Many multis sharing a T5 waypoint

[+CheekyBrit]

Hypothetical concept to run past you lot:

Picture a variety of multiple stage geocaches, (whether they be multi, mystery, letterbox, or even Wherigo), each starting at a different waypoint, but sharing the same second virtual waypoint. Maybe there is a small sign on an island in a lake with numbers on it, for example, but it could be anything that counts as terrain 5 (T5)and pre-existing and able to be a virtual stage. Each of these different geocaches (shown as different colors in my example diagram) could then use the information at the shared second virtual waypoint differently, based on the info at the first stages and on the cache pages to lead on to different final locations. 

For this to be legal, of course, all physical waypoints of different geocaches have to be at least 528 feet apart, and all placed with landowner permission (same for virtual stages).

As far as I can see, this doesn't break any rules. Each individual geocache has no physical waypoints too close to another's, there are no bonus caches or equivalent since no physical waypoints are being doubled up and any of these can archive and the rest still all work. It does mean that you do T5 work one time and get rewarded with many caches, even if the T5 location is small. This would get boring if it was done ad nauseum, but as a concept, I think it works. It could be done with T4.5 and others too. I don't know if the same argument could be made for difficulty 5, but it could be considered similar.

I recon you could also have ONE physical waypoint near the shared virtual second stage as it takes two physical waypoints to create a clash.

 

There are no plans to do this yet and I don't know of it existing anywhere.

 

Whaddayathink?
 

 

Edited May 5 by CheekyBrit
diagram tweak

[+arisoft]

I have seen caches using the same virtual waypoint. They can also start from the same virtual waypoint. There is nothing special in this arrangement as long as the shared waypoint is virtual for every cache. It is also possible that one puzzle gives coordinates for many caches without any shared virtual waypoints.

Edited May 5 by arisoft

[+Hügh]

2 hours ago, CheekyBrit said:

I don't know of it existing anywhere.

 

GC9728Y et al. is a similar-but-not-identical construction. All nine use the same sign for stage 1, before sending you off to individual finals.

[+barefootjeff]

I have two multis (created in 2015 and 2018) sharing the same virtual waypoint at a trig marker on a headland and they even use the same digit on it. It's not difficult to get to, though, just a short walk from the nearest road, and I'm not sure now why I did it except I needed a "9" for both and that was probably the only "9" I could find anywhere around the area.

 

2 hours ago, CheekyBrit said:

It does mean that you do T5 work one time and get rewarded with many caches

 

Sigh.

[+CheekyBrit]

On 5/5/2024 at 4:33 PM, arisoft said:

 It is also possible that one puzzle gives coordinates for many caches without any shared virtual waypoints.

Arisoft, are you thinking about bonus caches? I thought we can only have a single bonus cache coming from any one (or many) other cache. Many to one, one to one, but never one to many or many to many. 

Or are you thinking of something other than bonus caches, more like an alternative way to find coordinates for many other puzzle caches...

[+thebruce0]

On 5/5/2024 at 5:47 PM, barefootjeff said:

On 5/5/2024 at 3:07 PM, CheekyBrit said:

It does mean that you do T5 work one time and get rewarded with many caches

 

Sigh.

 

I was about to point out the same. It may be within the rules, but it may fall under a reviewer's judgment too. They may see it as a kind of gimme, and if it looks like a whole bunch of 1T caches save for the 5T shared virtual stage, they may deny publish and suggest an alternative setup.

It does feel like a cheap way to 'award' high T statistics.  I don't see any way around it though if it's a virtual stage, without adding anything physical to that location. All one needs to do is properly document everything at the virtual stage and you have all you need, even if other cache questions are unknown, say, until prior finds like bonus cache setups.

 

There's no way to 'force' a re-visit to a virtual stage multiple times if the person is resourceful enough to document everything they may need on first visit.

 

Except of course unless you can somehow require physical presence at the virtual stage; via Adventure or other web-based 'puzzle' tool that check gps coordinates (as mob caches did). -- barring location spoofing of course.

 

But, if you were intentionally trying to place multiple T5 caches knowing that the shared virtual waypoint only need be visited once, if the reviewer allows it, then you might draw some ire; along with loads of 'awesome's depending on who you ask, as it would certainly be seen many as a numbers grab (love it or hate it).

 

ETA: It may be that the DT are legit for each cache individually - regardless of which one you do first, the T5 waypoint must be attained. Every cache has an accurate DT before any have been found. But once you've done one, the others effectively lose the rating. That's why I think it may be up to a reviewer to make a call on the setup.

Edited May 9 by thebruce0