Groundspeak Portal

dinoprophet:

I've been considering posting a Waymarking thread in Off-Topic, just to remove the virtual aspect from the discussion.

There's an idea.

Some time ago I thought about starting a topic in the Geocaching Topics talking about how Waymarking and Geocaching can both be enjoyed by the same person, acknowledging up front that Waymarking isn't an exact replacement for virtuals in an effort to keep the critics at bay.

But then I realized that that probably wouldn't stop certain detractors from referring to Waymarking as "lame", so I never did.

I dont get what makes Virtuals so appealing. There are many on The Mall in DC. Is visitin g the Lincoln Memorial better with a Virtual than visiting without one? In both cases you're visiting an interesting location.

I think the main reason for nostalgia for virtuals is the fact that they were taken away. "Big bad GC.com took them away, so we want them back!"

Whether they would actually improve the game if they came back is neither here nor there. They probably wouldn't. They'd add an intolerable burden on the volunteer reviewers and they'd become as cheap as micros in the street lamps for bumping up numbers.

Probably the main reason that WM is not a replacement for virts is because it's a whole new game (and - IMO - way better). But virts were never more than an add-on to the main business of tupperware in caching. So if your main interest is tupperware hunting (nothing wrong with that - I do it myself) you may not want a whole new game with a different set of stats.

Last weekend we walked out to find a cache in some dunes. It turned out to be a fantastic walk, and we discovered a rare species of fungi we'd never seen before (another hobby - Sieni is the Finnish word for mushroom). Score one for Geocaching.

Later when we got home I spent an hour or so researching a monument that we found to two pilots killed during WWII, and learned the story of them and their squadron. Score one for Waymarking.

Two different games, two very different experiences. Both really worthwhile. Arguing with people who are convinced that one is lame and aren't interested in it is kind of pointless. Unless, of course, you enjoy it ;)

dinoprophet:

I've been considering posting a Waymarking thread in Off-Topic, just to remove the virtual aspect from the discussion.

I'll post in it.

A quick suggestion, though. Don't make it a discussion type of thread. If it's a discussion, the virtual fans will jump in and it will turn to crap after that. Just call it "All Things Waymarking" or something. Then us waymarkers will go in and chat and stuff. I've got some pics to post. Don't exclude Virtual fans, but don't necessarily invite them either.

simpjkee:

dinoprophet:

I've been considering posting a Waymarking thread in Off-Topic, just to remove the virtual aspect from the discussion.

I'll post in it.

A quick suggestion, though. Don't make it a discussion type of thread. If it's a discussion, the virtual fans will jump in and it will turn to crap after that. Just call it "All Things Waymarking" or something. Then us waymarkers will go in and chat and stuff. I've got some pics to post. Don't exclude Virtual fans, but don't necessarily invite them either.

Since they are separate games, there is no real reason to post anything Waymarking in the Geocaching Forums. We would not be happy if they came in here, so it makes sense when they aren't happy when we post in there.

The truth of the matter is, a small faction is still wanting Virtuals to be reinstated. So far, those requests have fallen on deaf ears. I mean no disrespect but unless Jeremy, Bryan and Elias say they want them back... they ain't coming back.

I happen to feel that much of Waymarking and Geocaching is lame, if I were to use that word. But I happen to enjoy lame... I enjoy it a lot. And I do understand that logging a Virtual and logging a Waymark is fundamentally the exact same thing. Maybe my problem is that I also understand that one of them I can make and the other I can't, and since I've accepted that then I've been able to move on.

Geocachers cannot hide things in National Parks. Terracachers do. If you want to hide a container in a National Park then perhaps Terracaching is an option. If you want to provide a point of interest then perhaps Waymarking is an option. If you don't like those options... well, Geocaching isn't an option either.

BQ

the blue quasar:

I happen to feel that much of Waymarking and Geocaching is lame, if I were to use that word. But I happen to enjoy lame... I enjoy it a lot. BQ

Beautifully put.

the blue quasar:

Since they are separate games, there is no real reason to post anything Waymarking in the Geocaching Forums. We would not be happy if they came in here, so it makes sense when they aren't happy when we post in there.

That's exactly why I'd put it in Off-Topic.  It's as valid there as anything else.  And it would remove some of the discussion from the main forum.

But I haven't got around to it yet.  Maybe this weekend.

Team Sieni:

the blue quasar:

I happen to feel that much of Waymarking and Geocaching is lame, if I were to use that word. But I happen to enjoy lame... I enjoy it a lot. BQ

Beautifully put.

Well put.  One of the main reasons I am here is the "lameness" of the other activity.  At least here it is easier for me to filter out what I think is "lame" and see things I want to see.

the blue quasar:

I happen to feel that much of Waymarking and Geocaching is lame, if I were to use that word. But I happen to enjoy lame... I enjoy it a lot. BQ

I do to. A couple nights ago, I spent $2.02 smashing pennies in a penny smashing machine and had a great time doing it!!

People are funny, why don’t they just live and let live.

On Dartmoor we have letterboxing, which started in 1859, it has grown massively in the past 30 years. Then came the GPS about 2000 some people bought GPSs and clues started to go out on the moor with UK 10 figured map references, so then a lot more people started use the GPS myself included. But you get some letterboxers that HATE the GPS and would never lower themselves to use one.

Then geocaching started, again some letterboxers like myself do both and others HATE geocachers with a passion. They complain of the rubbish they put in their caches etc.

I belong to a letterboxing forum, several of us cache as well and every time caching was mentioned it would set off one of the elderly letterboxer with some nasty comments, in the end the forum leader created a private section just for the cachers as we were getting so fed up with this person.

 

Letterboxer have come to an agreement over many years as to where and where not to put boxes, and all seems to be running smoothly for years now.

Geocachers come along and are told that geocaching is fine on the moor, just keep to the letterboxing code. Which fair enough after all its just boxes under rocks. Unfortunately the present reviewers have insisted on permission for caches in sensitive areas to be sought before the cache goes live, cache setters have to get permission from Natural England, the landowner, and the Dartmoor National Park Authority.

Yesterday I found this on the GAGB site. It is permission refused for and area of Dartmoor called Roos Tor.

 http://www.gagb.co.uk/gagb/glad/agreement_view.php?p=84   I know this tor well; there must be something like a hundred letterboxes in the area.  Anyone who wants to put a box in the area just does it. Because the reviewer insists on permission the DNPA have refused. These organisations will soon if not already get very fed up with the geocachers if every time someone wants to put a cache out they are contacted for permission.

 

I am so glad I don’t put out any caches now (as a protest against the reviewer giving permission for caches in archaeological remains)

 

And I am also glad we as waymarkers don’t have any of these problems.  

 

Isn’t earth caches the same as virtual caches?   

One of the respondents in the last virtuals thread posted a poll offsite asking if Virtuals should be returned to geocaching.

For those of you following the Thread it might be something to weigh in on.

The Alabama Rambler Micropoll regarding Virtuals.

I saw that poll. I think he mentioned something about that if GS saw that people wanted Virtuals back that they'd consider it, but I don't at all see that happening.

I voted in the poll and I'm surprised by the current results. 49 for "bring them back", 46 for "don't bring them back".

It's a lot closer than I thought it would be. I figured the "bring them back" votes would be dominating.

Virtual Cache=Waymark

Earthcache= Former Waymarking Category

they tried to move it, but the cachers had such a fit they moved it back....BQ has a record of one he posted...

I have been geocaching for eight years now, and have recently really been doing some waymarks. I have moved from CA to MO four years ago, and with my work (medical sales) I just don't have the time to go caching as much. With waymarking I  look at where I'm going for the day, and if I have some extra time I go out a find a few. I'm not worried about the PQ's, as I can remember off the top of my head the ones that looked interesting to me, and if I miss it while I am in town oh well I'll be back again. I am one of the cachers with one virtual that has been grandfathered in. I have been thinking of disabling it, but then It is such a cool place I don't. I will continue to do both, but I am finding that I like waymarking better. And to those cachers that complain about the fast food places, don't find them and quit worrying about your numbers.

Thanks for letting me rant.

Kudos to BruceS, Dinoprophet, and Max and 99 for their defense of Waymarking in this week's version of the "Bring Back Virtuals"  topic.

And thanks to Keystone, for supporting the rights of on-topic responders who want to contribute to the discussion.

cache_test_dummies:

Kudos to BruceS, Dinoprophet, and Max and 99 for their defense of Waymarking in this week's version of the "Bring Back Virtuals"  topic.

And thanks to Keystone, for supporting the rights of on-topic responders who want to contribute to the discussion.

I always get sucked in.

Really, though, I stand by what I said in that thread.  It's only when people start bashing the site that I'm compelled to jump in.  If you want to talk virtuals without discussing waymarking, don't mention waymarking in your post.

cache_test_dummies:

Kudos to BruceS, Dinoprophet, and Max and 99 for their defense of Waymarking in this week's version of the "Bring Back Virtuals"  topic.

And thanks to Keystone, for supporting the rights of on-topic responders who want to contribute to the discussion.

And to tozainamboku too.

Yes, Toz doesn't hang here much but he is a voice of reason.

QuesterMark:

And to tozainamboku too.

Absolutely. He hadn't posted in the thread at the time I made my post above, otherwise I would have mentioned him.

tozainamboku has been one of the strongest defenders of Waymarking since the beginning. His posts in those discussions are clear, on-topic, and factual. He has probably taken more heat, and provided more historically relevant explanations, than anyone who has participated in those discussions.

cache_test_dummies:

.... and provided more historically relevant explanations, than anyone who has participated in those discussions.

Very true, if only some would stop to listen.

i think cachers tend to have three mouths, whereas we have two ears and a mouth....

and he [toz] seems to be on top of all WM related discussions in feedback....he is a waymarker isnt he? i thought i knew the name....

The OP in that thread has politely posted that opposing views are welcome.  That should be a given, but it's not his fault that it had to be made clear.

dinoprophet:

cache_test_dummies:

Kudos to BruceS, Dinoprophet, and Max and 99 for their defense of Waymarking in this week's version of the "Bring Back Virtuals"  topic.

And thanks to Keystone, for supporting the rights of on-topic responders who want to contribute to the discussion.

I always get sucked in.

Really, though, I stand by what I said in that thread.  It's only when people start bashing the site that I'm compelled to jump in.  If you want to talk virtuals without discussing waymarking, don't mention waymarking in your post.

Yup.

BQ

Having had a browse around I think GS should have another new, separate forum called "Bring Back Virtuals".  In this you are only allowed to post threads entitled "Bring Back Virtuals".  A new forum somewhere a long, long, way away.

can that be combined with dont move earthcaches, or is that another new one itself?