All at one time or by singles

[+PlantAKiss]

I tried a search for this but didn't see a topic on it. Soo...

Hopefully I'm going to be publishing 4 new caches plus a disabled one I'll either archive (and keep its 15 yr history) or realist it new.
 

They are all in the same area. Is it better to publish them all at the same time or publish a few at a time to spread it out?  

[+Max and 99]

23 minutes ago, PlantAKiss said:

I tried a search for this but didn't see a topic on it. Soo...

Hopefully I'm going to be publishing 4 new caches plus a disabled one I'll either archive (and keep its 15 yr history) or realist it new.
 

They are all in the same area. Is it better to publish them all at the same time or publish a few at a time to spread it out?  

My personal preference would be to spread it out.

[+Smitherington]

If you have plenty of local cachers it would be fine to spread out the activation.  If the cachers normally come from farther away there would be mor reason to come if there were several to target on say a weekend outing.  Are they related or follow a theme?  Are they guardrail caches or are they in some way special or unique?  Several things to consider.

[+PlantAKiss]

They aren't themed or related. But they are all in one park-ish area. I thought it might p*SS some cachers off if they go there to find a cache and later see they have to go back over and over instead on one trip to get them all. I have 3 long-term caches there, 1 long-term disabled which I might just relist, and 4 new in progress. So potential 8 finds in one sweep for some cachers. That's why I was leaning all at once. 🤔 Thanks for the input.

[+MNTA]

I think you should not be worried about p*SS offing cachers who are going for the FTF. That is one individual. Spreading out enables others to fight as well. Specially if the caches are not in a themed series. Though if the caches are on a linear trail you might annoy a few folks having to do it over again. But really it is all good fun and exercise. Maybe sopace them out over a month or two if you wish.

 

Last week we had a themed 5 cache series with bonus cache along a 1 mile path that dropped all at once. I was meeting a friend for lunch nearby so was going to give it a shot but noticed someone had already claimed. So I saved it for another day. This was nice to do all at once I'll admit specially with the bonus caches. I've also claimed FTF on 16 of a back country gravel road series. 

 

But honestly it would not annoy me to return to a location. If it was a 5 mile hike I may choose to not return for a long time but we have no right to be annoyed.

[+cerberus1]

12 hours ago, PlantAKiss said:

They are all in the same area. Is it better to publish them all at the same time or publish a few at a time to spread it out?  

 

I don't care about FTF (that was the other 2/3rd's thing...)...

 - Maybe it's just me, but as much as I like long hikes, if I repeatedly needed to pass those already done on the way, and found the CO wanted to space them out that way, I'll simply put that CO on a list that I'm done with them, or wait until next year sometime when they're finally done.

We have hiders like that, caches placed sporadically over some weird hatred for the FTF side game, and now (like me...) many  cachers might wait for months to make sure they're finally done, or skip them altogether...

 

Edited May 14, 2023 by cerberus1

[+Smitherington]

I had not thought of the FTF aspect.  But I am not a guy who watches for a new cache just to be first.  I put 3 out last year that were in the same park, had a common theme and had them come active the morning of an all-day event I hosted there.  Several attendees claimed FTF as a group and that was fine.  We were all happy.

 

I have been FTF sometimes while a long way from home.  In that case I may have frustrated a local but it was there and so was I.  So I got it.

[+barefootjeff]

There's a CO in northern Sydney who's currently putting out a series of 13 higher-terrain puzzle caches spread around an area of bushland around a bay. They've been coming out in dribs and drabs, as he's had other players contribute the 13-themed puzzle element for each one. Getting to the area is a 100km return drive for me but I don't mind doing them one at a time, even if it means retracing my steps along some of the hiking trails, as each one is a pleasant day out and I doubt I'd have the stamina to do more than one or two at a time anyway. So far I've found two, solved another two (one of those is a T4.5 which might require a group effort) and there are two others (D4) so far published I haven't been able to solve.

 

Personally, I'd rather see a steady stream of new caches spread over weeks or months than have a whole bunch come out which I knock over in one or two days and then have nothing to do for the next few months. So far this year there have been five new caches published in my region (apart from my own three) so I'm glad they weren't all on the one day.

[hsiale]

Spread them out, but make it known in the listing of the early ones that you plan to publish more. This way people who enjoy the FTF race will have their fun several times, but those who prefer to get all at once later will know that there is more coming and it's better to wait.

[+PlantAKiss]

Thank you all for the input!