Help me understand

WGA Member Joined: 2007-11-26 Posts: 3259

Okay, I can understand the desire to find caches by any means possible. But would somebody explain to me the appeal of armchair logging? Whether it's our German virtual travelers, or multiple teams signing people into the log who didn't visit the cache, I just don't get it. Is there some prize for a high electronic find count that I'm not aware of?

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:54 am

Yes, but if we told you about it, we would have to kill you.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:17 am

Has there been a recent rash?

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:22 am

I just have a question about this. Not that I am in favor of armchair logging. But... If you can use a satellite image to find say a large boot in a corn field, why is that not the same as standing there looking at it. You still found it right? There is no log book to sign so basically what's the difference? I know I will never be able to afford to travel to every country that has virtual caches and in a way it might be kind of cool to find them via a satellite image and actually get to see things I have not seen before or will never be able to visit.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:43 am

LDove wrote:

You still found it right?

The answer is no, you have not really found it.

(This is lame, and beside the point to be made here, but how do you know the image is an actual boot at that location, and not a doctored image, or a piece of painted paper or stone.)

Can you touch it? Smell it? Hear it? Taste it? Experience it with any other sense but see it? Can you experience the surroundings, or the journey to it? It's about the journey, as much as the destination. Just an opinion. Smile

(No more to say about it on our end, as this has the feeling of one of those downward-spiral discussions found on the ground-speak forums............)

Thanks for your time to read this.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:51 am

lone_gunman wrote:

Has there been a recent rash?

Yes, but the doctor gave me a cream for it. Laughing

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:53 am

At one point in time (maybe there still is) there was a high praise for the staus of how many caches you have logged. It may be about the numbers after all in some peoples minds.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:59 am

I don't do armchair logging for EC's or Virts, but I do lots of online research ahead of time (i.e. thinking of LDove's comments)

When we went to South Dakota this summer I did a number of EC's / Virts but tried to research them ahead of time. My reasons were:
1) Educate me and my family about why we're actually visiting the spot
2) Are there any "cool" things to check out while there or in the nearby vicinity
3) Reduce the time required to try and chase the answers down while at GZ so we can just experience GZ
4) Determine potential parking spots, approach, trails, etc.

I could have easily armchair logged most of the one we did, but the "smiley" isn't why I cache. For anyone that's been to the Black Hills, online photos just don't do the landscape justice. Being there in person and experiencing it in full 3D is just amazing. In fact one of the EC's I researched led us to hiking to the top of Bear Butte as a family which was an awesome experience. The hike wasn't required, but after we researched the history everyone wanted to make the climb. This led to a single smiley for 4+ hours of hiking, but is an experience my kids still talk about on a regular basis.

Sorry GR - I didn't really answer the question you asked, but ...

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:05 am

This is a family oriented forums, CJ. Final warning!

Oh wait... you said BEAR Butte...

Just helping the train wreck along...

WGA Member Joined: 2007-11-26 Posts: 3259

I haven't personally noticed the foreign incursion like we had a while back, but then again I don't have many caches that lend themselves to long distance logging. I have, however, noticed some teams that spread people out geographically & sign each other into logs. (Well, unless they're driving vehicles like Santa's sleigh that can defy the laws of physics.) If that's what turns your crank, fine, but I just don't get it and I was hoping somebody could enlighten me.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:48 pm

Vegas Gamblers wrote:

At one point in time (maybe there still is) there was a high praise for the staus of how many caches you have logged. It may be about the numbers after all in some peoples minds.

For me, this is not a reason, I could care less what my numbers are. The boot I mentioned is in New Port Richey, FL near my sister's house and I actually did go there - but... I could see it on satellite as well. Being limited with health concerns right now and maybe others who have the same issue, climbing mountains or going on long hikes may not be feasable for some... I'm just thinking that for those people who are physically challenged - it may not be a terrible thing for them to read about it on the cache page and then "visit it" virtually via satellite. Just adding another viewpoint, don't necessarily agree one way or the other - just thinking of it from a standpoint now of people who may or may not be able to get there whether it is a from a financial or physical standpoint.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:53 pm

gotta run wrote:

I haven't personally noticed the foreign incursion like we had a while back, but then again I don't have many caches that lend themselves to long distance logging. I have, however, noticed some teams that spread people out geographically & sign each other into logs. (Well, unless they're driving vehicles like Santa's sleigh that can defy the laws of physics.) If that's what turns your crank, fine, but I just don't get it and I was hoping somebody could enlighten me.

Sounds lame. I'll pass.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:10 pm

LDove wrote:

. . . just thinking of it from a standpoint now of people who may or may not be able to get there whether it is a from a financial or physical standpoint.

Ahhhhhhhhh.......... there is definitely an unmet need you're touching on here, that is bound to increase with time. A true Virtual Find. Perhaps something through groundspeak could be created: 'Visit-less Challenges', 'Vicarious Surrogating' (a novel smiley for the Vicarious one.....think this get's close to the 'how' of one of g_run's unfathomables....); or something outside of GS - NatGeo? More likely, Google/Google Earth (with ads), of course. There is an App-designer waiting in the wings to fulfill this market.

Thanks for this perspective. Smile

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:57 pm

gotta run wrote:

Okay, I can understand the desire to find caches by any means possible. But would somebody explain to me the appeal of armchair logging?

You answered your own question. "desire to find caches" (log)

This question and its responses will also show what a wonderfully diverse community geocachers encompass. One group is very much in the camp of play by the rules and do your own work, another will be score it using any means available and others yet will judge each case on it's own merits.

And we all should know by now that my camp is playing the game the correct way! And the rest of you in the other camps break the rules! Razz

Just kidding of course... But I do enjoy the passion we all bring to this activity.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:39 pm

Hmm, if you allow virtual logging on a travel bug, you risk having it locked, not so with a cache apparently.