped heaps of criticism because they used an algorithm to try to pick the cream of the crop, and now they're being criticised for not doing that.

 

There might well be an argument for raising the bar on the number of FPs, but bear in mind that there are many parts of the world where there simply aren't enough cachers to award lots of FPs to even the most fabulous of caches. Also many of what I consider to be the best caches won't get many FPs simply because there'll be few cachers willing to put in the time and effort to attempt them. Let's face it, a full day T4.5 hike through rugged wilderness doesn't appeal to most players. Conversely, the ones in this part of the world that get the most FPs are by and large mundane hides in tourist hotspots, like the guardrail MKH overlooking Sydney harbour that has 162 FPs. I've got nothing against that cache, clearly lots of people like it, but I don't consider it a shining example of the cream of the crop. But that's just my opinion and others will no doubt vehemently disagree, which is no doubt why they went for a random draw.

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GeoElmo6000

+GeoElmo6000

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, barefootjeff said:

 

I think juat posting a Reviewer Note log will do that. It worked for my unpublished Community Celebration event.

 

That worked!  Thank you!

1 hour ago, Isonzo Karst said:

@GeoElmo6000  I believe you can submit and then disable - unsubmit. That will make the last "action log" yours.  Takes an unpublished cache off the "may need attention" list.

 

Thanks!  I tried BFJ's suggestion first because it had less steps.  :-)

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Team Canary

+Team Canary

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

With new virtuals now starting to be published, one thing I've noticed is a fair few of the recipients have outstanding NMs on some of their existing hides. Maybe this should be something to consider in the eligibility criterion next time.

 

Well said!!!

 

I have 64 caches, all still active and no unactioned Needs Maintenance logs.

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Gill & Tony

+Gill & Tony

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

With new virtuals now starting to be published, one thing I've noticed is a fair few of the recipients have outstanding NMs on some of their existing hides. Maybe this should be something to consider in the eligibility criterion next time.

So, they will just whack Owner maintenance logs on their caches before submitting their application.  Or am I just a cynic?

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Gill & Tony

+Gill & Tony

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, Team Canary said:

 

Should they be awarded or random?

 

This would make a good conversation.

They have to be given at random.  When they awarded the first lot there were screams  "That bloke got one and I'm much more deserving than him."

 

Even now they are random there are a few whingers complaining.

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Team Canary

+Team Canary

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, Gill & Tony said:

They have to be given at random.  When they awarded the first lot there were screams  "That bloke got one and I'm much more deserving than him."

 

Even now they are random there are a few whingers complaining.

 

You say complaining, I say disappointed.

 

I believe the first round in NSW predominantly went to very deserving COs and the quality of those Virtuals is amazing.

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