changes in what you can access with a basic membership?

[mtbikernate]

Have had a geocaching account for awhile, but got inactive about a decade ago due to some life changes.

 

I realized recently that I still had someone's trackable in my possession and figured I'd log it and drop it off on an upcoming vacation.

 

Am I incorrect in feeling like more features have been put behind the premium membership in the past 10yrs? I mean, I was a premium subscriber awhile ago. I don't see myself getting involved enough to want the premium membership anytime soon, but I can't even filter caches on the web interface without a premium membership? I feel like at least that was still a basic feature back then, and I paid for premium so I could get pocket queries. a big part of the reason I became less active was the proliferation of lame hides and it doesn't look like it's any easier to avoid those. the app was pretty new when I was less active and I didn't even have a smartphone to take advantage of it, but it also seems new-ish (at least since I was last a member) that limits what caches you can access via the app. can't even simply use the app to log stuff (even if I use my trusty Garmin for the actual find).

 

navigating these irritations doesn't even really make me want to bother with picking it up again at a very casual, occasional level.

[+kunarion]

10 minutes ago, mtbikernate said:

Have had a geocaching account for awhile, but got inactive about a decade ago due to some life changes.

 

I realized recently that I still had someone's trackable in my possession and figured I'd log it and drop it off on an upcoming vacation.

 

Am I incorrect in feeling like more features have been put behind the premium membership in the past 10yrs? I mean, I was a premium subscriber awhile ago. I don't see myself getting involved enough to want the premium membership anytime soon, but I can't even filter caches on the web interface without a premium membership? I feel like at least that was still a basic feature back then, and I paid for premium so I could get pocket queries. a big part of the reason I became less active was the proliferation of lame hides and it doesn't look like it's any easier to avoid those. the app was pretty new when I was less active and I didn't even have a smartphone to take advantage of it, but it also seems new-ish (at least since I was last a member) that limits what caches you can access via the app. can't even simply use the app to log stuff (even if I use my trusty Garmin for the actual find).

 

navigating these irritations doesn't even really make me want to bother with picking it up again at a very casual, occasional level.

 

Which App were you using 10 years ago?

[+GeoElmo6000]

I've been active since 2011, and by using the website I don't think anything has changed with regards to premium membership.  Maybe the filters that you mentioned but I'm not sure.  

 

With regard to the app, they added a third layer such that:

1) basic members can see traditional caches with T2/D2 or less, plus events

2) only premium members can see all other non-premium caches (though basic members can see these caches for free via the website)

3) premium only caches require premium membership

 

My advice is to use the website if you're a basic member.

[+kunarion]

22 minutes ago, GeoElmo6000 said:

I've been active since 2011, and by using the website I don't think anything has changed with regards to premium membership.  Maybe the filters that you mentioned but I'm not sure.  

 

With regard to the app, they added a third layer such that:

1) basic members can see traditional caches with T2/D2 or less, plus events

2) only premium members can see all other non-premium caches (though basic members can see these caches for free via the website)

3) premium only caches require premium membership

 

My advice is to use the website if you're a basic member.

 

10 years ago (and earlier) many Apps were one time purchase.  For online games, lots of things.  Around that time, there was a Geocaching Intro App, restricting finds to 3 per day (or something like that), and a one-time-purchase Official Geocaching App for $9.99, which had no such restriction.  Pretty much all one-time-pay online gaming Apps are non-functional today.  Everyone has gone to a pay to play model (with various ways that they remain funded).  A bunch of nice one time pay Geocaching Apps vanished due to no source of income.  If one loves an App, one should show it some love.

 

The short version is, yes, use the web site instead, and it's available on phones.  It's free as always.

Edited July 20, 2023 by kunarion

[+Max and 99]

The owner of the TB you've had for 11 years will be very happy that you are moving it along!

[mtbikernate]

2 hours ago, kunarion said:

 

Which App were you using 10 years ago?

 

I didn't even own a smartphone 10yrs ago. So I didn't use an app at all, but I remember talk about phone apps back then.

 

1 hour ago, GeoElmo6000 said:

I've been active since 2011, and by using the website I don't think anything has changed with regards to premium membership.  Maybe the filters that you mentioned but I'm not sure.  

 

With regard to the app, they added a third layer such that:

1) basic members can see traditional caches with T2/D2 or less, plus events

2) only premium members can see all other non-premium caches (though basic members can see these caches for free via the website)

3) premium only caches require premium membership

 

My advice is to use the website if you're a basic member.

 

 

I don't care about the premium caches right now and yeah, I know they've been around since I was last a premium member. What irritates me the most is the inability to filter caches on the website and I'm pretty sure that functionality was available to basic members in the past. Just to be able to display caches on the map that were harder, or larger containers (so I could filter out all the lamppost micros, or micros-in-the-woods that I don't like searching for) so I could download the .gpx for them to transfer to my garmin. but without paying, I have to just click on stuff until I find something that meets my criteria. that sort of thing is going to get old really fast.

[+NanCycle]

1 hour ago, Max and 99 said:

The owner of the TB you've had for 11 years will be very happy that you are moving it along!

Would be if they were still active.

[+Max and 99]

Just now, NanCycle said:

Would be if they were still active.

I get that. 

[+lee737]

1 hour ago, mtbikernate said:

but without paying, I have to just click on stuff until I find something that meets my criteria. that sort of thing is going to get old really fast.

 

Marketing 101.....

[mtbikernate]

3 hours ago, lee737 said:

 

Marketing 101.....

 

maybe someone who failed marketing 101. they're gonna lose me again.

[+lee737]

35 minutes ago, mtbikernate said:

 

maybe someone who failed marketing 101. they're gonna lose me again.

Given you aren’t prepared to pay, then they haven’t lost anything, have they?

[+Wacka]

What other hobby can you enjoy for US  $40 year plus the cost of gas?

[+lee737]

19 minutes ago, Wacka said:

What other hobby can you enjoy for US  $40 year plus the cost of gas?

I’ve spent three times that on fuel alone this week!

[+terratin]

Use project-gc.com (an official AP partner) to find caches. Yes, there's also a premium functionality, but searching is cool.

[mtbikernate]

10 hours ago, lee737 said:

Given you aren’t prepared to pay, then they haven’t lost anything, have they?

 

I was a premium member once. if the basic membership made searching and filtering for potentially interesting caches less drudgery, they might have been able to rope me into a premium membership again. 

 

I am not and never have been the sort of person to find all the caches in an area, so the simple ability to filter through caches in my area based on basic criteria is pretty important. and if I have to pay for that so I can do it for a couple cache hunts a year? meh. EVERYBODY wants a subscription nowadays. I pay subscriptions for plenty of stuff because I enjoy doing many different things. so I'm going to be very choosy about additional subscriptions.

[+lee737]

7 minutes ago, mtbikernate said:

and if I have to pay for that so I can do it for a couple cache hunts a year? meh.

 

It certainly sounds like premium isn't something you need then.... 

[mtbikernate]

4 hours ago, terratin said:

Use project-gc.com (an official AP partner) to find caches. Yes, there's also a premium functionality, but searching is cool.

 

 

thanks, but still doesn't do what I'm after.

[mtbikernate]

2 minutes ago, lee737 said:

 

It certainly sounds like premium isn't something you need then.... 

 

yeah, if my time spent digging through cache listings to find a cache I want to look for begins to approach my time spent hunting for a that single cache, why would I bother continuing to cache? if I want to stare at maps (which I actually do enjoy doing), there are much more interesting places to do that than on geocaching.com.

[+terratin]

4 hours ago, mtbikernate said:

 

 

thanks, but still doesn't do what I'm after.

So what exactly are you after? Once we know that we could possibly help you achieve it.

[mtbikernate]

22 hours ago, terratin said:

So what exactly are you after? Once we know that we could possibly help you achieve it.

 

I was pretty clear about that. would like to be able to filter through caches based on their attributes. but that's a premium-only feature now even though I'm pretty sure it wasn't in the past.

 

clicking on each individual cache in the map to read its description to find out if it's a micro in the woods is frustrating enough that it's discouraging me from participating in geocaching outside of this trip where I'll be dropping off this trackable (and, for that matter, maybe all of the ones I own so maybe someone else can get some enjoyment out of them).

[+kunarion]

6 minutes ago, mtbikernate said:

I was pretty clear about that. would like to be able to filter through caches based on their attributes. but that's a premium-only feature now even though I'm pretty sure it wasn't in the past.

 

Features have changed as the site was updated.  But today, Basic members can download all of the cache info as a GPX, where previously the data was very limited.

 

If you're enjoying Geocaching except for the inability to filter the list, you could ask PM cacher friends what the local can't-miss bigger caches are.

[+cerberus1]

On 7/20/2023 at 2:24 PM, mtbikernate said:

 realized recently that I still had someone's trackable in my possession and figured I'd log it and drop it off on an upcoming vacation.

 

Am I incorrect in feeling like more features have been put behind the premium membership in the past 10yrs? I mean, I was a premium subscriber awhile ago. I don't see myself getting involved enough to want the premium membership anytime soon, but I can't even filter caches on the web interface without a premium membership? I feel like at least that was still a basic feature back then, and I paid for premium so I could get pocket queries. a big part of the reason I became less active was the proliferation of lame hides and it doesn't look like it's any easier to avoid those. the app was pretty new when I was less active and I didn't even have a smartphone to take advantage of it, but it also seems new-ish (at least since I was last a member) that limits what caches you can access via the app. can't even simply use the app to log stuff (even if I use my trusty Garmin for the actual find).

navigating these irritations doesn't even really make me want to bother with picking it up again at a very casual, occasional level.

 

Nice to see you come back to place a trackable waiting to be Dropped in a cache...   

Guess I don't understand... At the number of caches found since '03, I'm not sure I'd have a need to be a PM either.

I've manually loaded caches to a long-discontinued GPSr, from the website, since we started.  We pay PM only for Notifications.

I rarely do a cache below 2 in Terrain, skipping by hundreds of nondescript hides to find the caches I'd like.

The only thing I'd miss as a basic member is PMO hides.  But not finding a PMO cache that was "better" than any other, I'd be good with that...   

All other Types and D/T combinations are available on the website.  For free...

[+terratin]

I don't think filtering by attribute was a thing back then. This only became available in the last few years with the new search if my memory serves me right. This would not work with project-gc either unless one has a premium account and creates a custom search query via virtual gps. The only way I see this work is to download a gpx/use a database link and then work the data with GSAK.

[mtbikernate]

21 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

 

Nice to see you come back to place a trackable waiting to be Dropped in a cache...   

Guess I don't understand... At the number of caches found since '03, I'm not sure I'd have a need to be a PM either.

 

I've logged ONE cache find since sometime around 2012 or so (a few days ago, to log that old trackable I have). my participation occurred in spurts prior to that, even. and even then, I was focused on quality over quantity for quite some time.

 

21 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

I've manually loaded caches to a long-discontinued GPSr, from the website, since we started.  We pay PM only for Notifications.

I rarely do a cache below 2 in Terrain, skipping by hundreds of nondescript hides to find the caches I'd like.

The only thing I'd miss as a basic member is PMO hides.  But not finding a PMO cache that was "better" than any other, I'd be good with that...   

All other Types and D/T combinations are available on the website.  For free...

 

I don't have an issue with the availability of the caches. Just that the only way for a basic member to find interesting ones is to click on individual caches on the map until you find ones you're interested in hunting. it winds up resulting in WAY more time spent on the website trying to identify stuff worth looking for than is worthwhile. you can use favorite points only as a basic member, and my experience with those (they were a thing a fair bit over 10 or 11yrs ago) is that they don't really reflect anything relevant to me. plenty of caches I like have very few favorite points (usually because they're found very infrequently). 

 

7 hours ago, terratin said:

I don't think filtering by attribute was a thing back then. This only became available in the last few years with the new search if my memory serves me right. This would not work with project-gc either unless one has a premium account and creates a custom search query via virtual gps. The only way I see this work is to download a gpx/use a database link and then work the data with GSAK.

 

maybe. I haven't really messed with the "search" because I don't know what I'm searching for necessarily. I've always looked on the map, because "place" has always been criteria number one for me. and then after that, I want to filter what displays there based on things like the cache size (will it be able to fit a trackable I have? or does it contain any trackables?) or maybe terrain difficulty or something like that. with the map icons, it's easy enough to visually distinguish general cache type (multi, traditional, puzzle, earthcache, etc), but I do think you have been able to hide caches from the map with certain attributes for a long time. because in especially cache-dense places like cities, it's still helpful to reduce the amount of visual clutter.

 

I've had gsak for a long time, and it's what I've long used to transfer caches to my GPS. but afaict, the only way for a basic member to get caches into it is to click on each one individually, download it individually, and load it into gsak. I can zip a batch together so I only need to do the load operation once. but it doesn't do much to streamline things as a basic member if I can't batch download via a pocket query. I'm okay with individual downloading, though, with the way I wish to participate in geocaching if I could apply filters to the map. I'd even still be okay with a less-than-everything number of filters. Cache size being a big one that I would want. As I said before, favorite points is a useless attribute for me. I can usually infer something about a cache's terrain difficulty based on its location on the map. 

[+GeoElmo6000]

You seem to be unhappy with how things work and also the solutions being offered, yet I'm still not sure what you actually want.  If you could create the ideal "mtbikernate" filter or query, what would it be comprised of?

Edited July 23, 2023 by GeoElmo6000