Release Notes (Website: Benchmarking retirement) - October 17, 2022

[+elrojo14]

On 1/14/2023 at 8:06 AM, frex3wv said:

I just recently found this and am wondering.... is there any way you could at least get our logged benchmark pages to us so we could print them? 

One of the posts above yours shows you can at least look at your old logs with Wayback Machine. 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by elrojo14

[+Atlas Cached]

Just stumbled across this information (far too late) while trying to find information for some Benchmarks I 'recovered' this weekend. I never received any announcement or notice via email etc from them, and it seems two months lead time was hardly sufficient....

 

I have no kind words to describe my disappointment in Groundspeak and how incredibly short sighted this decision is/was, but this is their sandbox.

 

For those who still like to 'hunt' benchmarks,  you can still load them to a Garmin GPSr to view and log 'just like geocaches' - a full tutorial is available at GPSrChive > How To... > Benchmarking. 

[+JL_HSTRE]

On 2/5/2023 at 6:50 AM, Atlas Cached said:

For those who still like to 'hunt' benchmarks,  you can still load them to a Garmin GPSr to view and log 'just like geocaches' - a full tutorial is available at GPSrChive > How To... > Benchmarking. 

 

I also like the app BenchMap.

[+McKenzie~Binns]

I have found 201 benchmarks over the years and a personal goal for me was to find a benchmark in every state. I thought I had plenty of time. Last week I flew up to Alaska and I am currently sitting here in my hotel. I'm sad to find out that I won't be able to accomplish my personal goal. 😔

I had no clue they were being done away with. I thought initially there was an update going on so I waited a few days. I got  worrying because things were taking so long I decided to check the forms and see what was happening with the benchmarking. Sadly I actually got slightly excited thinking there was an update happening. 😭

I know benchmarking wasn't used by everyone but I really did enjoy it. More so I think I enjoyed the historic aspect of it. If an update had been done I know it would have taken off more. Unfortunately most players don't know about benchmarking but always found it interesting when I would tell them about it. Many ran right out to get a couple just for the icon. ⭐

How many years before somebody cries that they can't get the icon so Groundspeak goes out to bring it back for some special anniversary like they did with locationless caches?

I am getting a little sad with the hypocrisy of grounds peak changing things so everyone can have their "Participation Medal". I accepted that I could never have the location as icon and was envious of the old timers that had it on there accounts. It was like a badge of honor. I decided I wasn't going to get the new locationless caches but at the end the desire for the icon weakened me.

The ape cache in Washington was archived so what did they do, brought it back. Well according to the thought process of grounds peak, ape caches should all together be archived because there are only two in the world and are not accessible to everyone. 👍

I like the point made earlier by someone that difficult puzzle caches and difficult terrain caches aren't accessible to everyone. Not everyone is equal and there are many different levels to that. This is a game, leave the politics and hurt feelings out.

I would have just liked a little more notice or attention brought to the archival. It seems they kind of hid it away. Did they put it in any of the newsletters that maybe I missed? If I had seen something on it I could have gotten my Benchmark number to something more numerically appealing than 201. 🧐

All in all what's done is done. 🥺

 

I really would have liked to have been able to still look back at the benchmarks I have found. I don't understand why they took that away as well? 😑

 

[+Atlas Cached]

4 hours ago, JL_HSTRE said:

 

I also like the app BenchMap.

 

That is my Go-To app when I don't have my GPSr with me! SOOOO happy that developer keeps it available for us!

[+LZ33]

I understand the issue concerning the benchmarks site and how it's related to cost. 

Like the retired locationless cache type, I'm surprised the benchmark site wasn't retired similarly for a historic values, as apposed to "poof" all things benchmark hunting for the past 20 years is gone.   

[+thebruce0]

11 hours ago, LZ33 said:

Like the retired locationless cache type, I'm surprised the benchmark site wasn't retired similarly for a historic values, as apposed to "poof"

 

Because if you recall, they run of different coding systems, entirely separate and different. The coding system is being retired, thus benchmarks. Locationless caches are just another cache type, a core system of geocaching.

Edited February 13, 2023 by thebruce0

[+Cheminer Will]

Thinking about this it is really surprising that Groundspeak decided to do this given that more and more people are beginning to believe that, although private companies must have as their 1st motivation being profitable, they also have an obligation to be as socially responsible as possible. Maintaining benchmarks could have given GS a chance to say something along the lines of:  Even though we do not make money from continuing to have benchmarks a part of our business, we will keep them working so as to contribute to customer good will and the greater good beyond geocaching itself.  (Like the point made about the USGS monitoring logs and records to help keep up with the condition etc. of benchmarks.)  I would be surprised if maintaining benchmarks was draining much financially from GS, but maybe it was?  With the, (perceived at least), general decline in geocaching as a hobby, maybe GS is having financial problems and is looking for anyplace they can find to save a few dollars?

[+JL_HSTRE]

On 2/15/2023 at 3:06 PM, Cheminer Will said:

Even though we do not make money from continuing to have benchmarks a part of our business, we will keep them working so as to contribute to customer good will and the greater good beyond geocaching itself.  (Like the point made about the USGS monitoring logs and records to help keep up with the condition etc. of benchmarks.)

 

Technically, Groundspeak still does that via Waymarking.

 

Anyone wanting to be helpful by providing info to USGS should do so (and should always have done so) through the USGS recovery logging system, not Groundspeak's.

[+TeamRabbitRun]

On 2/15/2023 at 3:06 PM, Cheminer Will said:

Thinking about this it is really surprising that Groundspeak decided to do this given that more and more people are beginning to believe that, although private companies must have as their 1st motivation being profitable, they also have an obligation to be as socially responsible as possible. Maintaining benchmarks could have given GS a chance to say something along the lines of:  Even though we do not make money from continuing to have benchmarks a part of our business, we will keep them working so as to contribute to customer good will and the greater good beyond geocaching itself.  (Like the point made about the USGS monitoring logs and records to help keep up with the condition etc. of benchmarks.)  I would be surprised if maintaining benchmarks was draining much financially from GS, but maybe it was?  With the, (perceived at least), general decline in geocaching as a hobby, maybe GS is having financial problems and is looking for anyplace they can find to save a few dollars?

 

Do you get, though, that this isn't simply a financial decision?

 

The portions of the software that handle benchmarks are written in an old, unsecure (by today's standards) programming technology that's rapidly becoming incompatible with modern resources, and that if GS wanted to retain this wonderful ability they'd have to recreate the 'benchmark' portion of their system (database, programs, phone apps and internet website) using today's tools. This wouldn't an update, this would be a rewrite, as if it were the first time.

 

Also, I believe (and I could be wrong) that the data they have is the data they have. They got a dump of the USGS database years ago with no facility to update it, so it's 'historical' data as of years ago.

 

Given that this part of GS, which I enjoyed, really isn't the core part of the hobby, I understand the decisions taken.  I don't LIKE it, but I understand it.

[+1mech]

A  couple days ago, I was at the starting point of an Adventure Lab, I looked down and I saw a USGS benchmark, so I was going to log it. Much to my surprise, the benchmark option had disappeared. Oh well. I don't usually search them out, but if I ran across one, I would usually log it as found and report on it's condition. Guess I won't anymore.

Goodbye benchmarks, it has been fun.

Edited March 3, 2023 by 1mech
add photo

[+kittymama2]

I do not understand what this means.  Can someone please explain?  does it mean that Adventure Lab finds no longer count?  thank you.  kittymama2

Edited March 18, 2023 by geoawareUSA9
removing unneeded quoted text

[geoawareUSA9]

23 minutes ago, kittymama2 said:

I do not understand what this means.  Can someone please explain?  does it mean that Adventure Lab finds no longer count?  thank you.  kittymama2

 

Adventure Labs and benchmarks are two completely separate things.

 

Adventure Labs are unaffected by the retirement of benchmarks.

[Johannis10]

On 3/18/2023 at 8:06 PM, kittymama2 said:

does it mean that Adventure Lab finds no longer count?

If it meant that, or Lab finds were counted separately, the comments here would be mostly full of enthusiasm about that decision.
But most here are very upset about the GS decision, because it means something else. GS knows what most customers want, but unfortunately they sometimes have a different focus than customer friendliness in their decisions.

[geoawareUSA9]

The purpose of release notes posts like this one is to give geocachers a chance to ask questions about new features or the effects of any changes caused by said release.

 

This discussion has consisted almost entirely of complaints about the decision to remove benchmarks from geocaching.

 

Given how long benchmarks have been a feature on geocaching.com, this was not unexpected, and a wide degree of latitude has been afforded. Despite that, and despite more than one reminder to stay on topic, the discussion has inevitably returned to complaints.

 

Whatever questions have been raised by this change have been addressed. I am therefore closing this thread.