Geocaching Australia

This thread was prompted by a discussion in another place in the Forum (http://forum.geocaching.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=8935). See the responses to that thread for the background. I was going to reply there, but decided that the discussion didn't belong in that thread. I would value others' comments: for or against. Have at it!
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Before you do: This thread is not a discussion on placing/finding GCA caches--that is a different subject altogether. My opinion on that is clear, and has been publicly stated. This thread refers specifically to the usefulness of information or help given on this Forum--please only comment on that when responding to this thread.
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Mr Router wrote:

caughtatwork wrote:This thread has been edited to remove useless and totally off topic posts.

When people are asking for serious help, please keep on topic until the situation has been resolved.

If you want to be silly, be silly somewhere else other than serious requests for assistance.

I would really appreciate leaving posts alone! This is not GC this is GCA FREE AND OPEN geocaching.
So keeping this in mind please leave things as is as it was all only for fun I am not a moderator but im sure I could delete a few posts, given a minute or 2.

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{{ Flame-retardant suit: ON }}
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Dear Mr Router and Others,
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I don't usually comment on these matters, but I'd like to throw my support (for what it's worth) behind C@W. In my opinion this Forum has been degenerating into farce for some time. Lately, there have been several examples of people genuinely asking with help, and being met with moronic, unhelpful responses. Put yourself in the poster's shoes: you are desperate enough to ask for help, so you ask the community for assistance through this Forum. You receive an email to say that there has been a response. You eagerly log on to see what the help might be. What do you find? An inane comment, or a picture of a flamin' teapot! Not happy, Jan!
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As C@W rightly points out, free and open doesn't mean 'anything goes'. What you have failed to notice from your own quote is that the term is "FREE AND OPEN geocaching". There was a time when this Forum was actually useful for giving and getting help from fellow geocachers. It seems that 'geocaching' for some people means sitting in front of a computer watching for Forum posts!
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If caches are thin on the ground in your area, and you're bored, how about placing a few? It would be more productive than posting silly comments on the Forum, and wasting people's time.
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Keep up the good work, C@W.
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P.S. (1) If you want evidence about the utility of this Forum, consider the number of long-term cachers, or active cachers who don't contribute here. I could name names, but I don't think I need to. I get around Australia a lot; just look at my stats. In my travels I meet with a lot of cachers, either in person, on the phone, by Skype, or by email. Many of the people I encounter find no value in this Forum, and can't be bothered any more; this is a real pity, and a great loss. Have a look at the top 20 Australian cachers (http://www.cacherstats.com/Australia1.html). Think about how many Forum posts they've made in the past 12 months!
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P.S. (2) Inane, off-topic comments, and pictures of crockery have not been funny for about 12 months now (if they ever were funny)!
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Cheers,
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dak
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When you have more cache finds than Forum posts, I'll respect your opinion about geocaching!
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{{ Flame-retardant suit: OFF }}

I was originally going to think long and hard before posting a reply, and then I figured, what the hell .

I've steered clear of other discussions that look like they need a flame retardant suit, but this is something that has been on my mind recently too.

I agree with the philosophy of GCA and I don't want to argue about how it does or doesn't apply to the forums.

I like the pictures of teapots and quite like the odd inane comment or a thread about something off topic. I think GCA (and life in general) would be kind of dull without someone with a sharp sense of humour throwing in the odd comment.

What I don't like is clicking on a thread that looks interesting because it has a title about something I want to know something about, to find out that it's ended up with lots of posts (or pages) going on about something off-topic.

I have access to good and plentiful bandwidth, so the only thing it wastes is my time and the only thing it tries is my patience, but I pity the person on a slow connection who investigates a thread to find it ends up with a collection of teapot pictures (and I like a good cup of tea as much as Stealth Ninja Penguin - and that's saying something!).

I'm not trying to be rude to anyone or inflammatory. I'd just like to point out it doesn't just annoy dak or C@W.

Threads that stick to their topic (whatever that may be) suit me just fine. I can then choose to read or ignore pages of posts on the basis that the thread title is telling me what I am (or not) missing out on.

End rant.

Have to admit, I've been quiet on the forums for the reason outlined above. I don't want to necessarily curb the Monty Pythonesque fun of some on the forum, but the forum is less useful than I previously found it.

I've had one or two topics stray a long way from the topic I started. All I ask is that people stick with the topic posted.

What I like most about this forum is that is is generally a very friendly place and only infrequently degenerates into personal attacks and bitchyness.
From my observations people are friendly and helpful to newcomers.
It's true that threads sometimes do run off topic but I believe people asking for help would generally recieve it.

dak's Emu Mob wrote: P.S. (1) If you want evidence about the utility of this Forum, consider the number of long-term cachers, or active cachers who don't contribute here. I could name names, but I don't think I need to. I get around Australia a lot; just look at my stats. In my travels I meet with a lot of cachers, either in person, on the phone, by Skype, or by email. Many of the people I encounter find no value in this Forum, and can't be bothered any more; this is a real pity, and a great loss. Have a look at the top 20 Australian cachers (http://www.cacherstats.com/Australia1.html). Think about how many Forum posts they've made in the past 12 months!

Hmmm. Sounds like a challenge.
I'm not going to name names either but how about some numbers.

90% of Australia's Top Cachers (Top 20 as supplied by dak) have posted in this Forum this year.
85% have posted in the last 6 months.
70% have posted in the last 2 months.
45% have posted this month.
40% have posted in the last two weeks.

That's just actual posted contributions. Many have visited more recently. Of the 10% that hasn't posted, (2 people), 1 person doesn't visit the forum, the second never posts but was last here 5 days ago.

Damo. wrote:90% of Australia's Top Cachers (Top 20 as supplied by dak) have posted in this Forum this year.
85% have posted in the last 6 months.
70% have posted in the last 2 months.
45% have posted this month.
40% have posted in the last two weeks.

G'day Damo,
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Point well taken! I wish I had checked that before I posted. Next thing to check is how many posts they made, compared to the total number of posts made, and in this, I would exclude congratulatory posts. For example, I'm part of that top 20, and except for rare exceptions, I only post replies to congratulatory threads for cachers I know or respect. I wouldn't call my contribution to the knowledge base 'useful'.
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I'd like to think that I sometimes could contribute, but I usually send a PM instead of posting to the thread. I realise that this defeats the purpose of the Forum, but it is symptomatic of my opinion of the Forum, in general.
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Thanks for contributing.
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Cheers,
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dak

I whole-heartedly agree with DAK's comments. I've always been more of a lurker than a contributor, watching, but generally holding my opinions to myself. As time has passed, the "signal to noise ratio" has reduced.

I don't mind Off Topic threads - they are easy to avoid. Interesting and humorous ideas are enjoyable to read, in the right place. But threads are often hijacked and disintegrate into noise.

My request - please stay on track - start an OT thread if necessary.

PS - I'm one of the 20. Apart from congratulating others on their milestones, I don't think I've posted much/anything for a while.

I can take the hint that I'm the "and Others".

Um - That would be why we have this thread now.
http://forum.geocaching.com.au/viewtopi ... sc&start=0

P.S. (2) Inane, off-topic comments, and pictures of crockery have not been funny for about 12 months now (if they ever were funny)!

I must not have received that memo. Crockery was not meant to be funny. It was used to calm people down when they were bagging other people. Guess we don't need it anymore. Seems you have it all under control.


...and since I'm not a in a cache count frenzy or blessed to live somewhere with a cache on every corner I'll have to take the hint.


So long and thanks for all the fish.

B.

I have to admit that I start shying away from the forums at times too, for this reason. Hilarity and off topic-ness are fine, but I have picked up on a certain amount of "in jokes" that seem to enforce that there are a few posters who essentially own this forum, and the rest of us are just visitors who don't quite get what the others are on about. There is of course, the persistent anti GC.com negativity which puts me off too.

This forum is a great resource and the easiest way to keep in touch with other cachers in Australia. But at times I think it pushes people away, especially newbies.

Pesky! wrote:are all your comments a call for further moderation,and partisan approach to forums?

For the record, no, I don't want more moderation, and I don't want more posts deleted. There was a time when the Forum was a valuable resource; it didn't need moderation then, and it doesn't need moderation now.
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I hope for something far more unattainable: I just want people to show some common sense. People will always want to post off topic comments, and things that they think are funny. Fair enough, but wouldn't it be better to post such stuff in separate posts, where the heading could be:
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OT: Some Subject or Other
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Some people do this already. I wholeheartedly agree with the principle. I simply avoid those posts. Others, who like that stuff, can read it until their hearts are content. No problem!
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What I object to is people hijacking threads, but mainly the posting unhelpful comments like the ones referred to in the first post in this thread.
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Cheers,
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dak

I thought this thread would end in tears. So long Bronze. Some of us will miss you.

I personally find the mass of congratulatory milestone threads to be boring and irrelevant. So I don't post in them. But if other people do that's fine. Good for them.

Different people get different things out of the Forum and obviously as the game matures some people who have been caching for a while have got past the "what is the best GPS unit" and "what is the best paperless setup" stage and no longer need the forum for information as they are busy aiming for their next thousand cache milestone.
Other people might only cache occasionally and actually come to the forum for the comradrie and meaningless banter with friends.
And there are all the people in between.

Can't we cater for all of them?

pesky! wrote:IS top 20 geocacher ( from the stats link given above) soley based on number of finds?

Yes, Pesky! The numbers are all that matter.

Pesky! wrote:IS top 20 geocacher ( from the stats link given above) soley based on number of finds?

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In this case, yes. However, it was not meant to imply that these cachers are better than any others. Personally, although I am high on that list, I don't think of myself as some sort of super geocacher. Quite the opposite, in fact. I feel humble in such company. I am just fortunate enough to have a job that allows me to cache in many different locations, and I am obsessed enough to spend most of my spare time geocaching.
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Looking at the top 20 in terms of finds was merely a convenient way of identifying the most active geocachers in Australia. It is fair to assume that if they are so active in the sport, then they would probably be able to contribute to the Forum by way of their considerable experience. The question is: why don't they?
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Pesky! wrote:bring back the good 'ol days!

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As far as the Forum is concerned, that's exactly what I am asking/hoping for!
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Cheers,
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dak

dak's Emu Mob wrote:It is fair to assume that if they are so active in the sport, then they would probably be able to contribute to the Forum by way of their considerable experience. The question is: why don't they?

I'd say they are either too busy logging their finds or they don't have the patience to post a reply to the 5th "What is the best GPS for a Newbie" thread to pop up this week.

Why don't they indeed? What's to stop someone with "considerable experience" from posting a helpful comment to a newbie?
If they don't post, is it fair to blame the forum members who go off topic and don't have so many finds?

I have to agree with Dak and others.

On the odd occasions when I have asked for help, i did not appreciate some of the cr@p postings and PM's I received as replies.

While nonsense and frivolity has its place, a sensible thread should contain sensible info.

Ian