Ya know, there's not too many "members only caches" around. I was wondering if anyone had any insight as to why there's not... :confused: :confused: :confused:
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Ya know, there's not too many "members only caches" around. I was wondering if anyone had any insight as to why there's not... :confused: :confused: :confused:
'cause no one is a member:D :D
your opinion doesn't count, so just shush up and let the real cachers communicte. :p :p :pQuote:
Originally Posted by maclagan
Probably but this is just my opinion but I think that most people like to see their caches visited by all people who are interested in caching and not just someone who can afford the 30 bux a year to join or 3 bux a month. Just because it can be a members only cache doesn't make it any better either.The 1 or 2 members only caches I have visited were not any better than any of the other caches I have visited. The only advantage I can see in a members only cache is if the cache is in a high muggle area and has been stolen or muggled before and they want to keep it so only members can find it. I had thought about changing one of my caches to members only after the ammo can was stolen but I wouldn't give in to the idiots and put another out in the same place and it has been safe ever since.
At one time a couple of years ago we had some juveniles who were destroying caches just for the fun it but apparently they moved on to more destructive things. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of taking away mine or other cachers fun. Although we had 3 or 4 cachers that never put the caches back because of them.
The experience in this neck of the woods is people think members only caches are elitist. Not sure why but there was some complaints.
I have done one here in Halifax, Creatures of the Night, and it is probably my all-time favorite. The cache itself was filled with premium articles, I would guess the cache spent well over $100 to stock it. I did a few others in Moncton and the were just normal caches, in fact some were micros, so I am not sure what the point is.
I put my caches out to be found, I make my puzzle caches easy and if someone emails me thay are having trouble I give them as many hints as they want.
Any way that is 2 cents
dragonflys
I did something similar and have plans to release another cache similar to it . . . everything in the cache was worth $5 or more (although I know I didn't have $100 in cache goodies though!) It was more or less an experiment since I had recently done a lot of caches filled with junk . . . broken items, dirty items, even rocks. All I asked was that folks either sign the log and take nothing, sign the log and leave a signature item or sign the log and make a trade but only if it was worth $5 or more.Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonflys
So far folks seem to be honoring the cache requirements. I did not make this a members only cache since my feeling is that I want everyone to be able to find this cache and not just a select few . . . plus I've never ponied up the extra money to become a premium member (I can't really justify the expense since I don't believe I would use the additional benefits.)
I think you would be surprised. Once you start getting pocket queries you might wonder why you cached for so long without them. It makes it very easy to plan a caching trip and download them into your GPS even if you aren't paperless. I don't visit the GC.com website very often anymore, I get my PQs and browse geocaches in GSAK.Quote:
Originally Posted by firefighterjake
I don't know . . . I'm not that technically-smart. My wife gave me a PDA for Christmas and I ended up returning it. I still like scratching out my notes on scraps of paper, keeping track of my appointments with a small Smokey Bear calendar I keep in my pocket and doing caches with a sheet of paper in my hand . . . I'm one step away from being a Luddite. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Slate
Well I hope that maclagan does not take you serious in that comment and knows you kidding. LOL. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hiram357
No, he knows im serious. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by attroll
;) I am listing a new cache in another week or so, and starting with this new one, all my future caches will be members only for the first month or so.
I can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to be a member. If it wasn't for groundspeak, none of us would be able to enjoy this great game.
As a businessman, I feel it's not only a great investment in the future of the game, but the cheapest part of the whole thing.
If you can't afford the 30 bucks, how the heck can you afford the gpsr, the bug spray, the gas to get you there, the hiking boots, the backpack, the nightlight, etc, etc, etc.
Think about it, if there were no members, there would be no game!!!:)
I totally agree with you 100%. I have for over a year now been thinging of doing the same thing. But have just got off my butt to do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoamdezinahs
I think that would be an interesting way for a cache to begin it's life. I agree that with all the money so many of us spend to go caching the 30 dollars a year to support the website is the least we can do.
Have to admit here that we joined looking for the "extras" like members only caches and something else that I figured out with Google Earth. :rolleyes: Anyway, we do look at it as supporting our weekend fun. At least the kids don't want to just be couch potatoes now. :D
And I think that anyone willing to put up the $30 to be a MEMBER would take geocaching more seriously than someone who just happens to have a GPSr and thinks of geocaching as a HOBBY (Sheesh! - it's a way of life! :D :D ).Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoamdezinahs
And anyone who takes geocaching SERIOUSLY, is probaby more likely to place meaningful geocaches and properly maintain them, respect private property, and respect TB's (not grab one and forget about it).
As a non-premium member I suppose I fall into the category of one of those people who look at geo-caching as just a hobby . . . the way I figure it my time here on the earth is short and while I love geo-caching I don't want to miss out on everything else that life offers as well which is why it's just a hobby for me and it truly isn't about the numbers or first to finds (although it's fun to get one of those once in a blue moon.)Quote:
Originally Posted by WhereRWe?
That said, even as a "hobbyist" I would like to think that I've given back to geo-caching by placing meaningful caches and continuing to maintain them . . . heck, when I got into this I even made myself a vow to try to establish a new cache for every 25 or so finds as a way of giving something back to this hobby.
Personally the way I look at it there are many ways to contribute to any activity . . . and making a financial donation to a supporting organization (i.e. geocaching.com) is just one of those ways. Other ways to contribute to this activity could include hosting geo-caching events, placing caches, practicing CITO, etc. In my humble opinion, giving a financial donation isn't the only way to prove that a person is serious . . . in geo-caching or in life in general.
I like this idea. If I had to hazard a guess those true die-hard geo-cachers (i.e. the ones who go out at night, think nothing of hiking in two feet of snow, will rise at 3 a.m. to be a FTF) are probably also premium members since there would be some significant benefits for them. In this way, the die-hard geo-cachers would get a real benefit by having it only open to the members . . . and for those more casual geo-cachers who may view geo-caching as something to do on an off day with the family or as an excuse to get some exercise in a few weeks they too could enjoy finding the cache and discovering a new-found spot along with the rest of the geo-caching community. This seems like a win-win situation . . . plus the cacher who placed the cache should (in theory) continue to have a large number of geo-cachers check out his or her cache.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoamdezinahs
As for the comment about why some folks would not pony up the $30 fee for the premium membership . . . you can read by comments in the post above . . . and also be aware that while $30 isn't a whole lot to some people when you've got other hobbies or obligations with $25 needed here for a donation, $10 here for another donation, etc. it can add up. While geo-caching could be expensive, I originally bought the GPSr for another reason and got into geo-caching more or less as something to do once in a while, the only real cost I have is in gas . . . and I often can justify this expense with careful planning (i.e. geocaching on the way to grocery shopping, etc.) Batteries are rechargeables, boots are what I've had for years, I don't use bug spray (I'm naturally repellant . . . just ask anyone around me after I have some garlic bread :) ) and the signature ladders I make are made out of scrap pine wood.
That said, I appreciate what the folks at geocaching.com do . . . I would be more inclined (to be honest) to send in a donation if something was set up like Rick did here . . . where it was voluntary and a few extras were thrown in . . . heck, I wouldn't even care if I got the extras or not.
I would guess that you're an exception to the rule! LOL!Quote:
Originally Posted by firefighterjake
I use for members only in an other way. All new caches that I place are for members only until they have been found several times then I open them up. I do this so that people that pay have first chance at finding the cache. I know that not what members only is for but that is how I use it.:D
I noticed that and quite honestly I like the concept even though I'm not a premium/paying member (I still don't see a lot of benefit to me as a paper geocacher . . . Becket is still trying to sway me to the darkside, but gosh darn it I like feeling as though I'm helping the Maine paper industry! :D ;) ) The logic in doing what you have done NE makes a lot of sense to me and yet it opens things up to the entire geocaching community . . . eventually.Quote:
Originally Posted by Northwoods Explorer
that's me - all about the dark side! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by firefighterjake
Hoamdezinahs : I can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to be a member. If it wasn't for groundspeak, none of us would be able to enjoy this great game.
You might only GeoCache, not Letterbox, but I can assure you that the game in general LONG predates geocaching.com. It even predates letterboxing.org, and in fact the internet itself by about a century - Although the original Dartmoor style differs quite a lot from what we have here in the US today.
Think about it, if there were no members, there would be no game!!!
Now turn that thought around - The members make the game, not the website. The website makes it quite a lot more convenient to find caches than hunting them down on individual pages, but it doesn't "make" the game.
Yeah, of course I can afford $3/mo or $30/year... I pay that much each morning for coffee! But it bothers me that you, or Haffy, or WhereRWe, or parmachenee, or even me (if I ever get around to planting a cache :o ) pays for the box itself, the initial contents, the toys we swap in and out, the logs, and arguably if someone sued because they got hurt, either us or the landowners (but probably not GroundSpeak) would get to enjoy the liability - Yet GC.com has the gall to offer "premium" content.
Don't get me wrong, I don't grudge any hobbyist site for trying to cover expenses, even if they need to go members-only to pay the bills. But "covering expenses" falls into a whole different sport, nevermind just the ballpark, than existing as a for-profit entity that "creates the toolset for building location-based adventures in the real world".
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Originally Posted by ribnag
I'm a little confused here. Why the anti-geocaching.com slant? Did someone pressure you into joining? It really should be left up to the individual and I think that people may have suggested that you "join" but would never "rate" or stereotype you if you did not.
I won't argue with you when you say, "The members make the game...", but I will counter with; Geocaching.com has become synonymous with what geocaching is today. If not for Geocaching.com and their effort and dedication to the website, geocaching would not be where it is today. Even the term "geocaching" was coined by the founding fathers of Geocaching.com.
While no one is pressuring you to join, I think that if you truly enjoy the sport that you may want to consider what they offer and what they have done for the sport. I contribute annually not as a status symbol or for what I can get out of them (although the Pocket Queries are great!!!!LOL) but to give a little back to those that have essentially defined the sport of geocaching. And that means, by contributing to GC.com and helping them cover their cost all the members benefit.
Cache On!!!!
...not to mention that if you think the GC.com servers are slow on the weekend, just imagine what they would be like if there was no funding for more servers/bandwidth. When you get thousands of people checking in every day, you chew through bandwidth, and that = $.
Trezurs*-R-*Fun : Why the anti-geocaching.com slant?
Sorry, I really didn't mean to sound anti-geocaching. I love doing it, and I enjoy meeting fellow cachers. My mention of LBing I gave only as a sort of proof-of-concept, not to say I consider one better than the other. :o
I just see GroundSpeak as a little more... I dunno. I get the feeling that it will get more and more restrictive of the "free" part (as it has progressively don so far) until newbies all but need to "pay to play", which seems somehow against the spirit of the very game that I will readily admit GC.com makes far richer and more convenient.
Perhaps I should just enjoy the game today and not worry so much about concerns that might never happen - Can't blame anyone but me for my own fears, eh? :)
Also, I haven't until this week engaged in anything but quick in-the-field conversation with fellow cachers - So I have five years of out-of-date opinions built up. :eek:
As an aside, it helps to read just about everything I write with a winking smiley at the end - I very rarely mean anything in a truly caustic manner, and if I've come across as such, blame the medium for making it too easy to sharpen my words while not providing a good nonverbal channel with which to temper them.
Speaking as one of "field" cachers you've met I can safely say that you don't seem to be an angry:D cacher. You've hit the nail on the head concerning some of the problems we've seen of late with members conveying emotions here. Thanks and it was nice to meet you two.Quote:
Originally Posted by ribnag