Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Discussion about the Geocaching Australia web site
User avatar
caughtatwork
Posts: 17015
Joined: 17 May 04 12:11 pm
Location: Melbourne
Contact:

Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by caughtatwork » 28 July 15 9:56 am

A few statistics about swaggies.

http://geocaching.com.au/swaggies/?sort=created

642 in total
4 created in 2015
6 created in 2014
2 created in 2013
7 created in 2012

1,479 logs in total
22 in 2015
42 in 2014
54 in 2013
102 in 2012

They were meant to be the Geocaching Australia version of a travel bug and while the name is very cool, they have not been a success. From a usability perspective the swaggie code is all over the place and if it's dropped into a non-Geocaching Australia geocache it's extremely confusing to log. They're very confusing to log, even in a Geocaching Australia geocache anyway.

The proposal was put to the senate about 3 weeks ago and there were only two responses, one from the other developer and one from a senator. As we stand by the vote of the senate, there were 3 ayes to remove, 0 nays and everyone else abstained.

From the people who were involved in the discussion, we appreciate that this is most likely to annoy some folks, but we have made a decision to promote the removal of swaggies from Geocaching Australia. They are not core. They bring little to the game of geocaching. They're not geocaches. They're not treated well. They're annoying to log.

As we rewrite code for the Geocaching Australia website, we will be removing the swaggies code. You should expect that swaggies will continue to work for some weeks, but after that they may disappear with any given update.

If you have a very strong opinion on retaining swaggies, please provide your voice to this discussion. There is no guarantee that the senate decision will be reversed, but we're always open to listening to the community.

User avatar
Just a cacher
Posts: 630
Joined: 03 July 10 3:01 am
Location: Northside, Canberra, Australia

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by Just a cacher » 28 July 15 8:00 pm

It was an excellent idea, and I'm sorry it didn't take off. I did my bit. This is disappointing news, but I quite understand.

User avatar
rogerw3
8000 or more caches found
8000 or more caches found
Posts: 683
Joined: 26 July 09 11:11 am
Location: Lithgow

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by rogerw3 » 28 July 15 8:06 pm

:(
Sad to see them go, but I know that of the ones I sent out none have been logged for a long time, I think people get confused and put them in the too hard basket.
:cry:

User avatar
The Morris
8500 or more caches found
8500 or more caches found
Posts: 185
Joined: 08 November 05 10:38 pm
Location: Portland

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by The Morris » 28 July 15 9:41 pm

Oh poo - Mr Morris made me a mini trig point which I made into a swaggie and we "visit" into any trigs that we log. I know there was an Alice the Camel one too who visited the Burke and Will caches.
I copied the TB code as the password so it can be logged on either site using the same number.
Beyond those I can see they are problematic though.

User avatar
fluffyfish
850 or more found!!!
850 or more found!!!
Posts: 331
Joined: 09 January 09 10:21 pm
Location: Perth

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by fluffyfish » 28 July 15 11:10 pm

I'm ok with it.

User avatar
WazzaAndWenches
5000 or more caches found
5000 or more caches found
Posts: 395
Joined: 08 April 07 10:28 pm
Location: Echuca, Vic

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by WazzaAndWenches » 29 July 15 9:18 pm

I've only ever seen one swaggie, and Mrs The Morris mentioned it in a post further up this page. :-"
Focus on core business. I have no problem with swaggies being dumped and understand the reasoning behind the proposal.

User avatar
Zalgariath
5500 or more caches found
5500 or more caches found
Posts: 1749
Joined: 17 August 09 10:44 am
Location: Sydney, NSW

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by Zalgariath » 15 August 15 9:52 pm

Nice idea, but yes I dont think many people knew of their existence so safe bet to remove them

User avatar
Just a cacher
Posts: 630
Joined: 03 July 10 3:01 am
Location: Northside, Canberra, Australia

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by Just a cacher » 17 August 15 2:20 pm

For people who own swaggies, is there anything to do about them? Recall them? e-mail finders? Ignore them?

User avatar
caughtatwork
Posts: 17015
Joined: 17 May 04 12:11 pm
Location: Melbourne
Contact:

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by caughtatwork » 17 August 15 2:59 pm

You can ask the next finder to do with them as you want. Sooner of later (probably within weeks) they will all disappear as though they never existed, so if you want them returned, get the message out there now.

User avatar
Just a cacher
Posts: 630
Joined: 03 July 10 3:01 am
Location: Northside, Canberra, Australia

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by Just a cacher » 17 August 15 6:04 pm

No, not me. I just didn't want to make rubbish, or add to the woes of the poor people like you, C@W, who have to field calls about all sorts of things.

User avatar
gmj3191
7500 or more caches found
7500 or more caches found
Posts: 1316
Joined: 22 April 03 12:37 am
Location: Sandringham, Vic Garmin Oregon 650

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by gmj3191 » 17 August 15 7:36 pm

My first thought when I read this topic heading was that The Swaggies had somehow upset the applecart and were being banished.

I guess any swaggies that survive and turn up can be turned into GC.com trackables if they want to be kept in circulation..
Sending any trackable out these days seems to mainly end up in a one way ticket to oblivion.

User avatar
caughtatwork
Posts: 17015
Joined: 17 May 04 12:11 pm
Location: Melbourne
Contact:

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by caughtatwork » 17 August 15 8:29 pm

gmj3191 wrote:My first thought when I read this topic heading was that The Swaggies had somehow upset the applecart and were being banished.

I guess any swaggies that survive and turn up can be turned into GC.com trackables if they want to be kept in circulation..
Sending any trackable out these days seems to mainly end up in a one way ticket to oblivion.
I doubt Iain could ever do something to get banished.

User avatar
gmj3191
7500 or more caches found
7500 or more caches found
Posts: 1316
Joined: 22 April 03 12:37 am
Location: Sandringham, Vic Garmin Oregon 650

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by gmj3191 » 18 August 15 12:29 am

Which made it all the more intriguing......

User avatar
Cached
2500 or more caches found
2500 or more caches found
Posts: 3087
Joined: 24 March 04 4:32 pm
Location: Launceston, Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by Cached » 19 August 15 6:57 pm

My swaggies are all long gone. Unfortunately they never really took off.

Sam

User avatar
Richary
8000 or more caches found
8000 or more caches found
Posts: 4189
Joined: 04 February 04 10:55 pm
Location: Waitara, Sydney

Re: Swaggies are going to be removed from Geocaching Australia

Post by Richary » 19 August 15 10:39 pm

I've got one swaggie found, that was allowed to be as a collectable or released, I think it was in a cache from the frog race. It's still in my top drawer. Never seen another out there.

Post Reply