If this post seems bitter, it's not meant to be, it's just fact but when you add it up it comes across that way. I would love to hear how we can try and mitigate these problems understanding a lot has been done in the past, but then I cannot see everything either.
- We have seen people play rules lawyers with moveable cache races and we will probably never run one again.
- We have seen people falsely claim locationless caches as there is no log book there is no proof. Photo evidence is bent far, far out of shape, far too far to be considered a genuine find (e.g. a photo from a magazine rather than a physical location with co-ordinates simply made up).
- History and Virtual caches suffer from the same sorts of challenges with arm-chair logging.
- Physical geocaches are much less likely to be gamed than non-physical geocaches.
- We have had situations in the past where someone will list 50 geocaches, their mates log a find, the cache is archived.
- We saw in the old Bingo game people listing cache after cache after cache just to get a number that they could use to help out a mate or themselves.
- False logs are probably more frequent that I care to acknowledge, but there is little a game administrator can do and the cache owner can't delete a log anyway, so we just have to accept them.
The best way to get geocaches near to you that you haven't found it to encourage those who don't hey play at GCA to try the game. You will get all sorts of pushback about the site being to hard to use, they don't like it, there is no app, etc, but these are generally excuses and not real reasons. Site navigation and use is always brought up as "too hard" but in reality, just "different" and I have never, ever (seriously) had anyone suggest anything better, just "too hard to use". There is an Android app (mtrax) and an Apple app (Team MavEtJu), so press the developers to make improvements as our open API should give them access to almost anything you need in the field. Think about why you play at GCA and use the same ideas on others. You might just start to create your own community in your area.
For most of the 2020 game of games, we had a find and a hide option. Not too many people took up the hide option, and of course if no-one hides, no-one finds. Journey or Destination was a hide / find game. Blitz and Showdown are purely find based games but if you can get more people hiding, then you can play more with finding.
The next major (mid year) game is a hide and find game. The major game after that is also (mostly) a hide (14) and find (22) game, but that is subject to change. So you should be in a position where you can do fewer finds, more hides, and still play the game.
We can run more scavenger hunts, but you're still up for finding something that fits the scavenge and the false logging game of locationless caches may simply lower your overall scores as the competitive streak in some folks comes out to play.
In short, there is no simple answer to making the game "fairer". Some games will suit some, and some games will suit others with some folks in some locations unable to participate much at all. Get more people hiding, get your geocaches friends involved, help to keep the site going, and you can make it "fairer" for everyone.