Virtual Rewards 4.0

January 17

Any news on when the allocations will be made today?

January 17

Ooh, just got an email from GCHQ

January 17

7 minutes ago, Boomshanka said:

Ooh, just got an email from GCHQ

Woohoo!

January 17

My streak for not receiving a virtual reward is now: 4. :sad: :rolleyes:

January 17

I just received the GC-HQ email too! 😀

6.8k · January 17

Fourth time lucky for me too! I had a special place picked out back when Rewards 2.0 were announced so it'll be great to finally get to place something there.

BigKop.jpg.eb91f98e79c99c5323e598755a4d549c.jpg

I'm also looking forward to seeing what other new ones appear in this part of the world.

January 17

Nothing for me.

I live in an historic area, so I had a good one picked out.

January 18

Nothing for me. Wasnt holding my breath given I have one already and there is a lot in our area, but did have a plan in place if I got lucky to put one in Fiji (which has no virtuals and not many caches total).

Looking forward to some new ones popping up on the map soon though.

January 19

On 1/17/2024 at 1:23 PM, capsai said:

My streak for not receiving a virtual reward is now: 4.

Same... sigh.

1.7k · January 20

On 1/17/2024 at 11:19 AM, barefootjeff said:

Fourth time lucky for me too! I had a special place picked out back when Rewards 2.0 were announced so it'll be great to finally get to place something there.

Fast work, Jeff! But then again, you've probably had it written up and ready to go since 2.0 ... and it already has a find a favorite point!

6.8k · January 20

42 minutes ago, CAVinoGal said:

Fast work, Jeff! But then again, you've probably had it written up and ready to go since 2.0 ... and it already has a find a favorite point!

Thanks. Yes, I did most of the preparations ahead of the Rewards 2.0 release, with a revisit and more photos prior to 3.0 and 4.0. I'm glad to have been able to finally put it all to good use as it's a great spot that really deserves a cache.

January 20

Part of me wished the Favourite point requirement wasn't so high this time around, or at the very least, it could go back to hides from the last 3 years (since 2020*), but I guess that wouldn't be fair in a sense.

Anyways, maybe I just wish I qualified this time around, there's so many places that deserve a good virtual around the world!

I guess I should do what you did Jeff, and find a spot.

Edited January 20 by DreamMachine74

January 20

On 1/17/2024 at 7:23 PM, capsai said:

My streak for not receiving a virtual reward is now: 4.

Same here... but then, as the rules are slightly arbitrary, you may just be blacklisted

January 20

Sorry to those who didn't receive one. Seems strange that an active cacher who met the requirements and applied each time would be passed over 4 consecutive times. But then again, if there have been 4 rounds, there's always hope for more. For the most part, they seem to have all gone well. I'm excited to finally place one and have had the spot picked out since round 1. It's still open and I have permission! Now I just need to visit the spot and create the dream virtual.

January 20

On 1/17/2024 at 8:31 PM, Mr Smeee said:

Nothing for me.

I live in an historic area,

Same here

4.2k · January 20

On 1/18/2024 at 10:38 PM, BFMC said:

Fiji (which has no virtuals and not many caches total).

Yes, very few. That would have been good. I think Virtuals are best in places with few caches, as it doesn't require a local to maintain it, but there's a cache to be found. Plus you can see which geocachers are travelling and where they are. I often recognise the names. I have only one find in Fiji. At the time it was the ONLY cache in Suva, the capital. There are now three caches in Suva, but not the one I found, as that's been archived.

I put my Virtual from the third round in a town with only one other cache (no other caches when I planned this), and 70km one direction to the next cache, 301kms another direction and 155kms another direction. Where I live already has lots of caches and I felt it would have been wasted. This was such an opportunity to put it somewhere more needy. Good thinking about Fiji. I know other Australians have caches on some of the islands. I found an Earthcache for instance in New Caledonia by a local from Canberra.

Edited January 20 by Goldenwattle

January 20

We were lucky enough to get a virtual reward in a prior round. We deliberately chose to put it in a location with very few caches, but near an excursion point for cruise ships docking at a port about 35 minutes away. We caught a good bit of flak from local cachers for not building out a local presence -- but the area already had plenty of virtuals. So, we opted to place one at one of the most memorable sets of Mayan ruins we had the chance to explore while on a family cruise in Mexico.

Can't tell you how happy we are to se virtuals back in any form, seeing as we were cachers from way back. Hopefully TPTB will continue to offer successive rounds of this program. The quality of the virtuals we've hunted in the prior three have been uniformly above the average, with many truly exceptional.

Edited January 20 by Woodland Clan

6.8k · January 20

7 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

I think Virtuals are best in places with few caches, as it doesn't require a local to maintain it, but there's a cache to be found.

I've found 23 Rewards virtuals since their inception and what I like the most about them is the variety of experiences. They've ranged from the steps of the Sydney Opera House to a remote 70 metre high waterfall, the state's tallest tree, a coastal figure-8 rock pool, an airfield, a Japanese garden, a secluded beach and heaps more. The best ones I think are those placed somewhere the CO is passionate about but a physical cache isn't possible or appropriate.

For me, the decision where to place mine was a no-brainer, as the walk out there, the sights and experiences along the way and the sensational views and rock formation at the end make it one of the best day hikes in this region. Yes, there are other caches nearby, I have three at water level around the headland, but there are no other caches along the 5km trail and trying to get permission to place a physical cache anywhere in there proved problematic. The downside is it's unlikely to get many finders (if it reaches double figures I'll be amazed), compared to the Opera House one that's had 500 in under three years, but I hope it will be a memorable and rewarding experience for anyone who does take it on.

January 21

14 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Yes, very few. That would have been good. I think Virtuals are best in places with few caches, as it doesn't require a local to maintain it, but there's a cache to be found. Plus you can see which geocachers are travelling and where they are. I often recognise the names. I have only one find in Fiji. At the time it was the ONLY cache in Suva, the capital. There are now three caches in Suva, but not the one I found, as that's been archived.

I put my Virtual from the third round in a town with only one other cache (no other caches when I planned this), and 70km one direction to the next cache, 301kms another direction and 155kms another direction. Where I live already has lots of caches and I felt it would have been wasted. This was such an opportunity to put it somewhere more needy. Good thinking about Fiji. I know other Australians have caches on some of the islands. I found an Earthcache for instance in New Caledonia by a local from Canberra.

Yeah I only managed 2 finds while we were there just before Xmas (and the day trip out to the webcam was a very last minute decision). Ironically the closest cache to where we stayed on the Coral Coast was an Earthcache. The CO lives 20 minutes from me in Aus and we work for the same company....

January 21

I congratulate everyone who received a virtual reward :).

For the next time, I would like to see that owners who have already received a lot of favorite points for their caches are given an advantage.
There are still many who have received thousands of favorite points for their caches and have not yet been allowed to create a virtual cache.

Maybe that would help to get some other virtual caches than "go there and take a photo..."

Edited January 21 by Ankuss4
language

January 22

On 1/21/2024 at 3:15 PM, Ankuss4 said:

I congratulate everyone who received a virtual reward :).

For the next time, I would like to see that owners who have already received a lot of favorite points for their caches are given an advantage.
There are still many who have received thousands of favorite points for their caches and have not yet been allowed to create a virtual cache.

Maybe that would help to get some other virtual caches than "go there and take a photo..."

I agree with your first point, but I really like the quintessential "go there and take a photo" virtuals. It's the virtuals with tremendous locations that need the fewest trimmings, and my favorites are often the remote ones at trophy locations that don't necessarily need to be a puzzle. The exception are the "go there AND there AND there and take a photo" virtuals where all the locations are fantastic.

There have been 3 that I've really liked that went above and beyond. The first asked multiple questions to be answered by exploring a single museum, not telling us exactly where to find the answers. The second had multiple thematically similar locations where each one led to the next. The last asked us to enter a business and play an arcade game.

I probably wouldn't remember any of these if they were just "take a pic at this museum", "take a pic of this plaque in the ground", or "take a pic of this arcade", but others like "take a pic of the crater on Mt St Helens" or "take a pic of this enormous volcanic sinkhole", or "take a pic at this fire lookout overlooking a volcano" Stand entirely on their locations, which are unforgettable. Bonus points for places I wouldn't have planned trips for otherwise. In fact, if the experience of arriving at a virtual location is especially fulfilling, I don't necessarily want to jump through a ton of hoops once I get there.

Point being, I think that there is beauty in simplicity, and many of the most well-liked virtuals on the planet rely entirely on their locations, be they hidden gems or well-known local landmarks. To stay on topic, my current plan for my virtual is going to be "go there and take a photo and describe X and Y about your trip"

6.8k · January 23

16 minutes ago, TheLimeCat said:

There have been 3 that I've really liked that went above and beyond. The first asked multiple questions to be answered by exploring a single museum, not telling us exactly where to find the answers. The second had multiple thematically similar locations where each one led to the next. The last asked us to enter a business and play an arcade game.

One that sticks in my mind is an 8-stage Rewards 1.0 virtual set along 6km of the Newcastle coastline. Most finders have just driven to each of the locations but, being me, I took the train up and did it all on foot, although I did catch a bus back to the train station after finishing it. But after all that, I got one of the questions wrong and had to go back up again for a second attempt at it. While none of the spots were hugely spectacular, it's certainly one I'll remember.

Two others that stick in my mind, Fortress (GC7B6E4) and Figure Eight (GC7B9MJ) are just "go there and take a photo" ones but the locations and the hikes to them are pretty amazing experiences. The first is a long rugged hike in the Blue Mountains to the top of a 70-metre high waterfall and the other a coastal hike to a perfectly-shaped figure-8 rockpool where the photo requirement is to get in the pool.

On 1/22/2024 at 2:15 AM, Ankuss4 said:

For the next time, I would like to see that owners who have already received a lot of favorite points for their caches are given an advantage.
There are still many who have received thousands of favorite points for their caches and have not yet been allowed to create a virtual cache.

Maybe that would help to get some other virtual caches than "go there and take a photo..."

A lot of the caches with very high numbers of FPs are pretty basic caches in big city tourist hotspots. Someone mentioned recently in another thread that one of their caches, a 1/1 film canister, has 147 FPs but they came from more than 18,000 finds. I might be wrong, but I'd expect the owners of caches like that would be more likely to place a "go there and take a photo" virtual in a big city tourist hotspot, rather than something more challenging.

But more than that, simply counting FPs is heavily biased towards regions with high numbers of cachers and towards older caches that have simply had more time to accumulate them. Even with the 4.0 requirement for 4 FPs on a 2023 hide, one placed in January would have had a much better chance of clearing the bar than one placed in December.

I think the key is to encourage a wide variety of virtuals. A lot of players like the quick easy "take a photo" virtuals in tourist spots, like the Sydney Opera House one that's had 500 finds in under three years, while others crave the more challenging ones that will get few finders. So maybe it doesn't matter that much what the selection criterion is, as long as it's different each time so as to spread the recipients across a broad range of players.

4.2k · January 23

On 1/22/2024 at 2:15 AM, Ankuss4 said:

There are still many who have received thousands of favorite points for their caches and have not yet been allowed to create a virtual cache.

Then ALL the Virtuals will go to well populated areas with lots of caches, that don't need another cache. NONE will go to Australia and other southern hemisphere countries, NONE to Asia. Alright for some...

Now, if it was for % favourite, that would add some fairness.

January 23

I don't think you can deny it: A large part of the virtual caches are those with a rating of D1/T1 and the task "go there and take a photo". If I want to quickly make a cache in a city, then I'm happy that these exist. But now there are 10 of them in every city. And I know that you can get more out of a virtual cache - they exist!

Caching is about discovering something that you wouldn't have discovered without caching. I don't need a virtual cache to find the three most famous sights in a city. That's why I'm happy when a virtual cache points out details that I would otherwise have missed and encourages me to observe closely. Or maybe gives me interesting information. If at least every tenth virtual cache were one of this kind that would be nice.

And you don't necessarily need caches in areas where there are no cachers, right? Like in North Korea, for example?

I simply advocate that cache owners who published creative and great caches also get a chance to create a virtual cache. I'm not saying that no one else should get a chance. But we've had that four times now, right?

9k · January 23

I only received one virtual so far, and not this round. But I wanted to provide an experience with the visit to the location as well, so my Virtual is at the top of the tallest publicly accessible active fire tower in Ontario, or Canada, can't remember. It's a higher D knowing that climbing the stairs might be difficult for so, but the task to count the stairs both lends to the D rating and gives people fearful of heights something to concentrate on At publish it was also a rare virtual DT.

That's the kind of virtual I love to do. Sight seeing is one thing, but when the Virtual provides an experience to remember, that's a big up in my books.

January 23

54 minutes ago, Ankuss4 said:

I simply advocate that cache owners who published creative and great caches also get a chance to create a virtual cache. I'm not saying that no one else should get a chance. But we've had that four times now, right?

Very interesting conversation here.

I like that someone is advocating for fairness. The other word here to think about is reward, as in virtual reward. Let's face it there are long time, loyal to the game cache owners who have probably been skipped over. See above.

I hope next round focuses on solely on these folks. Reward for premium membership for years not just new to the game and will be gone next year. Reward the responsible CO, preforms regular maintenance on their caches and supports a positive environment for others to enjoy. Maybe 5/10 year anniversary.

After that I hope there is a pause or some form of density screen as there are a lot out there, 5308 in the United States does not seem like a lot but they tend to congregate around the metro areas. I have not attempted to find all of the ones in my metro area have 14/35 unfound. Though I do want to see the worlds largest fork and published this week one of the troll sculptures. My two favorites are GC9P4PQ PDX carpet, In line with Portland being weird we celebrate the carpet at the airport. Second being GCA4BC One for the little people, the worlds smallest city park.

So maybe offer more remote areas to spread them out. Allow for people to apply for a vacation virtual in a remote country in advance before they travel, possibly publish a list of candidates that people can apply for and limit COs. Though the reviewer should push for quality and long term viability. I feel bad my 3.0 virtual could have been the sole virtual in Belize, but when I was awarded it I knew the spot I wanted my favorite place in the state I lived in and had visited often and wanted to share that desolate remoteness. At the time the trip was not even planned.

6.8k · January 23

5 minutes ago, Ankuss4 said:

I don't think you can deny it: A large part of the virtual caches are those with a rating of D1/T1 and the task "go there and take a photo". If I want to quickly make a cache in a city, then I'm happy that these exist. But now there are 10 of them in every city. And I know that you can get more out of a virtual cache - they exist!

I know I'm not very representative, but of the 28 virtuals I've found, 10 have been terrain 3 or higher and 5 are terrain 4 and up. Of the five now in my region, there are two 1/1s (a sister-city Japanese garden and a hinterland airfield, neither of which I knew existed until the virtuals appeared), a 1.5/1.5 walking tour of historic sites in a waterfront tourist area, a 2/4.5 at a secluded beach only accessible by boat or down a steep narrow track, and my own 2/4 that's a 10km return hike to a remote scenic vantage point well off the tourist radar.

16 minutes ago, Ankuss4 said:

Caching is about discovering something that you wouldn't have discovered without caching. I don't need a virtual cache to find the three most famous sights in a city. That's why I'm happy when a virtual cache points out details that I would otherwise have missed and encourages me to observe closely. Or maybe gives me interesting information. If at least every tenth virtual cache were one of this kind that would be nice.

Almost all the virtuals I've done, and particularly the Rewards ones, have either taken me somewhere I wouldn't have otherwise known about or taught me something new about a familiar location. Perhaps because they're still such a rare treat around here, most of the recipients have put a fair bit of effort into their creations. The whole state (New South Wales) only has 123 virtuals: 12 originals, 22 Rewards 1.0, 43 Rewards 2.0, 44 Rewards 3.0 and 2 Rewards 4.0 (so far), and apart from the cluster of mostly old ones in central Sydney, the rest are pretty widely spread around.

32 minutes ago, Ankuss4 said:

I simply advocate that cache owners who published creative and great caches also get a chance to create a virtual cache. I'm not saying that no one else should get a chance. But we've had that four times now, right?

I wonder, though, do the most creative and great caches get the highest number of FPs? Such caches will likely get high FP percentages, but they're not likely to get lots of finds simply because they require a bit of time and effort to complete. Some of the most awesome caches I've done have only had a handful of finders so they're never going to score highly in the FP count (or get an FP indicator in the app for that matter).

January 23

1 hour ago, MNTA said:

one of the troll sculptures

While they were published recently, these virtuals are not rewards 4.0 if I read it correctly.

6.8k · January 23

6 hours ago, MNTA said:

I hope next round focuses on solely on these folks. Reward for premium membership for years not just new to the game and will be gone next year. Reward the responsible CO, preforms regular maintenance on their caches and supports a positive environment for others to enjoy. Maybe 5/10 year anniversary.

Just wondering, are you seeing lots of "new to the game and will be gone next year" players receiving Rewards? Looking at the 23 Rewards virtuals I've found, all have COs who have been in the game at least 8 years and most more than a decade. So far, six 4.0 virtuals have been published in Australia and it's a similar pattern there with the "newest" CO having started in 2015. All have way more finds than me (two over 10,000 and one very close to that milestone), all but one have more hides than me and all but two have accumulated more FPs than me (one, who started in 2005, has received 2,222 FPs). Looking at their profiles, I'm very much the minnow.

January 23

11 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

Two others that stick in my mind, Fortress (GC7B6E4) and Figure Eight (GC7B9MJ) are just "go there and take a photo" ones but the locations and the hikes to them are pretty amazing experiences. The first is a long rugged hike in the Blue Mountains to the top of a 70-metre high waterfall and the other a coastal hike to a perfectly-shaped figure-8 rockpool where the photo requirement is to get in the pool.

These are exactly the kind I enjoy and aspire to place. In my home state, we have https://coord.info/GC1192, https://coord.info/GC8D7C, https://coord.info/GC9P6V5, and https://coord.info/GC8A3B to name a few, which are all 8 miles or more with several thousand feet of elevation gain. Some around Mt Rainier approach 20 miles and 5000ft.

4.2k · January 24

22 hours ago, Ankuss4 said:

And you don't necessarily need caches in areas where there are no cachers, right? Like in North Korea, for example?

No, not North Korea (um, obviously), but caches (would usually have to be Earth or Virtual caches) are appreciated in places that people visit. I, plus other travellers appreciate it if we can find caches in remote places in Australia as we are driving through, in the Antarctica (lots of cruise ships visit sections of that). Dubai is another. Not many geocachers live there, but it's the second busiest airport in the world, so travellers pass through. I have geocached twice there. Other places too. You would deny geocachers who visit there the chance to find some caches.

The last log for my remote-ish cache GC9P6QB in northern Australia, to show caches in these areas are appreciated. "We wouldn't have stopped here if not for the cache. "

They give people more places to visit.

"On a campervan trip across Australia from New Zealand. The heavy rains from Cairns seems to have slowed down.
This is our first cache on the trip. Answers sent to CO. We wouldn't have stopped here if not for the cache. Thank you for bringing us here 🙂. TFTC"

The previous finder got a personalised tour.

"Fantastic location. We rocked up and were seeking out our answers when the station master(?) popped out and saw us. She then kindly offered to open the museum, set the video up and open the train and carriage for us to have a look. It was great almost like our own private tour - in first class as she also provided us with a couple of QR fans and a bottle of water as it was a hot, hot day."

Edited January 24 by Goldenwattle

January 24

13 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

Just wondering, are you seeing lots of "new to the game and will be gone next year" players receiving Rewards? Looking at the 23 Rewards virtuals I've found, all have COs who have been in the game at least 8 years and most more than a decade. So far, six 4.0 virtuals have been published in Australia and it's a similar pattern there with the "newest" CO having started in 2015. All have way more finds than me (two over 10,000 and one very close to that milestone), all but one have more hides than me and all but two have accumulated more FPs than me (one, who started in 2005, has received 2,222 FPs). Looking at their profiles, I'm very much the minnow.

I'm with you here - not sure what metrics were used but it sure seems like: premium members who've been in the game a long time and have active numerous caches. I thought the ones awarded I know of were well deserved, so whatever algorithm was invented seems pretty good from here. Only a small sample, of course.

January 24

Quote

We wouldn't have stopped here if not for the cache.

That is just what I said:

Geocaching should show you places or details that you wouldn't discover without geocaching

image.png.12ce25b25199e43102e46e466a1f083b.png

4.2k · January 24

43 minutes ago, Ankuss4 said:

That is just what I said:

Geocaching should show you places or details that you wouldn't discover without geocaching

I do agree with this comment , but you also wrote, "And you don't necessarily need caches in areas where there are no cachers, right? "

I doubt there are any geocachers in the area of the cache I mentioned, or for 100s of kms in any direction. The nearest geocacher I know of to there is 500kms by road away. So I put my Virtual cache there; a place where it would be very hard to put a physical cache, because of the 161km distance rule and no geocachers living there. It brings people to the old tropical railway station and museum; plus it's a SideTracked cache, which will attract collectors of those. A tourist train regularly pulls up there offloading tourists too, so all the answers can be found in the station to be convenient to the passengers.

Edited January 24 by Goldenwattle

January 24

@ Goldenwattle:

the fact that your cache is logged proves that there are geocachers there .

But we don't need to argue either way. There are many geocachers with very different opinions and preferences and that's a good thing. That makes this game interesting .

Edited January 24 by Ankuss4

January 24

3 hours ago, Ankuss4 said:

@ Goldenwattle:

the fact that your cache is logged proves that there are geocachers there .

But we don't need to argue either way. There are many geocachers with very different opinions and preferences and that's a good thing. That makes this game interesting .

My Virtual Reward 3.0 is in Bend Oregon. Published 3/1/22. I has over 300 finds and over 70 favorite points. Several cachers from Europe have come to visit "The One and Only"

6.8k · January 24

8 hours ago, Ankuss4 said:

the fact that your cache is logged proves that there are geocachers there

I think all the finders of Goldenwattle's virtual are travellers passing through, not local residents. Many of those would be what we call grey nomads, retirees spending months or even years driving the length and breadth of Australia.

The region where I've placed mine is somewhat opposite, with a dozen or so local cachers but few visitors willing to go beyond the quick P&Gs around the tourist centres, in spite of it being a popular holiday destination between the large population centres of Sydney and Newcastle. Back in 2015, a local cacher placed a 3/3 puzzle cache around the scenic bushland overlooking Broken Bay but said in his description, "This cache, like all caches on the Central Coast with a walk involved, will probably get found 5 times in quick succession and then never again as no-one from anywhere else bothers to come here." Although it did a little better with 11 finders in its almost 9 years, what he said is essentially true of the higher terrain caches around here. The Rewards 2.0 virtual at the secluded beach I mentioned earlier, published in 2021, has only had 11 finders and I don't expect my one to do much better. It's all about the location, though, not the numbers.

4.2k · January 24

10 hours ago, Ankuss4 said:

The fact that your cache is logged proves that there are geocachers there .

How have you come to that conclusion? I already explained that the nearest geocacher that I know of is 500kms away. People travel, they pass through. Some people do this for only a few months, some for years. They are on the road, travelling. I spent three months travelling around the country in 2022. That's when I placed the cache in Normanton. The rules are I must have visited the spot in the two months before placing it, which I did. These caches mostly cater for the travellers, not locals (if there are any at all); none of whom are likely geocachers. They get finds. Just as Barefootjeff wrote, many would be so called 'grey nomads'. Most have a caravan and pull that around the country, going from place to place. Many free camp (pull up where they like and stay there for the night); although there are also paid camping places. Most would free camp with others, for safety. I have free camped in the past, although I slept in my car. Can be very social, sitting around a campfire with others. Very basic camping. No electricity; often no facilities. Not having a toilet in my car; unlike caravans, I only free camped where there was a toilet. Still, no electricity. So in the outback, under the stars, with no street lights, etc. Only maybe a campfire, and the torch or lantern of someone moving about. I always travel with both. There are known places where people tend to gather to free camp. There are even published books (likely online now) listing places, with coordinates. I see a caravan turn of a main road onto a dirt track in the late afternoon, and I think, free camping. Setting up for the night. Especially in the more remote north. Many Australians, especially the retired, do a lot of travelling. A cache doesn't need locals to find it. Plenty of travellers passing through. In fact, many of the caches I do come upon (outside of bigger towns), are placed by these 'nomads'. They will be be back that way in the future.

https://www.google.com/search?client=avast-a-1&q=grey+nomads&oq=grey+nomads&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQABhAMgYIAhAAGEAyBggDEAAYQDIGCAQQABhAMgYIBRAAGEAyBggGEAAYQDIGCAcQABhA0gELNDcwOTQ4ajBqMTWoAgCwAgA&ie=UTF-8#ip=1

Extracts from the last logs of my cache; all travellers.

"On a campervan trip across Australia from New Zealand."

"Had a little chat about the cyclone coming and us having to change our travel plans."

"We are travelling in this area and stopped here for your virtual."

"------ and I were on our way from Mt Isa to Karumba today"

"Heading to Cape York"

"After having a fantastic time at the last ever QOGM event in Longreach we are now heading north"

Etc, etc

Edited January 24 by Goldenwattle

January 25

I was pretty bummed, over 20 of my hides this past year qualified. Better luck next time!

I am looking forward to finding the VR 4.0's!

January 25

10 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

I think all the finders of Goldenwattle's virtual are travellers passing through, not local residents.

9 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

How have you come to that conclusion? I already explained that the nearest geocacher that I know of is 500kms away.

"There are geocachers" doesn't mean the same as "there are geocachers that are local residents" or does it? I am no native speaker, so you can correct me .

As virtual caches are still something special and rare, I believe that they should be placed in locations where cachers at least pass by. And not somewhere where they are only visited by someone every 2 years. That's what I wanted to say.

4.2k · January 25

3 hours ago, Ankuss4 said:

There are geocachers" doesn't mean the same as "there are geocachers that are local residents" or does it? I am no native speaker, so you can correct me .

"There are geocachers there", would be interpreted as living in the town or locality.

Edited January 25 by Goldenwattle

January 25

4 hours ago, Ankuss4 said:

As virtual caches are still something special and rare, I believe that they should be placed in locations where cachers at least pass by. And not somewhere where they are only visited by someone every 2 years. That's what I wanted to say.

I think there is a place for both kinds of caches. Some of my favorite caches, and the ones that were most memorable, were the ones that are seldom found, virtuals included. The only new virtuals that I dislike are the ones placed at a landmark that is already highlighted by an existing cache in approximately the same location. Otherwise, I am supportive of any location a person might choose, whether in the heart of a city or incredibly remote, at home or abroad, in an area with many caches, or an area with very few.

January 25

Fair - that's not the case at GROUNDSPEAKS VIRTUAL ROULETTE CACHE AWARD.

It's time to fix the damage the roulette has done!
Rewards must be given to those who deserve it. It is easily measured in the number of years as Premium, the number of caches owned and the number of favorites received.
Time to stop competing with Las Vegas.

The time has come for a reward for everyone with 10 years as a cache owner, and or everyone with more than 2,500 favorite points received

After roulette spin 1-2-3-4 disappointment, I now have 193 fewer caches to maintain. The rest is archived at the next disappointment at roulette spin 5.

Hydronor

15.3k · January 25

1 hour ago, Hydronor said:

After roulette spin 1-2-3-4 disappointment, I now have 193 fewer caches to maintain. The rest is archived at the next disappointment at roulette spin 5.

Wow... You certainly convinced me.

4.2k · January 26

3 hours ago, Hydronor said:

the number of caches owned and the number of favorites received.

Back to that selfishly giving virtuals to only the USA and Europe. And none to anyone in the southern hemisphere or Asia. We DON'T have enough finds to get that many favourite points. Is it that hard to comprehend that?

Also where the geocacher lives in a country makes a difference too. A very ordinary cache in the centre of a city with lots of tourists to top up the local geocaching population could have many times the favourite points of a brilliant cache in a more remote place. Most favourite points does not necessarily equal great cache. The ONLY one to look at for that is %.

January 26

3 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Back to that selfishly giving virtuals to only the USA and Europe. And none to anyone in the southern hemisphere or Asia. We DON'T have enough finds to get that many favourite points. Is it that hard to comprehend that?

Also where the geocacher lives in a country makes a difference too. A very ordinary cache in the centre of a city with lots of tourists to top up the local geocaching population could have many times the favourite points of a brilliant cache in a more remote place. Most favourite points does not necessarily equal great cache. The ONLY one to look at for that is %.

The gist of it is, people want criteria that favor themselves, and they want virtuals to be placed only in locations that are most accessible to them.

6.8k · January 26

3 hours ago, TheLimeCat said:

The gist of it is, people want criteria that favor themselves, and they want virtuals to be placed only in locations that are most accessible to them.

What I'd like to see is a good spread of virtuals, both geographically and across the D/T grid, although maybe not too many D5s! I was disappointed with the 3.0 rewards, not because I missed out but because the entire northern half of my state missed out, making most of them outside the range of a day trip for those of us living north of Sydney. That at least seems to have been corrected in the 4.0 release, with four other northerners that I know of as well as myself getting them. My own one was quite a surprise as I was fully expecting to miss out again and had put together the framework of an EarthCache as my Plan B for the location. With an EC I would have had to focus solely on the geology, and realistically just one aspect of it, whereas the virtual has allowed for a much broader showcasing of the area, which hopefully is a win for the community.

I'll be happiest if, in a year's time, there's a good bunch of 4.0 virtuals offering a wide range of experiences, from quick and easy take-a-selfie-at-a-tourist-spot ones through to long wilderness hikes with spectacular scenery and multi-stage comprehensive tours of a special locality, plus everything in between. I'll also be delighted if my virtual gets more than the usual small handful of regulars my more recent hides have gotten, because that's what I created it for. Having a virtual on my list of hides is unimportant, but having one there that locals and visitors can enjoy is.

Edited January 26 by barefootjeff
Spelling

4.2k · January 26

1 hour ago, TheLimeCat said:

The gist of it is, people want criteria that favor themselves, and they want virtuals to be placed only in locations that are most accessible to them.

I want virtuals to be available for everyone on the world, not, if your suggestion was taken up, likely to be only given to those in Europe and the USA.

You mentioned wanting virtuals given out to people with high favourite points. Yes that might benefit you, but also as I said, that means that likely no one south of the equator or in Asia would get one. If they are to be given as a reward for having good caches (which is a good suggestion) the only way to measure that is by percentage of favourites. Number of favourites is not a good way to judge the quality of a cache, as that depends where the cache is (small village or a wildness area, as against in the CBD of a very busy touristy city), how many people visit it - see previous comment. Say, five visits a year as against thousands can make a huge difference to possible points. The brilliant five visits a year cache could have 100% favourites, but still be a fraction of the number of favourite points for a very ordinary cache that gets thousands of finds.

Also, my opinion is that the virtuals should only be given to those with a minimum of years as a geocacher and have published some caches.

5.3k · January 26

5 hours ago, TheLimeCat said:

The gist of it is, people want criteria that favor themselves, and they want virtuals to be placed only in locations that are most accessible to them.

The main takeaway from this whole thread is that every time virtuals are given out, people find reasons to get all butthurt about it.

You (not you, LimeCat, this is the generic you) didn't get one? I didn't get one either. Get over it.

6.1k · January 26

The main complaint I would have for this round is that they went from having to apply to giving them out completely randomly.
I reckon that will lead to more not being taken up at all, and more pretty dull ones going out. If the random selection was from those who apply for one then they would be more likely to be all used and of better quality.

For the avoidance of doubt I did get one this time (but not previously when I applied) so it's not sour grapes from me.

Virtual Rewards 4.0

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