Worry About Micros...

[+briansnat]

You gotta post these gems in my forums, or I miss them. Good idea. I'll see if I can add a size to the nearest cache page.

Don't know if you saw my idea to add the size to the terrain and difficulty, so it would now look like this:

 

(D/T/S)

_______

(1.5/3/M)

 

or:

 

(D/T/S)

_______

(2/2/R)

Edited September 8, 2004 by briansnat

[+Anonymous']

That whole rating system would be awesome.

[+Team Tigger International]

We enjoy the Micro's , granted some can be lame , but some traditional caches are lame as well . We have found many micros to be very interesting , even if they are placed to just bring you to an area to enjoy the view or possible history lesson. What is lame to one person may be enchanting to another .

So why not stop all the whining and just do the kinds of caches you enjoy ? There is no rule that says a person has to do a micro , or a virtual , or even a locationless if they choose not to . Star has issues with private property caches , so she simply avoids them. We have issues with caches that involve needing special equip. like a boat , ( mostly because we dont have access to one) thus we dont do them .

Theres's my 2 cents for what its worth .... Star of Team Tigger International

[+JohnnyVegas]

When I started cacheing I was not crazy about looing for micros, now I they are just another cache for me. But I do not like seeing a micro placed in something like a tree in secluded area of a large park, When someone looks for a micro that is in a tree or some bushes the bushes tend to get trampled down, I have found quite a few micros just be following the trail in the brush left by other cachers. This does not set a good example for non cachers.

 

I think part of the reason we see so many micros placed were a regular cache would work is because of the cost factor. Lets face it. You get the film canister for free, And for 10 cents you get a xerox copy of a log and you have a cache for 10 cents. Compare this to the cost af a real cache, on the low end of the scale you are looking at a minimum of $10.00. There is a large open space area very close to me that is lacking caches right now, My plan is to hide a large caches of caches for others to hide, these wil all be stalked with trade items logs and so on, of coures those who hide them will have to maintian them. It's worth a try to get more real caches placed. At least then the person who hides one does not have the cost of puttong one together. As a bonus, then I can go look for them

Edited September 30, 2004 by JohnnyVegas

[+briansnat]

So why not stop all the whining and just do the kinds of caches you enjoy ? There is no rule that says a person has to do a micro , or a virtual , or even a locationless if they choose not to . Star has issues with private property caches , so she simply avoids them. We have issues with caches that involve needing special equip. like a boat , ( mostly because we dont have access to one) thus we dont do them .

 

The problem is, as many have pointed out, that in many areas micros are pretty much all there are. So unless you hunt micros, you don't get to geocache.

[+bigredmed]

So why not stop all the whining and just do the kinds of caches you enjoy ? There is no rule that says a person has to do a micro , or a virtual , or even a locationless if they choose not to . Star has issues with private property caches , so she simply avoids them. We have issues with caches that involve needing special equip. like a boat , ( mostly because we dont have access to one) thus we dont do them .

 

The problem is, as many have pointed out, that in many areas micros are pretty much all there are. So unless you hunt micros, you don't get to geocache.

There needs to be some rule of thumb for approvers that says that we try to balance caches in a given locale. We want a mix of types and difficulty ratings so that the game is fun for the maximum number of people.

 

When some city gets over run by micros or any cache type, the approver for that area can sit back and say no to any more of that type for a while. This way no one cache type gets out of control.

 

Micros are boring for a lot of us (me included). Many of our cities are getting over run by them (mine included). When any system gets stuck in a rut and can't be varied enough to be fun for the widest distribution of people, the game suffers.

 

The cache mix is one area that GC needs to step up on big time.

[+GreyingJay]

Well, I haven't yet had a problem with micros in my area. They've all been really fun so far (if not a little frustrating). Some of the locations aren't terribly original, but none have so far made me think "Boy, that was lame". Sometimes the location is more of a challenge than the find itself. I found a micro that was hidden in a log, it took me maybe 10 seconds, but the challenge was to do so inconspicuously, as the log was in a bush -- in the median island of a fairly busy street. Another one that I haven't tried yet apparently brings you inside the biggest mall in town.

 

I would like to see a rating system for caches as well. We already see it for online shopping services -- people rate products, people rate vendors. We even rate news (slashdot, etc). Why not have a "I rate this cache 4 stars!" etc option. Then if you see a 1-star Micro, you'll know to keep clear.

[+JohnnyVegas]

The problem with a ratting system is no one is going to have the same opinion as to what is lame and what is really cool. Some people might like a micro at an outdoor art exhibit, while those who do not care for art my think it is lame. It is like the micros under the lamp post topic that pops up once in a while, some of us who have found a few dozen of these may view them as lame, while some of us may not. But when most of us found our first micro under a lamp post cover we thought it was cool. Someone new to geocaching may not look for a cache that is rate as being lame, but it may be a cache that they would think is cool if they found it.

Edited September 30, 2004 by JohnnyVegas

[+drat19]

It is like the micros under the lamp post topic that pops up once in a while, some of us who have found a few dozen of these may view them as lame, while some of us may not. But when most of us found our first micro under a lamp post cover we thought it was cool.

No question most of us found our first lamp post base micro to be cool (I know I did...I felt like an idiot when I couldn't find it at first). Unfortunately, some folks found them to be a little TOO easy and cool, and BOMBED their respective towns with them...and that's become the problem.

 

MODERATION, please!

 

-Dave R.

[+Team Tigger International]

The problem is, as many have pointed out, that in many areas micros are pretty much all there are. So unless you hunt micros, you don't get to geocache.

That sounds like a problem to me that only local cachers can fix. I suppose we are very lucky here in Indiana then because we have a wonderful mix of all types of caches available to us within a 50 mile radius .