Thank You!

[+CacheCreatures]

Alright guys and gals. I think its time to step back a minute and offer sincere thanks to TPTB at Geocaching.com. It is because of their hard work and dedication to this sport that you are able to read this.

 

My wife and I have been Geocaching now for around 3 months. Our enjoyment and success in the sport is due in large part to this website, and specifically this message board. If we had a question or problem or comment, this forum’s search feature allowed for a way of seeing if others had experienced the particular issue. If searching turned up nothing, we could post a new topic and usually within minutes we’d have a meaningful response.

 

It seems to me, however, that lately the board has taken the form of a complaints department. Don’t get me wrong; some of the complaints were in my opinion justly made. Others were not so justly made. However, the spirit of what this forum was supposed to be about seems to have been, in large part, suppressed.

 

So here it is, back and in action and probably better than ever. Does anyone else find it slightly ironic that those same PTB that were so heavily criticized worked so hard to bring back the one major method we all have to complain about them? Doesn’t that all by itself speak volumes of those same PTB? Isn’t it possible they do, after all, have the best interest of this sport in mind? Isn’t our very use of this board a vote of approval?

 

Say what you will. I just wanted to take this chance to say what I think a lot of us lesser knowns (or newbies) have been thinking. This site and TPTB are the reason we call ourselves geocachers. They are themselves cachers and share the same love we have just recently come to know. Is there room for improvement? Of course! There always will be… but maybe instead of complaints on a message board, suggestions can be made to our “leaders” in the form of emails or letters. I, for one, trust that if I show enough passion about my issue in the form of a personal, well thought out and composed email, TPTB will give it some attention and my even take it under advisement.

 

Thanks, guys, for all the hard work. Its wonderful to have a site like this, and you’ve shown yourselves to be worthy of my membership dues once again with all the effort into getting this forum back up.

Edited November 19, 2003 by CacheCreatures

[+gnbrotz]

I agree! Although the time without the forums seemed like an eternity, in reality I'm amazed at how quickly things were put in back in working order

 

KUDOS TO JEREMY AND THE WHOLE Groundspeak/GC.COM CREW!

[+Team GPSaxophone]

We even get the chance to have several threads about the same topic started at once!

[+The Cache Couple]

Super job! Hats off to TPTB! It's been awful lonley without the forums. Keep up the GREAT work!

[+CachinCin]

Yay! The Groundspeak crew takes a lot of crap from us, but they still come through -- thanks!

 

Cin

[ju66l3r]

So here it is, back and in action and probably better than ever.  Does anyone else find it slightly ironic that those same PTB that were so heavily criticized worked so hard to bring back the one major method we all have to complain about them?  Doesn’t that all by itself speak volumes of those same PTB?  Isn’t it possible they do, after all, have the best interest of this sport in mind?  Isn’t our very use of this board a vote of approval? 

No, it's not ironic. It just goes to show that they missed the sound of the bleating of the sheep. They were running out of ways to ignore our concerns.

 

Like Triumph the Wonder Dog, I kid, I kid.

 

But it's still not irony. The forums serve a purpose and it's difficult to say how many people would pay for a membership if this site were solely present as a listing service with no means of discussion amongst the greater community or posting service for information that is greater than what the administration has available to it.

 

I think the new forums are a major improvement over the infopop boards in more than their new speediness...of course, I don't think we've quite reached the same amount of posting and page hits that were on infopop just before it went down for the final count. It will be interesting to see if we can maintain the same level of usability as we have now in about a month or two when everyone remigrates back to their old habits and frequency of use.

 

Cheers to ya, GC crew....now where's my.....what was I complaining about lacking on this site again?

[+CacheCreatures]

The forums serve a purpose and it's difficult to say how many people would pay for a membership if this site were solely present as a listing service with no means of discussion amongst the greater community or posting service for information that is greater than what the administration has available to it.

Point taken, however, I'd argue that if your statement were true, there would be no reason to rush to get the new board up and running. What was it, less than a week? If they were simply after membership payments, I could see prolonging this whole process over a month or more.

[+briansnat]

So here it is, back and in action and probably better than ever. Does anyone else find it slightly ironic that those same PTB that were so heavily criticized worked so hard to bring back the one major method we all have to complain about them?

 

What you don't know is that they could have done it all in 6 hours

Edited November 20, 2003 by briansnat

[+Team Og Rof A Klaw]

Looks a HEAP better than the original. Thanks!

[+JMBella]

I...uh...I...I LOVE YOU GUYS! (sniff)

[Jeremy]

...they could have done it all in 6 hours

shh!

[mikeh420]

Well Done!

 

Jeremy and Elias and the Crew ROCKS! It looks like all your hard work was worth it. Quite a feat, getting all the posts back, not to mention matching those posts with their creator accounts. Many congrats!

[KimAndMollie]

YAY!!

 

Can you tell I'm happy? I have a dumb question though...on the member search, and under my avatar, I see 3 little blue barrels(?) What does this mean? Thank you so much guys and gals for all your awesome hard work. I was actually able to get some work done!

[umc]

YAY!!

 

Can you tell I'm happy? I have a dumb question though...on the member search, and under my avatar, I see 3 little blue barrels(?) What does this mean? Thank you so much guys and gals for all your awesome hard work. I was actually able to get some work done!

the barrels/boxes call them what you want are a way of displaying your post count.

[jarja_grl and G-man]

I might not be one of the more prolific posters..but I definately qualify as a voracious reader of these forums...and I missed them.

 

Thanks for getting them back and better than ever.

[+Renegade Knight]

[Admin]

Under my avatar, I see 3 little blue barrels(?) What does this mean?

I removed them. They were pretty unnecessary.

[+jbar]

Wow, I really missed the forums. I don't post alot but really enjoy reading them. You guy's did a good job on the disaster recovery. thanks

[+team safari]

Thank you so much for fixing the discussion forums - it sounds like you had a lot of work to do in a very short time, and everything came back! Even though I sometimes disagree with the policies of the powers that be, I really appreciate all that they do, and that they support this game and its forums. The forums really are the heart of communications between geocachers, not to mention administration. Regards, Team Safari

[+Larebel]

Welcome Back!!!!!

Edited November 20, 2003 by Larebel

[+briansnat]

Of course I was kidding with my earlier reply. I know the Groundspeak folk put in a lot of extra hours to get this going. Heck, in 9 days they had to figure out what was wrong and think of ways to fix it. When that didn't happen, they had to research alternatives, select one, install it, configure it, do some programming, manipulating and transferring files and a lot more.

 

We're all happy that the forums are back, but I'm sure the local pizza and Chinese food shops aren't so thrilled.

Edited November 20, 2003 by briansnat

[+geo-jedi]

Thank you, GC.COM.

 

The boards at gc.com are an important part of geocaching.

 

Thanks for bringing them back.

 

 

Team Geo-Jedi

[+fivegallon]

Great job guys.I've shown my appreciation by becoming a Premium Member.

Good to see the subscription dollars at work.

[+9Key]

I concurr with most everyone above, thanks for the hard work Ground Speak!

 

Let's hope this server will last us at least 18 months!

Edited November 20, 2003 by 9Key

[+1cheapmike]

Thanks for all the work and patience with us on the rest of the stuff!

[ju66l3r]

The forums serve a purpose and it's difficult to say how many people would pay for a membership if this site were solely present as a listing service with no means of discussion amongst the greater community or posting service for information that is greater than what the administration has available to it.

Point taken, however, I'd argue that if your statement were true, there would be no reason to rush to get the new board up and running. What was it, less than a week? If they were simply after membership payments, I could see prolonging this whole process over a month or more.

Read "fivegallon"s response above for why you would want to do it sooner than later. This was definitely good Customer Relations all around (a far cry from a Tough Nuts attitude we have seen at times before). Shortly after the old board was put down in its sleep, we got a daily update of what was left to get this board running and now that the new board is up quickly, we have continuous adjustments to bugs and concerns (blue boxes gone, etc).

 

This leads to people who might not have been members but used the forums going out and signing up to help pay/profit GS for a job well done.

 

That is why you would put them up as fast as possible.

[+Doc-Dean]

Big Kudos to the Groundspeak crew for getting this up and running so fast! So far the new forums are great. A big improvement over the previous one too I would say!!

[+woodsters]

 

What you don't know is that they could have done it all in 6 hours

hehe...yep...it's all good though. I got about 5 or 6 new members to my board....lol

 

I think the new board software is an improvement 500%. I think many are in awe of the many different things they can do with it. Some may be frightened by it too. i knwo many are the type that like to stick to what they know. But you have to admit, it's neater, cleaner and a lot faster than before. I know the new server has a lot to do with it as well.

 

I agree a ^5 for TPTB. I also think a ^5 goes to all those that contribute to Groundspeak to make these things happen. Those that are premium members and those that purchase things through the store.