+micahwilli Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 OK, we (in my region) seem to have a glut lately of "puzzle" caches. You know the type. Some guy lays awake at night thinking of a way he can stump everybody else, then works this into his next cache. Please don't confuse this with multi-caches, I like thoes. These 'puzzle' caches require research on the net, knowing German, or better yet some programing language. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment
+jeff35080 Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 These 'puzzle' caches require research on the net, knowing German, or better yet some programing language. Any thoughts? Sounds like a great way to combine technology and brain power with muscle power to make a fun geocache Jeff http://www.AlaCache.com http://www.StarsFellOnAlabama.com http://www.NotAChance.com If you hide it, they will come.... Quote Link to comment
Pantalaimon Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 I have a thought. Don't like it? Don't do it. Pan Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you... Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" Quote Link to comment
+bazzle Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Puzzles are GREAT!! We have some of the best, and most frustrating, up here in the birthplace of geocaching. They add a much enjoyed twist to the game for a good many of us. If you would rather not do them, just don't... ********************************************* * Remember... Only you can pervert forest faeries... * ********************************************* **Namaste** Quote Link to comment
+TeamJiffy Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Sounds reasonable to me... sometimes I want to solve a puzzle cache, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I create them, sometimes I don't. Ain't choice great? Quote Link to comment
+woodsters Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Pantalaimon:I have a thought. Don't like it? Don't do it. Pan _Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you..._ Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" LOL...still gotta work on that one there PAn...if someone can figure it out, send me the answer and I'll go and share a find with you...lol Brian www.woodsters.com "TOUGH NUTS" - for those who don't like it... Quote Link to comment
+TeamJiffy Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 I'll add one thing: A puzzle cache should take you somewhere you would want to be at the end of it - build a good cache, following all good criteria, and then add the puzzle stuff to hide the coordinates. It is frustrating to solve a puzzle cache, and then be taken to the middle of a vacant lot next to a liquor store. Quote Link to comment
+res2100 Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 I think that puzzle caches are great, but I do prefer the ones that I can try and solve during the cache hunt, and not have to go home first to look something up on the internet, especially if I have driven 100km to get the cache. I thinkt here is a lack of decent puzzle caches in my area...actually only a handful I can think of. Quote Link to comment
+sept1c_tank Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote: the middle of a vacant lot next to a liquor store. What's wrong with that? ==============="If it feels good...do it"================ **(the other 9 out of 10 voices in my head say: "Don't do it.")** . Quote Link to comment
Pantalaimon Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Woodsters Outdoors:LOL...still gotta work on that one there PAn...if someone can figure it out, send me the answer and I'll go and share a find with you...lol I'm confused by your post Woodsters. Are you referring to my puzzle cache? Pan Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you... Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" Quote Link to comment
Pantalaimon Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by TeamJiffy:I'll add one thing: A puzzle cache should take you somewhere you would want to be at the end of it - build a good cache, following all good criteria, and then add the puzzle stuff to hide the coordinates. It is frustrating to solve a puzzle cache, and then be taken to the middle of a vacant lot next to a liquor store. I have to admit that I have a puzzle cache that takes you to a place that would normally be considered a 1/1 drive-by. The fun, as I see it, is in trying to solve the equation... and then maybe, if you're so inclined, visiting a nearby restaurant. Pan Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you... Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Puzzle caches deserve their own type. A subset of traditional. Then you could avoid them like the plague. Quote Link to comment
Pantalaimon Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Renegade Knight:Puzzle caches deserve their own type. A subset of traditional. Then you could avoid them like the plague. Are there puzzle caches where you don't know going in that you're doing a puzzle cache? Are there caches where, once you arrive at the coordinates indicated, you discover you need to know Pi to the 15th digit? I guess my question is: Why do puzzle caches have to have their own type in order to avoid them like the plague? Pan Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you... Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" Quote Link to comment
+jollybgood Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 I love puzzle caches. Keep 'em coming. Jolly R. Blackburn http://kenzerco.com "I'd like to buy the world a coke, but I only have fifty cents" Quote Link to comment
+yumitori Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Pantalaimon:I have a thought. Don't like it? Don't do it. Pan Perhaps the most pertinent part of the post is 'glut'. If only one sort of cache is being hidden in your area, it can get tiresome, even if you usually enjoy hunting that particular type. Some don't mind doing the same sort of thing over and over, but some do. Me, I prefer variety. Ron/yumitori --- Remember what the dormouse said... Quote Link to comment
+CYBret Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Renegade Knight:Puzzle caches deserve their own type. A subset of traditional. Then you could avoid them like the plague. Like this? Bret "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again." Mt. 13:44 CYBret's Geocaching Page Quote Link to comment
Pantalaimon Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 I think we're on the same page here. I agree that a "glut" of one type of cache could get tiresome. However, I don't think that one person's dislike of a cache type should in any way influence the type of cache cachers in the area choose to hide. (How clear is THAT sentence?) I know it wasn't suggested that it should, but the easiest solution seems to be to ignore the types of caches you don't like. There seems to be little reasonable way of influencing the types of caches which are hidden in your area. Although I can think of some ways to do it. Both moral, and immoral. Pan Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you... Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" Quote Link to comment
+bigredmed Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Pantalaimon:I have a thought. Don't like it? Don't do it. Yeah, but when the puzzles are based on somebody's inaccurate Etrex and if you don't get the square root of the 3rd number on the street sign to the right degree of precision, you end up 250 meters off, they get to be a boring one time thing. and a good cache site is sucked up in a cache that no one goes to. _____________ 7 3 10 13 23 36 59 95 ... Quote Link to comment
+GeoROCKS! Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Pantalaimon:Are there puzzle caches where you don't know going in that you're doing a puzzle cache? Are there caches where, once you arrive at the coordinates indicated, you discover you need to know Pi to the 15th digit? Yes, there often are. Irresponsible cache creators sometimes do NOT properly classify their caches as puzzles caches, something also not part of the approval process. Many times I thought I was just unsuccessful at finding a normal cache only to later discover while I was trying to post my DNF at home that the cache description contained ''not at the posted coordinates'' in the description. A traditional cache (as originally intended) should require nothing more than a GPS; certainly a description would not be *required*. Quote Link to comment
+YankeeRage Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 I feel the puzzles are really a whole sub cache type. Much like micros. What I don't care for are the cache's, multi or puzzle, that end up in a /much/ different place than where you start. One in my area is 4 parks. You can guess where that name comes from. Another is Clone of My Own, the cache is 4+ miles from the coordinates. Some puzzle caches address this well, however. Start at this fountain, and go ... and you end up in the park next to or near by that starting point. The puzzles I tend to avoid are those you ahve to solve in the field. Coordinates give you a sign, read the sign do some math based on something on the sign and move. If you are expecting a 1/4 mile stroll and have brought the family along and all of a sudden it is a 5 mile hike, well that is disappointing. I also know cachers who find puzzles to be the 'best' kind of caching there is. I heard some lamenting about how few there where in LA, for example. So I'd definatly like to see a separate entry/icon for them - and not just the 'unknown' or 'mystery' cache icon. Quote Link to comment
+Touchstone Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 We have kind of the opposite problem down here. We had maybe one or two puzzle caches, so I took it upon myself (please hold the applause until the end) to put a few in. I got kind of tired of the "cache under a pile of sticks", type of thing. We have one puzzle that required some advanced math to find the coordinates (calculating two great circles) that got me hooked. But there is certainly a place for the traditional cache. If you have too many puzzles in your area just go out and plant some of your own. Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. The rest go geocaching. Quote Link to comment
Pantalaimon Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by bigredmed:Yeah, but when the puzzles are based on somebody's inaccurate Etrex and if you don't get the square root of the 3rd number on the street sign to the right degree of precision, you end up 250 meters off, they get to be a boring one time thing. and a good cache site is sucked up in a cache that no one goes to. Its a vaild point that cache coordinates, no matter how you come to them, should be accurate. But I don't think that's an argument against puzzle caches, just against the innaccurate eTrex guy who's setting it up. Pan Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you... Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" Quote Link to comment
Pantalaimon Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by GeoROCKS!:Irresponsible cache creators sometimes do NOT properly classify their caches as puzzles caches, something also not part of the approval process. Many times I thought I was just unsuccessful at finding a normal cache only to later discover while I was trying to post my DNF at home that the cache description contained ''not at the posted coordinates'' in the description. A traditional cache (as originally intended) should require nothing more than a GPS; certainly a description would not be *required*. First, don't get me wrong, I'm in no way opposed to a separate icon to represent puzzle caches. I don't think its necessary, but it certainly couldn't hurt. Second, it seems to me that the same irresponsible cacher might misclassify his cache even if there was a puzzle icon. Which brings us right back to sqaure one. Has anyone experienced a cache where there was *no inidication* in the cache description that it was a puzzle cache, or *no indication* that it wasn't located at the listed coordinates? At any rate, we've somehow veered off topic here. The original point was that there was a glut of puzzle caches in micahwilli's area, and he seemed peeved at the lack of traditionals, or multi's. My point was simply, don't do them. Touchstone suggested planting some trads of his own. Maybe michahwilli could even hold some type of "best traditional cache contest" in his area, offering some sort of prize. There has got to be other ways to increase the amount of traditionals/multi's in an area. Pan Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you... Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" Quote Link to comment
+Bull Moose Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by TeamJiffy: middle of a vacant lot next to a liquor store. That'd be great! It would save me a trip. Ahh... Sweet liquor eases the pain. ---Stats banner used to be here.--- Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 A puzzle cache is common enough to deserve it's own sysmbo (like was posted). Also it would be nice to not do them when you are traveling because there is a coordinate (often worthless until you solve the puzzle) with nothing at it that will stump you. Then when you get back you can see that you were trying to find the Contact Cache ( the puzzle cache I'd love to do if I was near it) without doing the puzzle first. That was clear as mud. Quote Link to comment
Pantalaimon Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Renegade Knight:That was clear as mud. LOL They can't all be prose. But you have a pretty good track record. Pan Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you... Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" Quote Link to comment
+Bloencustoms Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 I happen to like a bit more of an adventure when I hunt caches. It can come in many forms. A very well hidden trad, a devious micro, a long hike, a kayak trip, you name it. I'm with Pan on this one, if you don't like puzzle caches, don't hunt them. You could place some traditional caches in hopes of stimulating more of the same. You could even devise a puzzle of your own, so devious it shames the puzzle placers in your area into submission. You can't force people to place drive by caches. I really hope that the ratio of "adventure" caches in my area increases. [This message was edited by Bloencustoms on March 32, 1999 at 25:60 PM] Quote Link to comment
+GeoROCKS! Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Bloencustoms:You could even devise a puzzle of your own, so devious it shames the puzzle placers in your area into submission. I have a difficulty 5 that has been more than *three months* in the making that should be released in a day or two! Quote Link to comment
+Zartimus Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Puzzle caches rock! But they are not for everyone. I have a few and they never get hit as much as the 'straight drop' caches. Quote Link to comment
+Mark 42 Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 I did one multi as an online puzzle cache... the description of the final cache (abandoned cemetary) let me do a bit of historical research and figure out which cemetary. Then, using pictures and log entries from other cachers, I was able to figure out where in the cemetary to look. But, I really don't care for the ones that can't be done with just a printout of the cache and a GPS. I think that they should be self contained, and remembering the birthdate of the 16th president is just a bit too much for me to do in the field. "I'm not Responsible... just ask my wife, She'll confirm it" Quote Link to comment
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