Jump to content

Cosmic Quest

Max and 99
Followers 8

Recommended Posts

Max and 99

+Max and 99

Posted
Posted

From today's blog post:  Cosmic Quest

 

Thanks to help from geocachers around the world, we deciphered the intergalactic communication we received last week. Here is the message:

Hello, earthlings! We have come across a reference to “Geocaching.com” on a metal creature roving the planet Mars. It seems this ‘geocaching’ is an activity meant to further exploration and community. We would like to better understand this interesting human activity and we are traveling to Earth to learn more. We only hope we’ll have enough fuel in our spaceship to keep exploring!

We’re excited to take this opportunity to further intergalactic friendship! Our friends from outer space are here and having a blast geocaching, but now they need our help. Their spaceship is running out of fuel, which they need in order to continue exploring other planets and galaxies. Luckily for us, we’re able to help them by doing what we do best: geocaching! The fuel their spaceship runs on is positive energy and what better way is there to build positive energy than getting together with friends and finding geocaches?

Join us on a Cosmic Quest from July 22 through September 1 as we help our friends fuel their spaceship. During Cosmic Quest, different geocaching activities will generate different amounts of fuel. If we reach 15 million units of fuel, the spaceship will be all set to launch our friends to their next cosmic destination.

During Cosmic Quest we will use the leaderboard to track the community’s progress toward this goal. On the leaderboard, players will be able to see how many units of fuel the global community has generated, available campaign souvenirs, and information about how many units of fuel different geocaching actions generate.

See the table below for information about how many units of fuel different geocaching actions generate:

Activated a trackable 1
Attended an Event 3
Received a Favorite point on an owned geocache 2
Found an EarthCache 5
Found it* 1

*Logged a Found it on any other cache type, excluding Webcam Caches.

If we successfully fuel the spaceship, not only will we have the satisfaction of achieving a difficult goal as a community, all geocachers who took part will also earn a unique digital souvenir commemorating this visit from our intergalactic friends.

In addition to the Lift off souvenir that will be awarded if the goal is achieved, players will also have the chance to earn up to two souvenirs based on their individual contribution to the community goal. Players can earn the Super fuel cacher souvenir by generating 20 units of fuel and players can earn the Ultra fuel cacher souvenir by generating 100 units of fuel.

Geocachers can also get into the spirit of Cosmic Quest with all kinds of merchandise from Shop Geocaching and international distributors! Items in the Cosmic Quest collection include a geocoin and tag set, character trackable tags, patches, stickers, and more.

You can find answers to some frequently asked questions below.

How do I participate?
From Monday, July 22, 2024 at noon UTC through September 1, 2024, find geocaches and Adventures, attend Events, and activate trackables to generate units of fuel for our friends’ spaceship.

When does Cosmic Quest start and when does it end?
Cosmic Quest begins on July 22, 2024 at noon UTC and lasts through September 1.

How do I generate fuel for the cosmic visitors’ spaceship?
Geocachers can generate fuel for the cosmic visitors’ spaceship by finding geocaches and Adventures, attending Events, receiving Favorite points on their owned geocaches, and activating trackables. These different actions will generate different amounts of fuel. Above we have a table showing how many units of fuel different geocaching actions generate.

Where can I see how many units of fuel the community and I have generated so far?
Players can see the community’s fuel total and their individual contribution to that total on the leaderboard in the mobile app and on the website starting on July 22.

How do I earn souvenirs?
There are three available souvenirs for Cosmic Quest. To earn the Super fuel cacher souvenir, players must individually generate 20 units of fuel. To earn the Ultra fuel cacher souvenir, players must individually generate 100 units of fuel. All participants will earn the Lift off souvenir if we generate 15 million units of fuel as a global geocaching community.

Where can I see my souvenirs?
On the website you can view your souvenirs on the souvenir page linked on the dashboard, or on the Souvenirs section of your profile. In the Geocaching® app, you can see your souvenirs by tapping on the Souvenirs section in your profile.

The units of fuel aren’t adding up correctly, help!

  • If you change a Write Note, DNF, or other log type to a Found it log, it will not be recognized for Cosmic Quest.
  • You logged on Monday, July 22 before noon UTC (convert to your local time here). We suggest that you wait to log until AFTER Monday noon UTC—which in some places like New Zealand is Tuesday at midnight. Otherwise, the points will not count.
  • You saved a Draft on a Monday, July 22 before noon UTC.

If you have already posted your logs, go to the log, select “View / Edit Log / Images,” then click the pen icon and “Submit Log Entry” on the website*. Your logs should now be counted towards your total.

*At this time, you can only edit your logs on Geocaching.com, not in the Geocaching® app.

What does UTC stand for?
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the basis for civil time today. It is the time standard (not a time zone) commonly used across the world. You can convert UTC to your local time here.

  • Surprised 2
  • Helpful 2
Link to comment
Pup Patrol

Pup Patrol

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, harrickson said:

How does one decipher #s? Trial and error?

 

10 hours ago, Tungstène said:

 

That's an option. It works.

 

Another option is to identify the font used (spoiler: Modern Cybertronic).

:blink:

 

What does this have to do with the topic of this thread?

 

 

--Pup Patrol

Link to comment
Tungstène

+Tungstène

Posted
Posted (edited)
29 minutes ago, Pup Patrol said:

What does this have to do with the topic of this thread?

 

I'm glad you asked.

 

This topic is about Cosmic Quest, a "summer animation" Geocaching HQ is currently leading on their (social) medias.

 

It all began with some cryptic messages shared on geocaching blogs, people had to decipher.

 

Once you understood that these message were mono alphabetical substitution (i.e. each sign corresponds to exactly one letter), it was possible to translate Cosmic Quest's messages by "recognition" of patterns in words.

 

Later on, the animation has been prolonged by small postcards. You had to find where in the world they were coming from. Their GC-code were written in the same cryptic font. And now it comes to numbers (this is how I understood the "#" in harrickson's question)... How could we know which sign equals to which number? I answered by revealing the encryption key.

 

Does this make sense?

Edited by Tungstène
Link to comment
Pup Patrol

Pup Patrol

Posted
Posted

Thanks for that explanation.

 

Right off the bat, I am left out of the loop about "a "summer animation" Geocaching HQ is currently leading on their (social) medias." because I don't frequent such things as "social media" if at all possible. <_<

 

I hope it isn't necessary to watch this animation to participate in the souvenir promotion.

 

--Pup Patrol

  • Upvote 1
  • Helpful 2
Link to comment
Hügh

+Hügh

Posted
Posted
On 7/22/2024 at 7:10 AM, Sorglos02 said:

How often will the total collection of the community updated?

 

Quite infrequently, it seems:

 

Screenshot2024-07-23at09_56_32.thumb.png.eaa0c55e00c048dd7aa665c4319e02a6.png

Link to comment
Arne1

+Arne1

Posted
Posted
On 6/25/2024 at 5:45 PM, Max and 99 said:

 

  • You logged on Monday, July 22 before noon UTC (convert to your local time here). We suggest that you wait to log until AFTER Monday noon UTC—which in some places like New Zealand is Tuesday at midnight. Otherwise, the points will not count.
  • You saved a Draft on a Monday, July 22 before noon UTC.

If you have already posted your logs, go to the log, select “View / Edit Log / Images,” then click the pen icon and “Submit Log Entry” on the website*. Your logs should now be counted towards your total.

 

I can't help but think this is another typical HQ shortcoming. All over the world we know that the day starts at midnight, only for Geocaching HQ the day starts at noon.

  • Funny 1
  • Helpful 1
Link to comment
lee737

+lee737

Posted
Posted

My suspicion has been that noon UTC was chosen as this reflects times in the morning on the start day in the US.....  maybe they can't stand the thought that some Kiwis and Aussies might get to log finds first?? :)

  • Upvote 1
  • Funny 1
  • Helpful 1
Link to comment
MNTA

+MNTA

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Arne1 said:

I can't help but think this is another typical HQ shortcoming. All over the world we know that the day starts at midnight, only for Geocaching HQ the day starts at noon.

My guess cost to implement and support would be fairly high. It really is a harder problem then you think. The system works on UTC otherwise there is lookup of local times oh and then this area observes day light savings this one does not. Not all localities change on the same dates and sometimes governments change them.  Then you have a promotion that affects some people now and in an hour more people could be a nightmare. What do you do if you log a challenge cache 5 time zones away does that count too or not. Instead they Use a fixed time in the system to turn on for everyone.

 

Maybe they could put a table in with a few slots to make it easier to figure out exactly when it starts. For me its 5am west coast of the US, hopefully I am sleeping then.  Most of Europe its 2PM and New Zealand 11PM. 

 

 

 

image.thumb.png.cf4b871743436db62e370a4aeb94067f.png

 

Link to comment
barefootjeff

+barefootjeff

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, MNTA said:

New Zealand 11PM

 

Actually noon UTC is midnight in New Zealand as they're 12 hours ahead of UTC. I guess making the start and end at noon UTC means it's Monday in most parts of the world, but this only becomes an issue for leaderboard-based promotions where it gets activated and de-activated at a specific instant globally. For other promotions and souvenirs, they just go by the local-time date of the log although that's been known to have occasional hiccups.

Link to comment
Hügh

+Hügh

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, pluholo said:

Any idea where to search?

 

Our friends' spaceship would be the place to start. Remember that there are... different versions of the art out there.

  • Helpful 1
Link to comment
fizzymagic

+fizzymagic

Posted
Posted

In the initial announcement of Cosmic Quest, it said that:

Quote

During Cosmic Quest, different geocaching activities will generate varying amounts of fuel.

 

I took that to mean that during the quest the amount of fuel generated for different activities would change.  It seems I was incorrect, as they have all stayed the same.  Which is too bad, as it would have been fun to do something different each week or so.

 

Did anybody else have the same interpretation?  I mean, technically, what they said did not promise any changes, but if not, why not say what counted for what at the beginning?

  • Funny 2
Link to comment
hzoi

+hzoi

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 8/14/2024 at 11:17 PM, MNTA said:

I feel dumb. Was about to give up then gave it a shot.

 

Me, too. Like so many things in life, I made it much harder than it needed to be.

 

Ah, well. What was the line about the short-lived challenges? Make better mistakes tomorrow? Something like that.

Edited by hzoi
  • Funny 1
Link to comment
geodarts

+geodarts

Posted
Posted

Aura Raines, the captain of the Clarian Fleet and a friend to geocachers all, has long engaged in a cosmic adventures.  Aura wanted to help out with the fuel problems faced by these space adventurers but the Galactic Council has limits on what can be done.  Nevertheless the positive energy drive is an important development that could replace the rare Beryllium Spheres as a fuel source.  May the Quest succeed.  

  • Funny 1
Link to comment
Max and 99

+Max and 99

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
15 minutes ago, MamaHoof said:

Has the end date for the Cosmic quest changed? My leaderboard is saying it finishes on Sept 8, I thought it was finishing Sept 1...

It has!

From the blog:

 

Update 22 August 2024: Cosmic Quest will now continue through September 8. Read this blog post for information about the updated timeline.

 

Our friends from outer space will extend their visit!

Exciting news, geocachers!

Our intergalactic friends are enjoying their time on Earth so much that they decided to extend their visit. We now have an extra week to fuel their ship!

The Cosmic Quest leaderboard will remain active through September 8. Even if we hit our 15 million fuel unit goal early, we’ll still have a few extra days to see if we can generate even more fuel for our cosmic friends!

Edited by Max and 99
Link to comment
CAVinoGal

+CAVinoGal

Posted
Posted
21 hours ago, Max and 99 said:

Our friends from outer space will extend their visit!

Exciting news, geocachers!

Our intergalactic friends are enjoying their time on Earth so much that they decided to extend their visit. We now have an extra week to fuel their ship!

The Cosmic Quest leaderboard will remain active through September 8. Even if we hit our 15 million fuel unit goal early, we’ll still have a few extra days to see if we can generate even more fuel for our cosmic friends!

 

Haha, just saw this...wonder if they "extrapolated" the fuel generated so far, and didn't think we'd make it?!?  Now we have another week.  Oh joy!

 

We haven't been actively trying to get to the 100 points needed for souvenirs; our normal, cache when we feel like it, has given us, barely, the 20 needed for the first souvenir and we are not pursuing the second.  If it happens, it happens.  We DID attend an event on International Geocaching Day to get that souvenir, but only because there happened to be one timed just right as we were on our way to visit family; we knew all the locals and usual suspects, and dropped in to say Hi, and got the souvenir.

 

Extending the Cosmic Quest for another week will not change anything for us, and we will likely not get the 100 points needed.  Oh, well....

Link to comment
hzoi

+hzoi

Posted
Posted

It's been hotter than the hammers of Hades in south Texas this summer, so I haven't been getting out caching as much as I'd wanted during this souvenir campaign. It looks like about two thirds of our points so far are from receiving favorite points. I did try to bag an earthcache yesterday, but right as we were starting our observations, the youngest third of hzoi started griping that her feet hurt, and we cut things short. (She did just get diagnosed with quite the bunion, poor thing, so I chalk it up to a legit complaint and not just tween drama. Hopefully the podiatrist will have a solution short of foot surgery.)

 

It's a cute enough campaign. I don't get why anyone would be rooting against it; generally speaking, what's good for Groundspeak is good for geocaching. But whatever.

 

I did notice little alien dude animations popping up in the app when I was logging finds this weekend. Is that just an Easter egg, or is clicking them supposed to do anything? I wasn't able to trigger anything when I tried.

  • Upvote 1
  • Surprised 1
Link to comment
fizzymagic

+fizzymagic

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, hzoi said:

It's a cute enough campaign. I don't get why anyone would be rooting against it; generally speaking, what's good for Groundspeak is good for geocaching. But whatever.

 

 

Don't misinterpret my remarks as rooting against it.  I've been doing my part as well as I can.  My issues have been with the implementation, not the idea itself.  I think it has yielded valuable information:  souvenirs are much more of a motivator for long-term cachers than they are for new ones.   I also think that the promotion would have worked better with some changes in point values during the promotion period, and a few other things.  I am still hoping that we make it by the original deadline.

 

My snark had more to do with marketing departments always over-estimating the impact of their activities.  Not just at Groundspeak.  Everywhere!

Edited by fizzymagic
  • Upvote 2
  • Love 2
Link to comment
hzoi

+hzoi

Posted
Posted
On 8/26/2024 at 4:38 PM, fizzymagic said:

My snark had more to do with marketing departments always over-estimating the impact of their activities.  Not just at Groundspeak.  Everywhere!

 

Fair enough.

 

Meanwhile, we're up to 12.6 million and counting, so we might pull this off after all. And thanks mainly to folks' generosity in leaving favorite points on our caches, I now just need to get 30 to bag the second souvenir. With a long weekend approaching and temps dipping below 100 F, insh'allah, my lazy butt can pull that off without getting heat stroke

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
NanCycle

+NanCycle

Posted
Posted

" souvenirs are much more of a motivator for long-term cachers than they are for new ones"

 

As a long-term cacher (first find 21 years ago), I disagree with this statement.  Just about the only souvenirs I am interested in are the states I have cached in and a few special days--I even missed a couple of International Geocaching Days.  

  • Upvote 3
  • Helpful 1
Link to comment
geoBirder

+geoBirder

Posted
Posted (edited)
19 hours ago, hzoi said:

Looks like we hit over 15 million this morning. And I managed to scrape together over 100 points between FPs and my own logs, so I'm doing my part, too!

HAHA!! I recognized “Starship Troopers” even before I clinked the link. dadgum bugs 😉 

 

EDIT: Have to laugh at the website changing my “dadgum bugs” to “dadgum bugs”. 🐞 

Edited by geoawareUSA9
ahem
Link to comment
hzoi

+hzoi

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, thebruce0 said:
19 hours ago, hzoi said:

Looks like we hit over 15 million this morning. And I managed to scrape together over 100 points between FPs and my own logs, so I'm doing my part, too!

 

I'm proud to have slipped in 78 points. Because every point counts, right?  Right??

 

Indeed. I'd throw you some favorite points to top you off, but I haven't found any of your hides. Closest I got was driving past the spot where your Iceland earthcache was published, but I was around 10 years too early to log it.

Link to comment
CAVinoGal

+CAVinoGal

Posted
Posted

Without paying a lot of attention to this, and just doing the caching we got around to between grandkids, wine tasting trips with non-geocaching friends, and life in general, I managed 24 points.  Ten of those came from favorite points being added to my hides, so on my own I wouldn't have made the 20 points needed for the first souvenir.  The only specific thing we did was attend an event on Geocaching Day for that souvenir; otherwise we didn't pay much attention to this promo.  :::shrug:::  

Link to comment
geoawareUSA9

geoawareUSA9

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, The Haywood Hornet said:

It amuses me that, that word is banned on the forums. In England a word which is allowed and freely used on the forums is far worse!

 

I don't make the rules, friend, I just enforce them.

 

If you feel that too much family-unfriendly language is slipping through the cracks, feel free to suggest an update in the Website forum.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
Followers 8
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...