When do you look at the hint?

[Guest JamieZ]

t it right away. I've got a level of difficulty in mind, and I'd only like to give away the secret if someone had really, really searched and they simply could not find it. I'd be less interested in helping out people who decode the clue before they even look, or who just make a half-hearted attempt to look.

 

Thoughts?

 

Jamie

[Guest tslack2000]

I think you'll have to decide whether or not it is more important that people actually end up finding the cache, in which case you'd include more specific info, or if you risk people not finding the cache, in which case you give less specific info. I'm sure there are people who don't even start out the door before they read the clue and have never even gone through the trouble of manually decrypting code. Others won't and will only decrypt it at last resort. You won't be able to control that aspect of it. So just go with one of the two choices you have before you based on what kind of experience you want this to be. Either a cache that, in the end, is findable, or one that is tough even after decoding the clue. Heavens knows I've seen my share of those!! Which leads to another question: What good is a clue if in the end it doesn't help you find the cache? (Talk amongst yourselves.)

 

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Tyler Slack's Geocaching in Utah

[Guest BassoonPilot]

It depends on what the cache is all about. If it's a long hike intended to entice people to visit certain locales, then the individual elements of the multicache should be reasonably findable . . . the smaller the element and the better it is hidden, the more revealing the clue should be; you don't want your seeker to spend so much time on an individual element that s/he gets frustrated and gives up . . . or misses out on any scenery/details you intended to feature. When it comes to the main cache, I say make it as difficult as you like.

 

[This message has been edited by BassoonPilot (edited 09 February 2002).]

[Guest Geo Quest]

I decode the hint right away and print out the cache page. I don't look at the decoded hint until I need a little nudge in the right direction. My opinion is any cache rated over a 3 in difficulty shouldn't have a hint. If it does and you needed the hint to find it then was it really a 4 or 5 find? Enquiring minds want to know.

 

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"What's the point of going out, we're just going to end up back here anyway"? --Homer Simpson

[Guest brokenwing]

We used to do like Geo Quest and print out the decoded hint ahead of time. We stopped doing that a while ago because we hardly ever used the hints and it wasn't worth the trouble to do that. Now we just field decode the hint after we've searched for an hour or so without finding the cache.

 

I'm with tslack. Hints are not required, but are there to allow folks to find the cache that otherwise might not. You have to decide if finding the cache, or maintaining the difficulty are more important to you.

 

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Brokenwing

http://www.cordianet.com/geocaching

[Guest oregone]

For me, it totally depends on who hid the cache. If i've found a lot of that persons caches, or if they've hid over 5 or so, then i'll wait to decrypt it when i need it--which is 90% of the time. But if it's someone new, i decrypt it at the computer. i used to decrypt it all the time because i didn't have a computer. Also, if it's a cache that i know i'll be hunting after dark, i'll print a decrypted version. if i saw a difficult new cache with a lot of care put into it by a veteran like yourself, i don't think i'd decrypt it until i needed it.

[Guest JAMCC47]

When I make up a hint & spoiler it will either give a helpful hint or comment about a quest. When I go hunting I do look them up an decrypt them prior to the hunt.

Here is a sample of 3 hints from several of my caches.

Hints & Spoilers:

1. UTM - Up The Mountain It takes about 5 hours to hike to trail. Bring a lunch, and enjoy the view. Don't forget your binoculars.

2. Grey Diamond Ghost Trail. On yourcompass course do not go too far from x7709. From X to #2 its 203.5 deg at .03 mi. and 2 is due east of 1. Its in a black and blue container under a flat rock south of a larger rock outcropping, and there is a good vista from there also. If you think of the inverse, and redundancies this will help you. When you get close to the Cache think of the name of the gang that Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid belonged too.Near this spot on the main trail

its 325 deg. to the Christmas tree. There is a large rock in the center of this little

drainage. From the cache in the nook near a big tree its 5 deg and 40 ft. to the rock.

If you can't find it, at least you will have a good hike with some stupendous views.

Good Luck. If you wish I can send you a map sample of the area that may assist you.

Also I did not put the Gray Diamonds there, they are probably from the past, and I have no idea as to where they go.

3.Out of The Blue - Respice finem. Requiescat in pace.

 

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JoseCanUSea

[Guest yrium]

e three times in 70 finds.

 

--- yrium ---

[Guest DisQuoi]

I was in a similar position when I recently created my first cache (overall difficulty 3.5 stars). I wanted anyone that wanted to be able to complete this cache ... but I also spent many hours preparing the cache and didn't want to dumb it down with a cheat that would effectively render the overall difficulty one star. If you look at my cache, you'll see I have provided several levels of cheats ... but if one wants them, they must request them by email.

[Guest tedoca]

Hi all,

I almost never decipher the hint until I'm in the field and ready to give up the hunt. The only exception to that would be when the hint itself is very long and I know that it would take me forever to decipher manually. (and then I fold the page over and avoid looking at it) That said, I think it's important to keep the hints very short, like one sentence or even just one or two key words.

 

I also like it when the hints are broken out into categories, something like...

 

[Parking hint:] Bss Oebnq Eha Eq. Ybjre ybg.

[Trail Hint:] Fgnl ba Abegu fvqr bs evire, ab arrq gb pebff ng snyyra gerr.

[Cache Hint:] Nzzb pna va ubyybj ybt.

 

... that way the hunter has some flexibility in decrypting the hints and can decipher only the one(s) they need.

 

One cacher in my area has even devised his own code. When you click on the link to decrypt the hint all you get is more gibberish! I have yet to crack it but I'm working on it. (NOTE: If you do that be sure to let folks know... one person who went after that one was apparently upset upon deciphering the hint in the field only to discover that it was yet another coded message... page has since been modified, lesson learned.)

 

Another option is to encrypt the hint manually, not using the built in encryption feature of the website. That way one HAS to decipher it manually, or at least go to the added trouble of plugging it into another decryption program or web page.

 

Just a few thoughts, good luck with your cache!

[Guest Gliderguy]

I have one 4/4 cache out there with a very specific hint about 250 characters long. I suggest in the main body of the description of the cache to consider the difficulty reduced by 1 if the hint is used.

 

I usually decript the hints and fold them out of sght. On easier caches I just verify that the coords are the actual cache and not an offset and go for it w/o cache page (I usually only do this on difficulties of 2 or less) If the difficulty is at least 3 I at least have the cache page on my person.

[Guest Clay]

I don't decipher the hint until I absolutly have to, then find a log to sit on and figure it out. What you can do is make several hints, each one getting a little more precice as to where it is hidden. That way, they can try to find it after deciphering clue 1, then #2 if they need more help, etc.

[Guest bluespreacher]

My situation is this: my schedule doesn't give me very much time to seek caches. Before I go out, I make a topo map, and decipher the hint. The truth is, most aren't really all that much help anyway.

 

I've had the experience of hiking for an hour, and then spending an hour or so searching and there is no hint, and I don't find the cache. Very frustrating!

 

I can see a day coming when I wont feel the need for the hints as much, but for now, I like to have some kind of clue! There must be a balance point between searching and finding. I do find that the difficulty rating is very helpful. If it says 3+, I know to allot enough time to get the job done, hint or no!

 

Bluespreacher

[Guest bluespreacher]

My situation is this: my schedule doesn't give me very much time to seek caches. Before I go out, I make a topo map, and decipher the hint. The truth is, most aren't really all that much help anyway.

 

I've had the experience of hiking for an hour, and then spending an hour or so searching and there is no hint, and I don't find the cache. Very frustrating!

 

I can see a day coming when I wont feel the need for the hints as much, but for now, I like to have some kind of clue! There must be a balance point between searching and finding. I do find that the difficulty rating is very helpful. If it says 3+, I know to allot enough time to get the job done, hint or no!

 

Bluespreacher

[Guest bigcall]

The first time I see the cache page I decrypt the hint to see if I even want to attempt it. Prior to actually leaving I'll print out the first page or so to get directions, etc. If I need the hint on site after reaching my saturation point, I'll decrypt it there. I think gradual hints are a great approach - that way I can "only" get as much help as I need. Since there is usually a pretty good time delay involved between initially reading the hint and actively looking for it I've found that I don't recall much if any of the details.

[Guest DARC]

I always print the decoded hints, fold the pages in half and insert them into a clear plastic baggie. I just need the top half to get started anyway. If after I arrive, I can't find it and need to resort to the hint, I can just take it out and read it as needed. So far it hasn't been necessary.

[Guest essay]

I'm with bigcall -- I decrypt them at the computer at home and set out with about 5 of them in hand, so I never remember what I read about which one anyway. I'll do this even on easy ones because I will have driven hours just to get to the trailhead, let alone the coordinates, and rarely will I have a chance to come back and try again until weeks, maybe months, have passed. (I'm not caching in the boonies, I LIVE in the boonies ) For example, I'm making a last minute trip to Boise today and barely know where my hotel is, let alone the rest of the downtown area. So I'm printing out a bunch of pages, already decoded, and when I get there I'll figure out which ones I can actually try. I'll only have an hour or so tonight and maybe the same amount of time tomorrow night, so ... I kinda want to find something so I'll know I've been caching, y'know?

[Guest essay]

I'm with bigcall -- I decrypt them at the computer at home and set out with about 5 of them in hand, so I never remember what I read about which one anyway. I'll do this even on easy ones because I will have driven hours just to get to the trailhead, let alone the coordinates, and rarely will I have a chance to come back and try again until weeks, maybe months, have passed. (I'm not caching in the boonies, I LIVE in the boonies ) For example, I'm making a last minute trip to Boise today and barely know where my hotel is, let alone the rest of the downtown area. So I'm printing out a bunch of pages, already decoded, and when I get there I'll figure out which ones I can actually try. I'll only have an hour or so tonight and maybe the same amount of time tomorrow night, so ... I kinda want to find something so I'll know I've been caching, y'know?

[Guest JamieZ]

Thanks for the replies, all.

 

I like the idea of having graduated hints. I might see if I can incorporate that into my cache.

 

Another thought I had was to have multiple hints... say five. In order to figure out which hint was the real hint, you'd have to use a clue which is available only at the cache site. I wanted to make sure that the hunter actually tried to find the thing rather than simply decrypting the clue and walking straight to the hiding place.

 

Oregone, you might be surprised that this will be my rookie cache. As of right now, I have 20-something finds, but I haven't hidden any yet. I justify this by my firm belief that there are far too many sub-par caches placed by inexperienced caches. I don't want to add yet another. Instead, I've had this one cache in planning for more than a month, and it might well be another month or two before it's public. I've got a few more hurdles to jump.

 

Oh, and just for the record--personally, I print out the cache page as-is on the cache page. When I go to search for the cache, I usually leave the cache page in the car, so that if I have to have the hint, it requires a walk back to my vehicle and then manual decrypting. (One time, after I walked about a half-mile back to my truck and got the cache page, only to realize that I didn't have a pen, nor did I have the code-key with me. I had to decrypt the thing without the code-key in my head, without a pen.)

 

Hmmm.. the cache-hint ideas are already flowing.

 

Jamie

[Guest Kimball-Clan]

I'm in the "last resort" crowd myself. But I have to share today's experience.

 

I'd been searching for about an hour, in what I knew was the right area. No luck. It's getting close to dark, and I have a bit of a hike to get back out... plus the park closes at sundown. Okay -- time to go for the hint. It decodes as this: "An old photo of the cache site can befound on my website". DOH!!! Like that's gonna do me a lot of good NOW, out here in the woods!! Never did find it... but I'll be back.

Kimball-Clan