[Az-Geocaching] Verification of a Virtual Cache
J H/TEAM 360
listserv@azgeocaching.com
Sun, 26 Oct 2003 11:25:02 -0800 (PST)
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> ATTACHMENT part 3.2 message/rfc822
From: "Team Tierra Buena"
To: "Arizona Geocaching"
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 11:35:01 -0700
Subject: [Az-Geocaching] Virtually Confounded
Many of you have done our “Informal Introductions” virtual cache (GCAB5C). For those of you that haven’t, it’s a very kid-friendly hunt that requires the seeker to provide us with the answers to five questions. Finding the answer to the fifth question is a little bit trickier than most virtuals, so we rated the difficulty at 2.
I’ve become surprised by the number of people who have sent emails that contain either an incorrect answer to question 5, or an admission that they were unable to find that answer; these cachers then log as “finds”. The cache page states “emailing incomplete or incorrect answers may result in our deleting your log entry without notice”.
On one hand, the purpose of answering the questions to a virtual is to prove that the seeker was in the right place. So if you get four out of five correct, it’s pretty obvious the seeker was there. And we did let one guy skate because he was visiting from out-of-state, and had already left town when he emailed his answers. But many people have returned a second time after being told that they got it wrong, and they were then able to find the correct answer.
So whaddya think? Should we strictly enforce our own rule out of fairness to those who have gotten all the right answers or have gone back to finish the hunt, or should we say “it’s only a game” and let them take the credit for the find? I should point out that finding the correct answer to the fifth question brings the seeker to a particularly clever aspect of this entire area, which is why we set the question we did.
We talked about using only that question instead of five, but we followed Highpointer’s approach to his museum cache series, where finding the answers to all the questions takes the seeker around the entire area, which is what we want them to do. We don’t want them just running in, finding one answer and taking off for the next cache.
We’ve also discussed raising the difficulty level to 3 and/or modifying the cache description to state specifically that the correct answer to question 5 must be submitted, but I’m afraid that making any modifications to the cache page might result in it’s being re-evaluated under the current guidelines for virtuals, and then we might be forced to archive a cache that always gets positive log comments.
We welcome your comments and suggestions, but please avoid posting anything that might be a spoiler. TIA.
Steve
Team Tierra Buena
I have somewhat of the same problem with the "Original Stash Tribute Plaque", that people visit up in Portland. I wrote on the cache page that they must send me the corresponding codeword that was listed in the logbook on whatever page they signed. Problem was, people could't find the logbook; they decided that they could not move three or four small rocks on the side of the monument to see it. So then I had online finds listed, but no corresponding codeword verification. Instead of putting a damper on what was otherwise a great experience for the cacher, I allowed the finds to stand. You can't "force" them to send the answer you are looking for, and by trying to do so, it will create a negative experience. The ones who go there and really enjoy your Virtual cache will take the time to give you all 5 answers, and enjoy the lessons learned. In your case, if they have given 4 out of five answers, I would guess that is proof enough that they had visited the location. With that m
any
answers, I would let the find stand and not worry about it.
TEAM 360.
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<P><BR>> ATTACHMENT part 3.2 message/rfc822 <BR>From: "Team Tierra Buena" <TEAMTIERRABUENA@EARTHLINK.NET><BR>To: "Arizona Geocaching" <AZ-GEOCACHING@LISTSERV.AZGEOCACHING.COM><BR>Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 11:35:01 -0700<BR>Subject: [Az-Geocaching] Virtually Confounded<BR><BR>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Many of you have done our “Informal Introductions” virtual cache (GCAB5C). For those of you that haven’t, it’s a very kid-friendly hunt that requires the seeker to provide us with the answers to five questions. Finding the answer to the fifth question is a little bit trickier than most virtuals, so we rated the difficulty at 2.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I’ve become surprised by the number of people who have sent emails that contain either an incorrect answer to question 5, or an admission that they were unable to find that answer; these cachers then log as “finds”. The cache page states “emailing incomplete or incorrect answers may result in our deleting your log entry without notice”.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">On one hand, the purpose of answering the questions to a virtual is to prove that the seeker was in the right place. So if you get four out of five correct, it’s pretty obvious the seeker was there. And we did let one guy skate because he was visiting from out-of-state, and had already left town when he emailed his answers. But many people have returned a second time after being told that they got it wrong, and they were then able to find the correct answer.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">So whaddya think? Should we strictly enforce our own rule out of fairness to those who have gotten all the right answers or have gone back to finish the hunt, or should we say “it’s only a game” and let them take the credit for the find? I should point out that finding the correct answer to the fifth question brings the seeker to a particularly clever aspect of this entire area, which is why we set the question we did.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">We talked about using only that question instead of five, but we followed Highpointer’s approach to his museum cache series, where finding the answers to all the questions takes the seeker around the entire area, which is what we want them to do. We don’t want them just running in, finding one answer and taking off for the next cache.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">We’ve also discussed raising the difficulty level to 3 and/or modifying the cache description to state specifically that the correct answer to question 5 must be submitted, but I’m afraid that making any modifications to the cache page might result in it’s being re-evaluated under the current guidelines for virtuals, and then we might be forced to archive a cache that always gets positive log comments.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">We welcome your comments and suggestions, but please avoid posting anything that might be a spoiler. TIA.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Steve</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Team Tierra Buena</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=#ff0000 size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><STRONG>I have somewhat of the same problem with the "Original Stash Tribute Plaque", that people visit up in Portland. I wrote on the cache page that they must send me the corresponding codeword that was listed in the logbook on whatever page they signed. Problem was, people could't find the logbook; they decided that they could not move three or four small rocks on the side of the monument to see it. So then I had online finds listed, but no corresponding codeword verification. Instead of putting a damper on what was otherwise a great experience for the cacher, I allowed the finds to stand. You can't "force" them to send the answer you are looking for, and by trying to do so, it will create a negative experience. The ones who go there and really enjoy your Virtual cache will take the time to give you all 5 answers, and enjoy the lesso
ns
learned. In your case, if they have given 4 out of five answers, I would guess that is proof enough that they had visited the location. With that many answers, I would let the find stand and not worry about it.</STRONG></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=#ff0000 size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">TEAM 360.</SPAN></FONT></P></DIV><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><p><hr SIZE=1>
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