[Az-Geocaching] New look at GC.com

[Roping The Wind]

>From: Gale <sonoralovesmommy at yahoo.com>
>Reply-To: listserv at azgeocaching.com
>To: listserv at azgeocaching.com
>Subject: RE: [Az-Geocaching] New look at GC.com
>Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:39:57 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Wow, you are right. Talk about biting the hand that feeds them. That state 
>organization is the >binding entity that got us (well mostly you Steve, and 
>others here) to work to put geocaching in a >positive light locally. It is 
>azgeocaching.com that has done so much to promote geocaching here. If >it 
>wasnt for azgeocaching.com, I am not sure if I would be into geocaching as 
>much as Mike and I >are. It wasnt gc.com but Brian through the community on 
>azgc.com that got the CITOs on the >local highway cleanup. It wasnt gc.com, 
>but Steve through the community on azgc.com that >worked with local 
>agencies on their geocaching policies. It was the community through 
>azgc.com >that made caching good here, not gc.com.

I get people that ask me all the time why I am not a premium member of 
gc.com. Well, there is one of the primary reasons right there.... I never 
felt gc.com supported the local geocaching groups. When I first got started 
in geocaching, the main drive for me to cache was not only for the adventure 
and the outdoor nature of the game... but also to go after a #1 in the 
rankings. Azgeocaching.com has not only provided a friendly natured 
competition thru the rankings.. but the rankings have always provided us 
with team specific data for PDA and GPS downloads and such to make caching 
on the go easy and quick for me. These stats are no more since gc.com will 
not allow the azg.com access to the data on the main site. I dont cache for 
the numbers anymore, but I do still enjoy caching and having the downloads 
sure makes caching on the go easy.

Much like Gale said, I certainly would not have gotten as interested in the 
game if it wasnt for azgeocaching.com.

I had a month to month $3 membership to gc.com for a short time and I didnt 
feel the additional provisions where worth the $30 a year. Some cachers have 
told me I should support the main site anyways since they give us this game 
to play. Azgeocaching.com gives me everything I need to play the game too. 
If the main site will not support the local sites, I see no reason to 
support the main site.

On the flip side of this argument...

I admit another reason I wasnt a premium member of the main site was because 
the features I got from the prem membership, I could also get for free from 
azgeocaching.com. Perhaps that may play a factor in why gc.com doesnt allow 
these local sites to crawl the main site for data? I simply found azg.com's 
file downloads simpler to use and more user friendly. They are also specific 
to Arizona and since I only cache in Arizona... those data downloads were 
all I ever needed.

Either side of the argument you look at... there is no doubt that the local 
sites benefit the main site in providing some sense of community on the 
local level. This in turn keeps local geocachers interested in the game. A 
game that might be short lived for some ("oh I went for a few, it was fun 
but I got over it and moved on"), became more fun as there was a sense of 
community developed thru the local sites with chat rooms, listservs and of 
course event caches. Geocaching is a very social game and a great way to 
make new friends. I know I have made alot of new friends thru this game.

Scott
Team Ropingthewind