Puzzle Solution Changed

[+Team Canary]

When GZ changed on a solved Mystery Cache how do you know?

 

I'd like to see, when the owner updates the solution, that all the people with Corrected Coordinates have this icon changed back to the question mark. Then you could identify that your solution is now wrong.

 

I've been caught out many times lately looking using an old solution.

[+Max and 99]

If the icon is changed back to a question mark, how does that differentiate with a puzzle I have not yet solved?

[+barefootjeff]

28 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

If the icon is changed back to a question mark, how does that differentiate with a puzzle I have not yet solved?

 

If the coordinates of the final have changed, then (in most cases at least, I'm still trying to think of an exception) you effectively have no longer solved the puzzle.

[+ChriBli]

You can enter whatever you want as corrected coordinates. The icon just shows that you have entered corrected coordinates, not that these in any way correspond to the coordinates of GZ. Unfortunately there is no better way for the CO to communicate a change than adding a prominent text about it in the description.

[+Max and 99]

It seems like we're talking about two different things here: when GZ changes, and when the puzzle solution changes. 

[+mustakorppi]

1 hour ago, barefootjeff said:

 

If the coordinates of the final have changed, then (in most cases at least, I'm still trying to think of an exception) you effectively have no longer solved the puzzle.

The old solution might still work, you'd just need to get new coordinates from the checker.

 

Some COs are sociopaths, so I'd rather not rely on them communicating. A notification or a new icon when change date of final coordinates > change date of solved coordinates would be nice. Solved coordinates may be for a stage instead of the final location so I don't think reverting the icon to unsolved or anything more than this is approriate.

[+barefootjeff]

3 minutes ago, mustakorppi said:

The old solution might still work, you'd just need to get new coordinates from the checker.

 

I'd thought of that, but in cases where you must use a checker to get the final coordinates, I'd consider the checker to be part of the puzzle.

[+mustakorppi]

45 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

 

I'd thought of that, but in cases where you must use a checker to get the final coordinates, I'd consider the checker to be part of the puzzle.

Ok. Then if the coordinates are on something like the Jigidi solve screen and you've solved the Jigidi while logged in. All you need to do is re-open the Jigidi. I think this would also work for a lab bonus where the coordinates are directly in a journal entry. And for a word relation game that's fairly commonly used in puzzle caches in Finland.

[+barefootjeff]

1 hour ago, mustakorppi said:

Ok. Then if the coordinates are on something like the Jigidi solve screen and you've solved the Jigidi while logged in. All you need to do is re-open the Jigidi. I think this would also work for a lab bonus where the coordinates are directly in a journal entry. And for a word relation game that's fairly commonly used in puzzle caches in Finland.

'

Yes, okay, but even with those it would be nice to know that your corrected coordinates on the cache page are no longer correct.

[+ChriBli]

27 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

'Yes, okay, but even with those it would be nice to know that your corrected coordinates on the cache page are no longer correct.

As mustakorppi points out, the corrected coordinates could be for a stage. Consider for instance puzzle caches that also have a field puzzle element that leads to another location, not very uncommon. You would potentially solve these and correct the coordinates well in advance (otherwise this problem does not arise), but if the CO moves the final stage/container would you want your correction to disappear and the icon moved back to posted coordinates then?

 

What could possibly work is to treat corrected coordinates as an indication that the user is interested in the cache. Then any kind of change to waypoints or attributes could trigger a notification to everyone that has corrected coordinates for that cache. This could actually be useful also for e.g. traditionals, you may have entered the original waypoint into a GPSr and want to know if it gets invalid. And some people may not be interested in a cache anymore if the size, D/T, attributes or even posted coordinates change.

 

It feels a bit backwards to have the corrected coordinates as such an indication of interest though. It would be better to have it as a part of the instant notification service or watchlist somehow. It could be a pre-checked option in the coordinate correction dialog to add it to such a watchlist.

[+niraD]

6 hours ago, Team Canary said:

When GZ changed on a solved Mystery Cache how do you know?

I've seen puzzles where the CO mentions (in a log and in the cache description) that the final location has moved. Often, the CO mentions that the new final location is a certain distance and bearing from the old one.

[+Team Canary]

9 hours ago, niraD said:

I've seen puzzles where the CO mentions (in a log and in the cache description) that the final location has moved. Often, the CO mentions that the new final location is a certain distance and bearing from the old one.

So, do I need to keep rereading the description and/or logs on the thousands of puzzles I've solved?

 

There has to be a better way!

[+barefootjeff]

10 hours ago, ChriBli said:

As mustakorppi points out, the corrected coordinates could be for a stage. Consider for instance puzzle caches that also have a field puzzle element that leads to another location, not very uncommon. You would potentially solve these and correct the coordinates well in advance (otherwise this problem does not arise), but if the CO moves the final stage/container would you want your correction to disappear and the icon moved back to posted coordinates then?

 

Yeah, good point. I even own a couple of puzzles like that where the puzzle solution is a waypoint that then leads to the final so I should have thought of that. Maybe only reset the corrected coordinates if they match what the final's coordinates were changed from?

[+niraD]

53 minutes ago, Team Canary said:

So, do I need to keep rereading the description and/or logs on the thousands of puzzles I've solved?

You could put those thousands of puzzles on your watchlist, or in bookmark lists that are set to send email notices to you for each new log. But then you have to figure out how to scan all those logs on the off chance that the CO of a puzzle cache moves the final.

 

But if I had solved thousands of puzzles, then I'd just check the description and logs of a puzzle cache before I set out to find it.

[+dprovan]

7 hours ago, niraD said:

You could put those thousands of puzzles on your watchlist, or in bookmark lists that are set to send email notices to you for each new log. But then you have to figure out how to scan all those logs on the off chance that the CO of a puzzle cache moves the final.

 

But if I had solved thousands of puzzles, then I'd just check the description and logs of a puzzle cache before I set out to find it.

I have solved thousands of puzzles, and this is pretty much what I do. They're all in various lists which then I then flag to watch. There are many reasons to look at logs, one of which is to see if the CO changes the coordinates or some other finder mentions a change. Similarly, I do routinely look at the logs before I go look for one, but that's also for many reasons, and, since finals rarely move, that's one of the least important. On the other hand, I solved many of them years ago, so when I noticed my solution is years old, I don't just check the logs, I recheck my solution with the checker. That not only confirms it's still the correct solution, it also shows me if the bonus info has changed.

 

But, yeah, I just consider it a manual process that's my responsibility. Two things help. One is that, as I say, it rarely comes up because puzzle finals rarely move. The other is that I don't consider it a big deal if I look for a cache and it's not there. It doesn't matter to me whether it's not there because it's been lost or it's not there because the CO moved it and I didn't hear about it. Just another day of geocaching!