Often one of the first things someone hears about Waymarking, after it being the replacement for Virtuals and Locationless Caches, involves a reference to McDonald's. Typically this seems to be a comment presented by those from Geocaching that still wish that Virtual Caches would return.
While those of us that have been involved with Waymarking for more than a year, some of us are nearly two and a half years, understand the scope of Waymarking is far beyond its roots but some back history might be of value to those coming in now as interest levels are increasing. What follows is a hope to explain how we reached the point we are at today. The accuracy of this posting is as close to the way I remember this all falling into place.
Set the wayback machine for 2003. Geocaching's primary activity was about locating containers with logbooks but there was still Virtuals being created. The main issue was that Virtuals were supposed to be in places where a physical cache could not exist. But still people kept trying to make more Virtuals and despite many suggestions like hiding an extremely small container or using data to create an offset, people still wanted to get this 'hard to come by' icon. A concept often refered to as the "Wow Factor" had also not succeeded in making Virtuals work properly. What one finds interesting another does not. The subjective nature of being interesting just could not be quantified and since the game of Geocaching was supposed to be primarily about hidden containers it was finally decided to phase out Virtuals.
But what to do? Many members of Geocaching still wanted to be able to make locations where they could just see something instead of having find a hidden container. The focus of the location was of key importance and some people just wanted to share these locations without the concern of a physical placement. Thus was born Waymarking. But instead of repeating the problems found in Virtuals, a new plan was brought forward. By organizing locations into basic groups then subdividing by more specific content people could create and search for locations that met their specific tastes.
Groundspeak first created several 'seed' categories to beta test and get some feel for how this new game could work. And in that time the first Waymark was created "McDonald's", as a sign that this would not be as restrictive as Virtuals had been. That bears further comment. The reason that McDonald's was introduced was to show people that Waymarking was going to be set up as a far more open approach to the places of interest people wanted to share. A kind of "anything goes" style where everyone could find their own place to share locations.
Next, the existing Locationless caches were offered the chance to migrate over to Waymarking as the second set of 'seed' categories. Some adjustments had to be made but most of them that did transfer over did so pretty much as they were originally created. As forum discussions about possible new categories continued, some were added over time. This would be the third set of 'seed' categories which would also be the last.
Once Waymarking had established a basic scheme of how categories would work and how people could create Waymark entries into these categories, it was time to move on to the version we have today. Around the time of Waymarking 2.0 the addition of the "Group Management System" was introduced. Premium members could create groups for the purpose of making a category for inclusion into the list of existing categories. The difference is that Geocaching submissions are handled on a local level whereas Waymarks are handled by people with a specific interest in the category topic. This is a much more global approach which is needed because nearly every Waymarking category can span the globe.
Anything of interest to you can likely be added to an existing Waymark category and if such an area does not exist then it likely can be created. However to view Waymarking based on the belief that it is nothing more than a place that shows people fastfood restaurants is the same as viewing Geocaching as a place that shows people guardrails and lampposts. Each game has very enjoyable aspects and some that are not as appealling. In here, you set the limits yourself.
Consider the entire Waymarking website as online library of places to visit, complete with descriptions, maps and images. Be selective in what you wish to look for, be open to expanding your horizons and above all else enjoy sharing the world through this game. Likely it is far more interesting than some would lead you to believe and hopefully you will find places where you can contribute to building onto this game. When in doubt, ask! We love to help people enjoy the game!
BQ