Debate 3 - Should you let on if your Multi has a trap?
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Debate 3 - Should you let on if your Multi has a trap?
You have designed a long distance Multi-cache. Between two of the waypoints there is a river. The obvious road to the next waypoint meanders along the river for about 15km before people find out that they are about 250m short of the cache. They will need to completely retrace their steps to find the correct road to the cache which is on the other side of the river. Should you warn people about the correct road to take?
Is it all the thrill of the hunt and trying to second guess the hider is what makes geocaching fun?
or
Does it merely put people off by making a costly and lengthy detour?
The polls are open...
Is it all the thrill of the hunt and trying to second guess the hider is what makes geocaching fun?
or
Does it merely put people off by making a costly and lengthy detour?
The polls are open...
- Chwiliwr
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It is too difficult sometimes to tell which side of a river a cache is on when out in the field. In the case given 15km is a bit long to travel to find that you are on the wrong side and you run the risk of the cacher not continuing and putting them offside.
You could alway add in a waypoint on the other road to entice them onto the right road instead of giving them a clue.
You could alway add in a waypoint on the other road to entice them onto the right road instead of giving them a clue.
- caughtatwork
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I would be extremely unhappy.
With the price of petrol what it is I'm sure people would prefer not to be spending time and money on what 'you' know to be a wild goose chase.
I think that this cache would only be placed like this if the hider was going out of their way to annoy another cacher. The hider may think it funny, but I would expect that most cachers wouldn't see the funny side at the time. Possibly not even after the time.
I couldn't see any valid reason for doing this without warning the cacher that the obvious route is not the best route.
To do it without a note implies that the hider wants the cacher to take the wrong road, end up near but not close enough, then waste time retracing their steps. Not a very nice thing to do.
Also keep in mind that not everyone would be in a position to 'gain a clue' by using mapping software either on a laptop or GPSr. So while mapping may help by giving you a clue as to where it may be, those without maps in the field are blindly following the arrow and are even more apt to get frustrated.
With the price of petrol what it is I'm sure people would prefer not to be spending time and money on what 'you' know to be a wild goose chase.
I think that this cache would only be placed like this if the hider was going out of their way to annoy another cacher. The hider may think it funny, but I would expect that most cachers wouldn't see the funny side at the time. Possibly not even after the time.
I couldn't see any valid reason for doing this without warning the cacher that the obvious route is not the best route.
To do it without a note implies that the hider wants the cacher to take the wrong road, end up near but not close enough, then waste time retracing their steps. Not a very nice thing to do.
Also keep in mind that not everyone would be in a position to 'gain a clue' by using mapping software either on a laptop or GPSr. So while mapping may help by giving you a clue as to where it may be, those without maps in the field are blindly following the arrow and are even more apt to get frustrated.
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One of my caches is sort of like this. The only difference is you may waste a drive of about one kilometre. If people are observant they walk to the cache which is only 400m away. Most people that have done this cache have tried from the wrong end. <P>Was very tempted to put in a spoiler but it's fun watching the logs saying "Was on the wrong side of the creek".<p>As far as your example is concerned, I would be <u><B>extremely</B></U> pissed off if that happened to me. Not only is the cost of petrol now an issue, time constraints are usually my way of deciding which caches to pick up. I don't mind a 30k drive followed by a 3km walk if I know I have the time to do it. A waste of an hour when I could have been doing something else would not endear me to the setter.
- setsujoku
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The other option, would be to add another star onto the difficulty of the cache.
If you know that people would take the 15km drive, un-necesarily, then adding that extra star could show that you have to do some extra thinking at each point.
It could in fact save some people from doing the drive, if they just thought it through properly, and used a map like cached said.
If you know that people would take the 15km drive, un-necesarily, then adding that extra star could show that you have to do some extra thinking at each point.
It could in fact save some people from doing the drive, if they just thought it through properly, and used a map like cached said.
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Dubbo people are great at this!!! (Mix, Bronze,......that means you!) We have been caught like this several times, and not just on multis. If it's an issue, up the difficulty rating. I rather like the places you can end up when you take the wrong road, found some great spots like this.
We have just recenlty started using maps - that solves this problem.
1st lady
We have just recenlty started using maps - that solves this problem.
1st lady
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Perhaps you should really be considering whether Geocaching is an appropriate use for this precious and limited resource (Petrol)caughtatwork wrote:........................
With the price of petrol what it is I'm sure people would prefer not to be spending time and money on what 'you' know to be a wild goose chase.
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- 1250 or more geocaches found
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What other use is there?Darth Fellatio wrote:Perhaps you should really be considering whether Geocaching is an appropriate use for this precious and limited resource (Petrol)caughtatwork wrote:........................
With the price of petrol what it is I'm sure people would prefer not to be spending time and money on what 'you' know to be a wild goose chase.
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1st Lady
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I must say I enjoyed the challange of finding the right road into one of theirs just following the arrow(1). Sure thing it took half the day and cost me a puncture tyred but sometimes it's just fun to explore .Think the Dubbo guys are the experts in this.
If all you rely on is the arrow, you're sure to be lead astray. Use a map people!
Before I was a cacher I did 1000s of KM of just exploring . Thats what lead me to place my first cache(2) and my dash(3) cache where they are and list them as they are. These I would say are 2 of my 3 nicest "location location" caches. The price of fuel has slowed exploring down but I still do it from time to time.
Personaly I think 10km of muggles, traffic lights & traffic jams is worth 50km in the bush .
1 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... 2c7b8fd5f2
2 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... 92f7ac6278
3 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... 93db375ecc
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- 1250 or more geocaches found
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Yes, this one came to mind for me too!! We had two trips to find this cache, but the challenge made the find so much sweeter!Geof wrote:I must say I enjoyed the challange of finding the right road into one of theirs just following the arrow(1). Sure thing it took half the day and cost me a puncture tyred but sometimes it's just fun to explore .Think the Dubbo guys are the experts in this.
If all you rely on is the arrow, you're sure to be lead astray. Use a map people!
1 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... 2c7b8fd5f2
1st lady