Page 1 of 2

Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 21 June 16 11:40 am
by caughtatwork
As per this post:
http://forum.geocaching.com.au/viewtopi ... 41#p216341

Archived caches currently count to control of a zone. They can never be "won" by another clan, so should they be counted as a fixed point in time / history or should they be excluded as they pollute the count for something that is no longer a game piece?

Discussion and voting is always welcomed. 2 weeks to vote and have your say.

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 21 June 16 3:50 pm
by lucky1955
Am I correct in thinking allocated points to a cache are viable only for a predicted time and age off/out. If so then an archived cache is no problem as once the time limit is reached there would be no points left on it meaning no clan owns it or all clans have joint ownership at zero points each
Would be the same for an active cache but gives new cachers a chance to control and extend the period the cache is active

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 21 June 16 6:56 pm
by caughtatwork
Points do not age off.

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 21 June 16 7:13 pm
by CraigRat
Could this be abused eg I place 7 ina day and archive them immediately?

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 22 June 16 9:33 am
by caughtatwork
Yes it can. Not that this would be a real issue as the DQ hammer would fall pretty quickly. I trust the community not to do this.

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 22 June 16 5:12 pm
by Luckyl10n
If archived caches were to be removed from the game, would those who have allocated points have those points returned to them for re-use? Mmmmm :-k

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 22 June 16 6:52 pm
by Zalgariath
Yes that is a sticking point Lucky... and being GCA, there is a chance the cache could be unarchived at any point by the CO... so if you take the points off it, that would be mucked up too. #-o I think if it is decided that archived caches dont count, the points should stick. The more I think about it the bigger the can-o-worms gets. Are you a CO whose cache is dominated by another team? Archive it and re-release as new listing! I think it is sad modern gaming has conditioned us to expect the worst of people. Simple solutions are hard to find in any competitive field.

I suppose the ultimate phrasing of the question is "Would the game be more or less balanced if archived caches (and all the points attached to them) were removed from the zone count?" with a secondary consideration in what encouragement or discouragement would that give to the COs... who ultimately are the most important players. No COs, no game for finders. :-k

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 23 June 16 9:12 am
by caughtatwork
Points are like money. You spend them, they're gone. You don't get them returned if the service is discontinued.

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 23 June 16 9:56 pm
by ziggiau
I hadn't thought about archived caches and their points as it's not been an issue for me. But with an archived cache out of the picture wouldn't this help to mix up the power balance requiring new strategies?

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 04 July 16 1:33 pm
by Toriaz
The practice of archiving older caches after placing enough points on them to gain control is one of the things that puts me off dragonzone as a game.

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 04 July 16 1:53 pm
by caughtatwork
To my knowledge that has never happened on purpose. Please let me know (privately is OK) which caches are in question and I'll sort the situation out.

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 04 July 16 8:04 pm
by nutwood
I'm of the feeling that archived caches should continue to be relevant.
Initially I thought this to be a loophole but in reality, once archived, they are passive. They could be used strategically but only to a limited degree. Over time this would equal out and the complications in disallowing them could be considerable. It's all very well to say that points spent are points gone but is this fair? Could it be "gamed"?

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 05 July 16 10:45 am
by rogerw3
:gnome

It seems to me that removing archived caches from the game is a good thing, it would open up opportunities to change ownership of zones, more strategy comes into play.

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 05 July 16 10:04 pm
by caughtatwork
I'll now look into addressing the archived cache issue in terms of who controls what. I will need to change the code and do a DB update, so please bear with me while I sort it all out.

Re: Should Archived Caches Count in dragonZone?

Posted: 12 July 16 8:47 pm
by caughtatwork
A change has been made to exclude archived caches from the control counts. History may be a little wonky but the counts now match the active caches. Thanks for your patience and also thanks for your feedback. Collectively we make a better game.