Why do cachers quit the game?

March 1, 2003

I found this log while reading through a cache:

"February 4, 2001 by mdhaas (2 found)

I FOUND IT!; I yelled as my 3 companions were scurrying up the hill behind me No sooner did I hear someone yell ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A CACHE?. I was surprised to find we were not alone. The rest is history as Logged by my new friend Ron. I must say it was a pleasant surprise to find other cache hunters there with us. This was our first hunt. We left the Zane Grey paperback & the AAA Batteries. We will be looking for the survival cache next weekend. We are already planning our own cache; Look for it in the next couple of weeks. Again, Ron & Marilyn, It was a pleasure to meet you & I hope our paths cross again"

Now why do cachers start out, seem to have a good time then never log again? The second log was fine also then no more.

Do they just decide that it's not for them? Lose their GPS? Have a really bad no-find experience?

Your guess...

Mickey

Max Entropy

More than just a name, a lifestyle.

4.5k · March 1, 2003

I kinda think that some people start out with the notion that they will find lots of treasures in caches. After a few outings and not finding that treasure, they lose interest and quit. There have been some very nice items, money, jewelry, etc,,, found but as we all know, these are few and far between.

Guess some of these people dont look at it the way alot of us see it, that just finding the cache is where most of the fun lies !!!

38.2k · March 1, 2003

Why do people quit anything? I love playing softball and was delighted when a new co-worker told me he played competetive softball for many years (several leagues and over 100 games a year he said). I thought, great, I'd have another player for my team, but he said, "Nah, I retired 2 years ago". It wasn't old age, he was younger than me. Not injury, or a change in his family situation...he just gave it up.

I'm an avid skier and meet people all the time who "love to ski but haven't in ...fill in the blank...years".

I've met former backpackers, former fishermen, former bowlers, former runners. It's usually not an injury, or old age that stopped them. Sometimes it's attributed to a lifestyle change; marriage, children, but I can't even see that. If it was something you loved, maybe you can't do it as much, but you can still get out and do it once in a while.

Since I got married, I no longer play in 4 softball leagues, 2 volleyball leagues, a soccer league, 3 bowling leagues and ski 40 days a year.But I still do all of the above, just not as much. So I don't understand what makes people quit doing anything they enjoy, outside serious illness, or injury.

It's not just geocaching. Heck, I'm sure a hundred ski resort operators and thousands of bowling alley owners are asking a similar question.

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away. -Barry Goldwater

[This message was edited by BrianSnat on March 02, 2003 at 03:37 AM.]

March 1, 2003

There is a limited number of caches in a 100 mile radius of my home. I have found most of them. So my finding just slows down until I can travel or get others to hide caches.

4.5k · March 1, 2003

Been there, done that!

1.6k · March 2, 2003

Some of these might be logs from people who don't have a GPS and cached with a friend. The friends dropped out and they haven't had the money and/or inclination to buy one of their own.

Another might be they didn't like their username and changed it.

CR

3k · March 2, 2003

For every person that you no longer see I like to think that they got help. Like any addiction there are those who never quit and sit around asking questions of why others have then there are those who acknowledge their problem and do something about it. Those who do something about the addiction you no longer see here.

Simple.

______________________________________________________________________________________

So far so good, somewhat new owner of a second/new Garmin GPS V 20 plus finds so far with little to no problem. We'll see what happens when there are leaves on the trees again.

3k · March 2, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by MaxEntropy:

Now why do cachers start out, seem to have a good time then never log again? The second log was fine also then no more.

Their third attempt was an Aqua-cache and they had no previous boating experience?

March 2, 2003

If there anything like my buddys, there just fad seekers!! Some people just fizzle out of circulation after attempting something,even if they enjoy it. Too many things going on!! Me, I doubt it will ever become boring. Just that they are just getting further and further away. Now it takes a little longer to get to them. Cache On !!!!

March 2, 2003

quote:
Their third attempt was an Aqua-cache and they had no previous boating experience?

LMAO!!!!

The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

March 2, 2003

Since I always geocache in drag, and since I would never be caught dead in the same outfit twice, I have to wait until I get a new ensemble (pronounced on-som) before I find a new cache...

Jeez, you guys and your silly questions about such obvious happenings!

--majicman

March 2, 2003

..it has more to do with expectations. When you start anything new, you are excited and anticipate the "unknown". After finding a couple caches, it becomes routine.

The "new" aspect is limited to a new area, but the searching process is similar and the resulting cache goodies are similar.

The excitement has gone away, and the results now meet their expectations rather than exceeding them.

Done.

The skill of an activity needs to equal the benefit. When something's new, there's greater skill involved. That's why some people hop from activity to activity without continuing in any--they need one that requires more developement or continual learning over an extended time.

(For more of an understanding of this concept, websearch on the psychological concept of "Flow" [written about by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi].)

Enjoy,

Randy

PS: I've skied my entire life, but recently was mystified why I didn't enjoy it as much (was willing to turn down offers to go, etc.) Since its become mundane (no challenge), skiing isn't exactly boring, but not nearly as stimulating as it used to be.

March 2, 2003

Some people get into caching and blaze a bright streak across the sky, finding every cache near them as soon as it's listed. Many of them tend to burn out when they can't take the strain of keeping up the pace.

Other cachers go through that stage and then settle down into hobby mode. They stay around, not finding caches at the same rate but caching nonetheless. They have moved caching into perspective; they cache for fun, not compulsively.

When I started caching May 29, 2001, I decided that I'd plan to move from compulsive caching into hobbyist caching before I flamed out. I cached every week for an entire year, and then I slowed down. I no longer have that compulsive need to find every new cache near me, but when I'm planning a little vacation or I'm going on a hike, I'll look for caches to do. I've made it well past the burnout zone and become a recreational cacher, and I can continue like this indefinitely.

(It's better once it's a hobby, too, since you can figure out what you really want to hunt and ignore the ones you don't. I rarely do easy caches, but when I want to, they'll be there. The really hard ones are far more my style. )

March 2, 2003

...before they realize they could just change the name of the old one they quickly picked when starting out. So, the old ones contain the initial 'Boy, am I hooked!' entries.

-WR

"Besides physical caches, we have VIRTUal and VIRTUeless."

March 2, 2003

We've been caching for only a few months - found a dozen caches and planted three. There are 360 caches within 30 miles of where we live - so even if we find one or two every weekend, it'll be years before we have to drive more than 30 minutes to get to a new one. Since the area we can cover grows as the square of the distance, we will go on for a decade if we're prepared to drive an hour to the next cache.

So - at least if you live in a reasonably densely cached area, it should be a long time before you run out of new caches.

If people create and archive 10% of the caches every year, we'll never run out!

So I doubt that's the reason people give up.

I suspect it may be a matter of the difficulty.

We are already finding that difficulty 1 and 2 caches are just too easy. I hate it when you drive half an hour to get somewhere and find the cache within the first 5 minutes. This seems to happen a lot.

The answer (I think) is to come up with much trickier multi-caches, things with complicated clues that require more searching up-front. Sure we need simple caches for the beginners to find - but the ratio is all wrong.

To that end, we just planted a five-stage multi-cache with no lat-long for the first cache (just a cryptic clue), a puzzle to solve and a bunch of tasks you are supposed to complete at each cache.

March 2, 2003

Some who cache out an area of limited caches come to a near stop from lack of oppertunity.

We were worried about our cacheing future earlier this year when we realised we needed to drive about an hour to our nearest cache rich area. Fortunately spring has brought a small flood of new caches to the area and a couple of unplanned trips brought other cacheing chances.

Not all of us live in cache rich areas

Ish-n-Isha

Cachin's a bit sweeter when you've got an Isha!

20.7k · March 3, 2003

Like all activities, some people are chased away by jerks.

March 3, 2003

For me, winter is cache season. Last thing I want to do in the summer is crash around in the underbrush looking for ticks, chiggers, snakes and spiders. I quit for about 4 months then started again. Probably do the same next summer.

When GPSr's are outlawed, only Outlaws will have GPSr's.

March 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by ClayJar:
Some people get into caching and blaze a bright streak across the sky, finding every cache near them as soon as it's listed. Many of them tend to burn out when they can't take the strain of keeping up the pace.

Other cachers go through that stage and then settle down into hobby mode. They stay around, not finding caches at the same rate but caching nonetheless. They have moved caching into perspective; they cache for fun, not compulsively.

Wow, I couldn't have put it any better. This is exactly what I happened to me, and what I did. I haven't been doing this for very long, so take my perspective as you will, but when I first started, I was unemployed and was able to average at least one cache per day ("average" is the key word - I didn't cache on Wednesday or Sundays). After I started to work, I tried to keep it up on the weekends. Now, I cache when time and situations allow.

----------

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be also be like him.

March 3, 2003

Is geocaching the next hula-hoop or CB fad?

========================================

Friends don't let Friends geocache drunk.

March 3, 2003

I have lost three caches in a month. One of them twice. I have been stomped and kicked by newbies and elitist cachers alike. I don't know why I keep doing it. Even the benchmark finders have a couple of elitist that won't even answer a simple legitimate question.

I guess I want to succeed. Sailing has a different community, I don't see the petty jealousy and trolling like I do here. I see people that enjoy a sport and want to help others succeed. Granted one of my caches was probably lost because some fisherman stumbled upon it. The other one had to be stolen by someone knowing the cache was there.

The Jury is still out. I know I won't be geocaching in the summer months just doing maintenance but will I continue? I don't know.

Capn Skully

Vini Vidi Velcro I came I saw I stuck around

1.6k · March 3, 2003

I agree. The factors I see are:

The number of caches that are really available, not just in the 100 mile circle, that are fun to go.

The time constraints. I haven't had the time and weather conditions to go caching for several months. It looks like there won't be much time this month either.

The disappointment factor by finding geotrash instead of a geocache also has to weigh in. Had I gone out and found a cache full of garbage on my first one, I would have gone to a second and if the trash on number two was equal to the trash I have seen in some of the caches I have found, it wouldn't have taken a third time to hang up the GPS unit.

By appointment to the Court of HRM Queen Mikki I.

6.4k · March 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Capn_Skully:
I guess I want to succeed. Sailing has a different community, I don't see the petty jealousy and trolling like I do here. I see people that enjoy a sport and want to help others succeed.

That's not true, at least around here. The "rag hangers" consider themselves elite, and most won't socialize with the powerboaters on the same dock. And we won't even mention what most sail and power boaters think of PWC operators!

Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon.

March 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by azog:

I didn't cache on Wednesday or Sundays).

---------

_Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be also be like him._

These statement intrique me. Wednesday or Sunday no caches, huh? Then a quote from Proverbs 26:4 Then 'azog' as a username. He is the one who killed Thror in Moria and started the Orc/Dwarf war.

Maybe I am just weird, but I am fascinated to hear about the meaning of all this.

Ever notice that anyone that caches less than you do is a moron, while anyone that caches more than you do is a maniac? -Dru Morgan

March 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by MaxEntropy:
...

Now why do cachers start out, seem to have a good time then never log again? ...Max Entropy

I would think it obvious... > Entropy <

March 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Mopar:
That's not true, at least around here. The "rag hangers" consider themselves elite, and most won't socialize with the powerboaters on the same dock. And we won't even mention what most sail and power boaters think of PWC operators!

+ _Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon. _

I don't have anything against power boaters, I used to have a power boat. There is a "higher order" among yacht club sailors and ordinary sailors like me. I do think it takes more skill to sail than to jump in a boat and turn the key and drive away.

Calling me a rag hanger won't get you anywhere any more than if I called you a stink potter. BTW, a good set of "rags" could cost you $4K to $8K a set. Much more than an outboard motor but uses no fuel.

As far as PWC riders I didn't have anything against them until they took up riding towards me a full throttle and then swerving and spraying us with their wake.

Capn Skully

Vini Vidi Velcro I came I saw I stuck around

6.4k · March 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Capn_Skully:
I don't have anything against power boaters, I used to have a power boat. There is a "higher order" among yacht club sailors and ordinary sailors like me. I do think it takes more skill to sail than to jump in a boat and turn the key and drive away.

Calling me a rag hanger won't get you anywhere any more than if I called you a stink potter. BTW, a good set of "rags" could cost you $4K to $8K a set. Much more than an outboard motor but uses no fuel.

As far as PWC riders I didn't have anything against them until they took up riding towards me a full throttle and then swerving and spraying us with their wake.

Well, I didn't mean to offend you with the "rag hanger" term, it's used in good humor around here, not as an insult. Having owned sail powered, human-powered, outboard, inboard, and PWC, I have experienced various prejudices relating to my choice of craft. I was simply pointing out that sailers are no more or less perfect then geocachers, as a group.

BTW, I do know how much sails cost, but if you tell me where I can find a good set of new 300hp Johnston outboards, or a pair of mercruiser 330s with Brazo drives and stainless steel props for $4-8K, lemme know! We can both retire wealthy and spend our time boating and geocaching! (you're looking at over $20K for either setup!)

And while I agree that it takes a fair amount of skills to sail a boat, it also takes a fair amount of (different)skills to SAFELY operate a powerboat as well. Same with PWC. The fact that so many people think they are just like a car or motorcycle scares the heck outta me.

Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon.

March 3, 2003

rag-hangers and stink-potters?

We won't discuss in a family forum what paddlers call both of you.

========================================

Friends don't let Friends geocache drunk.

6.4k · March 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Dave54:
rag-hangers and stink-potters?

We won't discuss in a family forum what paddlers call both of you.

========================================

Friends don't let Friends geocache drunk.

Sorry Dave, I'm also a paddler AND a PWCer. Anything that gets me out on the water!

Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon.

1.5k · March 3, 2003

When I first started caching, it was on a whim after hearing about the sport on the 10PM news. I was so excited about it, that after watching the story, I ran back to my office, brought up the website, and found a nearby cache. After punching the coords into my meager Magellan Pioneer (the 'old' days), I headed out and made my first find. For reasons primarily related to my being laid off, and the 9/11 attacks (2 weeks apart), I faded for awhile, to the tune of 9 months. But since I re-discovered the sport, I've been hooked. The biggest thing that helped motivate me back into geocaching was when my dad gave me his hardly used GPS III. That third digit made all the difference when searching for a cache. Since then, I have purchased more hiking equipment, and become an avid outdoorsman and upgraded yet again to my Vista. Before, I could and easily did spend hours upon end playing computer games online with friends.

I've read it stated by others, about how it took technology to get them interested in the outdoors. When I was a kid, my dad wanted to do all sorts of camping/boating stuff with me, but I was interested in 'indoor' stuff. Funny how a few years and some new technologies can change someone's perspective.

Brian

Team A.I.

March 3, 2003

Last May a friend with a GPS introduced me to Geocaching, and for a few weeks we went regularly, and I really got into it. Somehow, though, my friend wasn't that interested, and we got away from it. Then a few months ago he decided he wanted a better GPS and gave me his eTrex. (Why does he want a better GPS when he doesn't geocache? He's a gadget freak.) Now that I have my own GPS, and don't have to coordinate with someone else, I can get back into it. I've spent the evening checking all the local caches and realizing that there is an active caching community here that I'm looking forward to meeting.

5.9k · March 3, 2003

My theory:

1. They have a find deleted by some overbearing cache owner who has placed tedious requirements for logging.

2. They ask a simple question in the forums and some sanctimonious do-gooder b1tch-slaps them for it.

3. They read the pointless debates about the proper type of cache container, low environmental impact search methods, and endless drivel from some holier-than-thou player who believes they alone are enlightened and thus in authority.

4. They read about the almost constant knee-jerk demand for more rules because of some isolated incident, real or imagined.

5. Other cachers who feel the find-count alone determines a player’s worthiness degrade them.

No, I’m not cynical; I just need a beer tonight.

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

4.5k · March 4, 2003

6. The putdowns if you don't become a Charter Member and worship the ground Jeremy walks on.

Alan

March 4, 2003

quote:
Since I always geocache in drag, and since I would never be caught dead in the same outfit twice, I have to wait until I get a new ensemble (pronounced on-som) before I find a new cache...

majicman

Nice ta see a bit-a -kultcha here!!! (sniff)

Eagles may soar but weasels never get sucked into jet air intakes.

March 4, 2003

I used to play a lot of golf, two or three times a week and have not played a round sense I stated geocaching. My old golf buddies ask me all the time why don’t you play any more. I tell them it's really quite simple, I have found something that is a lot more fun……………..Joe

I ask if they would like to come along sometimes and try it but the answers is always the same , I afraid that I may like it!!!

3k · March 4, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Alan2:
6. The putdowns if you don't become a Charter Member and worship the ground Jeremy walks on.

Alan, Alan, Alan. By now you should have observed that being a charter member in no way innoculates one from "the putdowns if you don't ... worship the ground Jeremy walks on."

You also should have been fair and stated that Jeremy is rarely, if ever, the source of the purported "putdowns." They come from other geocachers, just like you or me ... who may or may not be "charter members."

3k · March 4, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Dave54:
We won't discuss in a family forum what paddlers call both of you.

I'll have to check with one of my friends from the UK, but I thought a "paddler" was someone who took off their shoes and socks and dangled their naked feet into the water ... usually splashing it about. Some "paddlers" go to the extreme that we in the USA refer to as "wading."

Yes, definitely; I've heard my Brit friends use the verb "to paddle" in this manner many times.

March 4, 2003

I've just quit geocaching lately. Other people took the fun out of it.

[This message was edited by tanda1701 on March 04, 2003 at 03:10 PM.]

March 4, 2003

I have only logged 3 caches BUT I have looked for dozens of them in 4 states. The problem finding a place to park. So I don't go out as much as I like to.

quote:

Park Park Oh where can I park. Look theres a spot....1 hour later OH GOD MY CAR IS GONE

[This message was edited by awagner109 on March 04, 2003 at 04:38 PM.]

March 4, 2003

Geocahing like many things in life is subject to the ebbs and flows of desire. Sure it's fun, but not always, sure sometimes it's hard to find that one cache, but the other one you found was easy.

I would imagine most geocachers enjoy the hunt, not just the trinkets or the just the great scenery.

I took a few months off recently, not because I was tired, in fact I hiked Mt. Elbert in Colorado during that time, but it didn't seem to work for me at that time.

If one wants to stop geocaching...fine. But don't QUIT geocaching.

4.5k · March 4, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by tanda1701:
I've just quit geocaching lately. Other people took the fun out of it...

How?

March 4, 2003

Every cache have found or placed is followed up by an e-mail or vsit to the house from a person who questions if I went through the proper steps in locating a cache and has now moved a cache I placed to a location he thought it should be. Geocaching used to be fun but when you start to worry about what someone else will do the funs over.

20.7k · March 5, 2003

Somebody showed up at your house? I believe that I would have flipped out.

7.4k · March 5, 2003

I would have flipped out, too. That's just not right. Tanda1701, I understand your decision, but hope that you'll have a chance to meet some of the other area cachers. There are some good people in the game around here, and they may help change your feelings toward geocaching.

March 5, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Criminal:
My theory:

_1_. They have a find deleted by some overbearing cache owner who has placed tedious requirements for logging.

_2_. They ask a simple question in the forums and some sanctimonious do-gooder b1tch-slaps them for it.

_3_. They read the pointless debates about the _proper_ type of cache container, low environmental impact search methods, and endless drivel from some holier-than-thou player who believes they alone are enlightened and thus in authority.

_4_. They read about the almost constant knee-jerk demand for more rules because of some isolated incident, real or imagined.

_5_. Other cachers who feel the find-count alone determines a player’s worthiness degrade them.

No, I’m not cynical; I just need a beer tonight.

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

All of the above except number one, has happened to me. I need a beer too.

Capn Skully

Vini Vidi Velcro I came I saw I stuck around

March 5, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by tanda1701:
I've just quit geocaching lately. Other people took the fun out of it.

This is just to dadgum bad! Some people play this game like its church basketball, way to competitive. I have encountered a few of these guys who are so into numbers that it makes me want to shoot them then leave the coords of the corpes for the cops at the 7-Eleven.

The only reason I do this is because its different than what I do all day and because if one activity has brought two brothers together after 27 years of bitter rivalry it was goecaching.

Happy. Hunting.

March 5, 2003

I agree with criminal.

March 5, 2003

I disagree with Criminal.

(Hey, it's in my nature!)

--majicman

20.7k · March 5, 2003

I agree with Criminal sometimes.

March 10, 2003

For me, it has really just been about lifestyle change. And about kind of a "graduation" of sorts from caching to hiking to extended backpacking. Geocaching, and GPS, gave me the confidence and familiarity with my adopted home of Utah (I am originally from Idaho) to be able to go out and not worry about getting lost. (I have a terrible sense of direction in the wilderness, and don't really like to spend too much time navigating, hence GPS.) ANYWAY, I have found great pleasure in hunting some tough caches, although at first I tried to hit everything that came up on my radar. I enjoy planning backpacking trips that will take me to a cache or two, if someone has seen fit to place one there. If not, then I just enjoy the hike.

bunkerdave

Why do cachers quit the game?

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