Cache Problems

[Charles Iverson]

HEY GEOCACHING PEOPLE!!!

 

I HATE TO POP ANY ONE'S BUBBLE

but i have heard many reports of non geocaching people!!!

taking stuff from the caches ( RANDOM THINGS, TB'S!!!) and not loging them as they took them

and to what i have came up with is that they are finding the caches by just searching for them on the site witch i might add that they are doing it with out a acount on geocaching.com!!! (i found this out by going to the main site and clicking log off then clicking on hide and seek a cache then typing my zip code in and clicking on the first cache that pops up... o look coordinates!!) then they go out to find it and well not knowing what to or what no to do they take somthing and never log it

 

and i know we as geocachers do foget to log that we took somthing (goodies)

 

but tb's?? (it's rare but it does happen)

 

and yes i know we leave the cache notes in there but does any one read them??? its hard to tell

 

what i was thinking was that geocaching can set it up so only people with acounts can find. them but then i think if the person that does not want to open an acount before they know what a geocache is

and if we lock it off we lose out on new cachers

THERE HAS TO BE SOME WAY OF MAKEING THIS WORK OUT TO BE FAIR

BOTH TO US AND NON CACHERS!!

 

ANY IDEAS???

Edited September 30, 2004 by Charles Iverson

[+New England n00b]

1) Muggling can take place for any number of reasons, from poorly hidden caches by owners, to the actions of finders who seem to have a neon sign pointing at them and what they are doing.

 

2) As far as cache notes, I don;t have to read them, but most of the ones I have found are not laminated, so they end up being completely destroyed and unreadable due to dampness and constant folding - this is the cache owners problem.

 

3) Don't yell man... we can hear ya!

[Charles Iverson]

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Edited September 30, 2004 by Charles Iverson

[Charles Iverson]

and i said and i

 

(i found this out by going to the main site and clicking log off  then clicking on hide and seek a cache then typing my zip code in  and clicking on the first cache that pops up...  o look coordinates!!)

 

 

thats how they might be finding them...

[+New England n00b]

I see your point, and there may be one or two cache maggots that go around causing problems, bnut I think the number doing so that feed off the website are pretty low. Those types seem to quit after a while. Renegade Knight has more experience with cache maggots than I do, he would be a good one to chime in on that topic.

 

But your premise is not necessarily wrong - I just don't see an easy answer to it. Block access, and you'll have fewer newcomers diving in. (Possibly). Requiring a login will not prevent a cache maggot from joining up, either. In fact, thinking like a cache maggot, that would make it more fun... because they'd be an insider... They never have to log where they've been, and they can log other caches to cover themselves.

 

Requiring a financial sign-up is totally out of the question. I myself would have skipped on by if gc.com had been set up that way.

 

I just don't see a viable policing solution. Do you have one?

Edited September 30, 2004 by New England n00b

[Charles Iverson]

the part

 

(New England n00b)

(there might be one or two cache maggots that go around causing problems, bnut I think the number doing so that feed off the website are pretty low.)

 

that really is hard to know!!

 

(New England n00b)

(Block access, and you'll have fewer newcomers diving in. (Possibly).)

 

i'v seen that kind of thing happen on other websites all i can say is not good

 

(New England n00b)

(requiring a login will not prevent a cache maggot from joining up, either)

 

True!!

 

(New England n00b)

(Requiring a financial sign-up is totally out of the question. I myself would have skipped on by if gc.com had been set up that way)

 

HERE HERE!! PAYING TO GO GEOCACHING NO!!!!!

Edited September 30, 2004 by Charles Iverson

[+Renegade Knight]

I'm not sure there is a definitive answer. Accidental finds you can do nothing about. It's a risk of the game. Anonymous searching though it another thing.

 

I've posted a topic about mandatory membership where at a minimum you have to sign up to see the caches even if membership doesn't cost you anything. While I like this option, is wasn't popular.

 

One side effect is that it would cut out the people who do play but only log in the log book. That would end up being roughly 20-30% of all cachers. I figure 10-20% would break down and sign up. The percentages would vary by area. This greatly bothers some people.

[Charles Iverson]

I AGREE!!

 

accidental finds are ok but when some one starts messing with the tb's thats a whole nother thing

[+snowd]

While I'm relatively new to the sport/game of geocaching I have known about it for about a year. Yes I've looked at the cache's that were around my zip code and at that time they were prettly slim as I recall.

 

Now I come back this summer and look again and there is a vastly different enviroment picking up around here, got caches going out to a 100 mile range even when not logged in. Found a few caches that I thought looked interesting and were close to home and off I went after reading some of the tips extra about what to look for and so forth and so on.

 

Now you ask where I'm going with this and how it fits with the topic at hand, if for example a visitor to the sight wanted to check on caches in his area, this is a good thing as it gives them an opportunity to see what the sport/game is about. But providing everything out to a 100 mile radius from that zip code is not a good idea and this is where I'm going.

 

Limit the number of caches that can be viewed by a visitor to the site by looking up a zip code, lets say provide them with caches within a 25 mile radius or first 50 that are closest to that zip if nothing in 25 miles. This will allow them to still get an idea/feel for the sport/game while not completely shutting them off from info on the site. And then once they register for access to geocaching.com then they get the normal searches that would be available to them based on their membership status.

 

Just an idea and my 2 cents.

[+Runaround]

but tb's?? (it's rare but it does happen)

 

and yes i know we leave the cache notes in there but does any one read them??? its hard to tell

Two comments:

 

First, TB's vanish all the time. Of the 5 bugs I own, 4 are gone. That's an 80% failure rate. I honestly don't think it's a muggle problem, I think it's a careless cacher problem. It's hard to believe all the missing bugs out there fell prey to random site surfers. Nearly a quarter of all the the TB's I've found in the last two years are either gone or haven't been logged in more than 3 months.

 

Second, I read logbooks. Or at least on the interesting hunts. I really don't care much what people have to say regarding a film canister in a light pole. I usually only check to see who was brave enough to use DPM.