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Should I change the D/T rating of my cache?


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Posted

I'd be curious to get your opinions on a situation that will soon develop in my neck of the woods.

I have a geocache hide that I'm fond of which is located on an "island" in a large river. Currently there is a manmade walkway that connects the island to the shore, so that you can easily walk onto the island, and then there are trails going around etc. The cache is currently rated 2.5/2.5 and I'm rather fond of it. It has remained a nice reliable cache over the years.

But now the army corps of engineers, for their own inscrutable reasons, are going to remove that walkway, which will change the way the river flows and return the island to being a true island.

If this happens, should I change the terrain rating to 5? My hesitation is in the 71 people who found it as a 2.5/2.5 and this will alter their stats. But this is probably a trivial matter for those people, right? 2.5/2.5 isn't some coveted set of stats.

Anyway, just wanted to bounce this off some fellow cachers.

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Posted

You will find many forum discussions on this exact topic. You want the rating to reflect the current geocache, but if you change the rating, I can almost guarantee you will get nasty emails from people complaining that you changed their stats. Which you have already pointed out! Is it in the realm of possibility to create a new geocache to reflect the change in the area and a new rating?

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Posted

Oh, I tried to search up the topic, I promise, but nothing immediately relevant came up

Currently I'm leaning towards thinking that changing a 2.5/2.5 to a 2.5/5 is not really a big deal, it would be easy for someone to find another 2.5/2.5. I'm also operating under the total assumption that people who care about their stats like this are pretty deep into the hobby and losing a 2.5/2.5 shouldn't really register for them?

I do think the ratings should reflect what the cache's current situation is. I just think it's kinda fun to think about and discuss these silly little issues.

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Korichnovui said:

should I change the terrain rating to 5

It's now on a cutoff island, so you should upgrade to 5T. As you said, '2.5/2.5 isn't some coveted set of stats' . NOT a big deal. I have changed ratings (one problematic cache several times) and never got any complaints, and didn't expect to. The changes were between 1 & 3T. If you went from 5T to 2.5T perhaps there might be complaints, but not 2.5T to 5T. People might even appreciate this; an easy 5T.

 

Talking easy 5T, I found some 5T island caches once, when they were 2T at most. This was because of drought and a bushfire. I had no worries making an easy find for a 5T. The bushfire had dropped ash in other dams and this dam being the only one still okay, the city had been getting the water from this dam, so the level had dropped considerably. What is usually a boat paddle to the islands, was a dry walk. I had taken my mother out there for a birthday picnic (during Covid, so away from people), and stood there staring in amazement at the clear walk to, not one, but three islands. I was back with other geocachers the next day for this rare opportunity and logged all the island caches. A ranger spoke to us and said water was now filling it from the other end, as now the other dams were supplying water again. There was a shallow, ankle depth walk (in icy water) to the last island, but hey, can't miss a unique opportunity like that.

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Posted
1 hour ago, Korichnovui said:

If this happens, should I change the terrain rating to 5? My hesitation is in the 71 people who found it as a 2.5/2.5 and this will alter their stats. But this is probably a trivial matter for those people, right? 2.5/2.5 isn't some coveted set of stats.

 

My recommendation, or at least what I would do in similar circumstances, is to archive the existing listing and create a new one with a terrain 5 rating, as even though the cache itself is the same, the access will become quite a different experience. That way you're not affecting the stats of those who have already found it but the new experience will have the correct terrain rating.

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  • Helpful 2
Posted

I’d say go ahead and change the terrain rating to 5 if the walkway’s gone, it’s only fair to reflect the new challenge. Sure, it’ll tweak the stats for the 71 finders, but like you said, 2.5/2.5 isn’t exactly a rare gem. If you’re worried about it, archiving the old one and starting fresh with a 5T rating could be a clean solution.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Korichnovui said:

If this happens, should I change the terrain rating to 5?

Unless the point of the cache hide is for people to enjoy the bridge, I would change the terrain rating. The point of the terrain rating is to communicate the nature of the experience to potential seekers, and it should be updated when the situation changes.

 

If the point of the cache hide is for people to enjoy the bridge, then I would archive the listing once the bridge is gone. But that's the only reason I would archive the current listing.

2 hours ago, Korichnovui said:

My hesitation is in the 71 people who found it as a 2.5/2.5 and this will alter their stats. But this is probably a trivial matter for those people, right? 2.5/2.5 isn't some coveted set of stats.

Meh. If the USACE were to build another bridge, then I'd just change the terrain rating back from 5 to 2.5. (Unless the point of the cache hide had become accessing the island by boat.)

Posted
2 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

 

My recommendation, or at least what I would do in similar circumstances, is to archive the existing listing and create a new one with a terrain 5 rating, as even though the cache itself is the same, the access will become quite a different experience. 

 

For once Jeff and I are in complete agreement. :)

  • Upvote 2
Posted (edited)

I'll third the option of archiving and republish. The caching experience is completely new let the old finders experience the fun of getting there. 

 

 

But if you choose to change, I agree no one will care for an upgrade in their D/T matrix if they even notice.

Edited by MNTA
Posted

Yes. Change your rating as you wish.  Reply to all that bitch about it: "Thank you for your message. We will bring up your concern at the next committee meeting." And leave it at that.

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Posted
9 hours ago, Bear and Ragged said:

There will be cachers out there, that will go for it as a T5 that will be upset that cachers have it as a T5 before it was a T5...

Really🤣...who? When I changed the rating for a problematic cache several times, going from 1T to 3T and eventually back again, not one person complained. Not one!

Personally I doubt people will care if the rating is increased. The rating is to show people how it is NOW.

Likewise, when a number of us found the 5T caches on islands I mentioned earlier, when the caches were an easy walk with missing water, we received no complaints.

  • Helpful 1
Posted

I had never considered archiving and republishing before, how interesting. I really like how subjective some of these things are, so there are differences of opinion. Honestly is it evil of me to be kind of amused at the idea that someone out there would actually be miffed about the stat change?

Posted
5 hours ago, Korichnovui said:

I had never considered archiving and republishing before, how interesting. I really like how subjective some of these things are, so there are differences of opinion.

I think the decision to archive and publish a new cache depends on whether the "heart" of the cache changes. If the point of the cache was for seekers to walk across the bridge, then removing the bridge changes that, and the cache should be archived and a new one listed. If the point of the cache was the view from the island or a historic location on the island, then removing the bridge doesn't change that, and the cache should be updated to reflect the new situation.

 

Only the CO can answer that, and yes, it's very subjective.

Posted
15 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Really🤣...who? When I changed the rating for a problematic cache several times, going from 1T to 3T and eventually back again, not one person complained. Not one!

Personally I doubt people will care if the rating is increased. The rating is to show people how it is NOW.

Likewise, when a number of us found the 5T caches on islands I mentioned earlier, when the caches were an easy walk with missing water, we received no complaints.

 

Yes.  I found two 5T caches when they lowered the water in the reservoir, and I could walk to the island.

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Posted
On 1/31/2025 at 5:55 PM, Korichnovui said:

If this happens, should I change the terrain rating to 5? My hesitation is in the 71 people who found it as a 2.5/2.5 and this will alter their stats. But this is probably a trivial matter for those people, right? 2.5/2.5 isn't some coveted set of stats.

 

I'm going to add my vote to not do this.  The experience that people had in finding the cache was a 2.5/2.5 and not a terrain of 5.  The cache parameters are significantly different and the cache should be archived and republished at the new terrain rating.

  • Upvote 2
Posted

If you're worried about the experience, replace the cache with a new one too, that way you cover all the opinion bases :).

Archive and republish, but switch up the cache itself as well, that way it really is a new experience, and not just about the bridge terrain.  Make an offset, or a puzzle, or a gadget cache or field puzzle perhaps. Have some fun with it.

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Posted
On 2/1/2025 at 10:33 AM, lee737 said:

Changing a 2.5/2.5 to a T5 will not upset anyone who cares about their DT grid...

FWIW some joker switched the D-rating of their rather mundane caches to 5 before archiving.

I basically avoid going for high D-rated caches so I suddenly had some colored squares on the bottom of my grid. They are still gazing at me -_-

I'm not overly upset but only because I *don't* care much about my grid.

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