newbie: state of mind or statistical reality?

[chillibutts]

This is my first ever post - ANYWHERE!

I have 367 finds over the last 12 months. I am reliably informed that I am a newbie. I have not yet reached the "magic" number. Surely my relative degree of newbie-ism is not measured in cold hard statistics but in more qualitative measures? Some days I am overflowing with caching mojo and no cache can resist me.

Dont get me wrong, I love being a newbie! LOL I can use it as an excuse for a myriad of sins ... "he didn't look over his shoulder for muggles .... oh he is just a newbie" Newbie's ROCK! We are the rookies that get a run when the veterans legs get old - HAHAHAHA Bring on newbie day, or a newbie event ...

Yes, sometimes it takes me 3 or 4 attempts to find a cache. Yes, at some events I have performed very poorly in certain tests of skill (three wheel rotations ) ... but lets embrace the newbie!

Just having a laugh - but seriously... when do I graduate?

[Laighside Legends]

I didn't start either until I had about 300
Maybe we can start the "newbies who aren't really newbies" club
Anyway Welcome aboard!

[Richary]

I don't know if there is a proper definition of a newbie. Personally if I had to put a number on it I would probably consider someone who has found less than 50 or so as one. But it depends on the person as well. Some people "get it" quicker and probably graduate from newbie status quicker than others who keep finding.

I think it's more a state of mind than anything, and while we welcome newbies to the "club" we also roll our eyes at those that don't seem to get it, continually putting out crap hides and not worrying about muggles when finding, no matter how many finds they have. Luckily most people get over that stage or leave.

I think being part of the community is a big part of that as well, whether via the forums here or a local/state geocaching group. All of us here on the forums I am sure have learned something. Those that interact with other cachers at events etc do so as well. Those that cache alone may never get that insight as to what is good and what is bad as others see it.

[MtnLioness]

Geee....tough one!

My self included, I kinda categorized Newbies as under 500 finds.
I mean, really.... by about 500 ish finds you really start either being defined as obsessed and insane by friends or you drop it before that.
You also should have, by 500ish, seen most styles and ideas and got the "eye" for it.
But hey... that's just my opinion and largely based on myself and my own recruits.

[Richary]

A question for the site stats coders that might be hard, would it be possible to generate a statistical graph showing how many caches people have found before giving up? Say define giving up as no finds in the last 3 months.

Obviously though it would require filtering out the foreign cacher finds people have imported when doing uploads, and those cachers who live o/s and visited here. Maybe by limiting it to people who have created a GCA profile and set their country to Australia?

It would be interesting to see the stats (in a range like 1-20, 20-50, 50-100 and so on) as to how many people stick with it and where they drop out. It could be a one off thing that is posted, rather than something that needs to be generated dynamically to avoid loads on the server.

[Damo.]

Hi. I'm a newbie. I've been caching for over 7 years in 10 countries but I haven't found 500 yet.




quality
------
quantity

[Papa Bear_Left]

Part of the definition has to also include the types of caches found.

In the olden days (like, more than five years ago!), if you'd found a couple of hundred caches, you'd HAVE to've found a wide range of caches, since there just weren't all that many caches around to find. So, you'd have solved puzzles, followed mega-multis through all the waypoints, done some serious hiking and climbing, and gone back to some cleverly camoed nemesis caches multiple times.

Now, you can have a respectable-looking number next to your name, but have found almost nothing but micros or 200ml boxes in suburban parks and shopping centre carparks.

I think you start to stop being a newbie when you come across a clever hide and think "Oh, that's a nice example of a hollow magnetic bolt/fake rock/magnetic sheet/dog poo/etc. hide" rather than "WOW! WHAT A NEAT IDEA!!!"

[Philipp]

You stop being a newbie when you place a cache which gets a lot of positive feedback and cachers talk about it as a very good example of a good quality cache.

[Hoojar]

I kinda categorized Newbies as under 500 finds.

WOW!

[GammaPiSigma]

Agree with Damo, Papa Bear Left and Phillipp. So many caches these days compared to 2004 when I started. As Papa Bear Left said you had to find a wide variety of cache types and they were generally geographically spread out back then.

I have 280 finds since May 2004, GC "Favourites" points on all my hides and one cache with GCA "Recommended" status, I therefore don't consider myself a newbie.

Never forget it is not about the numbers.

[caughtatwork]

It's a state of mind.
If you have found one cache with a GPS you know what you're doing an no longer a newbie to me.
I like to think I treat everyone in the caching world the same.
Regardless of the number of finds or hides you have, sometimes karma is with you and sometimes it's not. I have DNF'd so many easy finds it's embarassing.

[noikmeister]

If I was forced to put a number on it, I'd say 100 finds and 1 quality hide. Also I think there is another category between newbie and seasoned...

[Bewilderbeest]

To me its not about numbers - someone could hoover up 100 driveby trads in a week in a place like Canberra or Adelaide, but that doesnt make them experienced in my view. Nor is it about length of time - somone could find 1 cache per month for a year.

To me, its about having a rounded experience at caching. I dont mean filling the D/T grid, but just having had a go at a range of multis and puzzles, having done some outside your home area, some bush/some city, etc. A person would probably need to have > 100 finds to get to this point.

[chillibutts]

To me its not about numbers - someone could hoover up 100 driveby trads in a week in a place like Canberra or Adelaide, but that doesnt make them experienced in my view. Nor is it about length of time - somone could find 1 cache per month for a year.

To me, its about having a rounded experience at caching. I dont mean filling the D/T grid, but just having had a go at a range of multis and puzzles, having done some outside your home area, some bush/some city, etc. A person would probably need to have > 100 finds to get to this point.

Yup, although I agree that its "not about the numbers", the beauty of caching is that it means something different for everyone! . By that I mean its OK to have differing goals:

• The Accumulators - who chase the numbers
  The FTF'ers - race to be first
  The Puzzlers - who only do puzzles
  The Hiders - who get more joy from hiding than finder
  The Sneaky hiders
  The Location seekers
  The Event groupies

I love the fact that it can mean different things to different people. We can all take something different from it - and enjoy it. HOW GOOD ITS THAT!

We can even be part of a community and enjoy some mateship if we want.

Personally I think I almost enjoy hiding a cache and getting feedback, as I do from finding them.

[caughtatwork]

Hello. My name is caughtatwork and I'm an Accumulator