ALR Caches Are No Longer Allowed

[gotta run]

@Trekkin’ and Birdin’ wrote:

I did see a cacher near my parents’ home posting on every single ALR cache yesterday….”Is this open for grabbing per the new gs rules?”

Man! Does that “grabbing” epitomize the attitude here or what?!!

There are always those who will not give anything back to this game I guess. Geocaching depends on the welfare of others to continue (quite literally, in both time and expense), and just like life there will be those who take and take and take….

On the Left Side of the Road...

[Team Deejay]

@Lostby7 wrote:

So would I be correct in assuming that travel bug “prisons” which require a trade in order to move bugs are now optional as well? So who is responsible for replacing the deleted logs once cache owners delete the finds? The reviewers? Don’t they already have enough to do?

I just think this causes more problems than it solves…

It would, but these threats were already not allowed before the guidelines change. Travel bugs and geocoins belong to their owner, not the owner of a cache, so cache owners are not allowed to dictate what happens to the bugs in their cache. To be honest, I’m not aware of anyone threatening to delete logs if someone doesn’t follow their trading rules, but maybe there are a few out there.

[labrat_wr]

What’s an ALR?????

😯 😯 😆 😆 😛 😛

Disclaimer : Always answering to a higher power.

[Mister Greenthumb]

@gotta run wrote:

There are always those who will not give anything back to this game I guess. Geocaching depends on the welfare of others to continue (quite literally, in both time and expense), and just like life there will be those who take and take and take….

Since I haven’t hunted many ALR’s or hidden any I don’t have much of an opinion on the subject. However, I strongly agree with gr about giving back to the geocaching community. We are approaching our 100th hide and are in the process of completing a hide of a 7 part series. One of the first geocachers we met was Tami of the Ecorangers who always posts “thanks for giving back to the geocaching community”. Sometimes reading the log from someone who enjoyed one of our caches can be just as rewarding as finding yours. So wether you agree or not with ALR’s please do remember that there is a great deal of time, effort and sometimes expense in placing and maintaining all types of hides. Even if it’s only about the numbers for you the only way you get them is through the hard work and effort of the minority of those participating in the game.

[Decrepit]

labrat_wr wrote:

What’s an ALR?????

Additional Logging Requirement

[Decrepit]

@Mister Greenthumb wrote:

… I strongly agree with gr about giving back to the geocaching community.

I’m sure there are others out there in the same situation I am. I would love to give back by placing caches and have come up with some different container ideas and puzzle ideas, however the areas close to home seem to be saturated by micros. Because of this, and other medical issues that have come up in the last year, I have no nearby places where a cache can be placed. 🙁

[Decrepit]

@Mister Greenthumb wrote:

… I strongly agree with gr about giving back to the geocaching community.

I’m sure there are others out there in the same situation I am. I would love to give back by placing caches and have come up with some different container ideas and puzzle ideas, however the areas close to home seem to be saturated by micros. Because of this, and other medical issues that have come up in the last year, I have no nearby places where a cache can be placed. 🙁

[gotta run]

I should clarify that there are many ways to “give back” to the community, IMO, including but not limited to…

-Placing well-maintained caches
-Finding and logging caches as owners design them, as recognition of the work they put into them
-Participating in CITOs
-Being an advocate in the community, with local parks depts., etc
-Serving actively on a WGA committee

And so on and so forth.

I believe that anyone who can find the time to go out and find caches also has the time and responsibility to do some of these things.

But, we are straying from the topic, albeit a pretty well-hashed one at present.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[seldom|seen]

Thanks to everyone for their insightful comments. The decision certainly struck a raw nerve with me, but then if affected 15 of my own creative caches with ALR’s and how could I not feel affronted?

Anyone who has experience with my caches can comprehend the breadth of time, energy and intent behind them – that they are ALWAYS about more then just snagging a find. But, I have to concede that there is nothing to be done about it now and I will simply have to live with those who choose to miss out on the opportunities provided.

Surely, I will edit my boilerplate to something a little more pallitable but still with the same overriding sentiment. If you don’t want to get out of my caches what I put into them, then just skip them and move on. I will never understand why this is such a hard thing for some cachers to do and why some cannot comprehend the notion that I would rather have 5 finders who truly appreciate a cache of mine than 500 who don’t.

Now I have to get back to the workbench to complete the 100 underwater cache containers I’ve been working on… Winnebago is a BIG lake…

[GetMeOutdoors]

@labrat_wr wrote:

By making the ALRs optional will certainly dilute the experience of some caches out there but I also have a feeling that a lot of geocachers out there will take on that optional challenge and thus gain the full value of these caches.

Sorry for piping in late but labrat is absolutely right. If the ALR is worth doing, it will be done. If it’s overly-lame or a waste of time, then it will get skipped. This change might actually IMPROVE the sport (rather than diluting it) by causing cache designers to put more thought into their OLR’s (optional logging requirements) to make them interesting and enjoyable. Though I’m unfamiliar with most of Alex’s ALR caches, they seem to be interesting enough to want to do the additional things anyway and tell about them in the log. Maybe that’s the kind of example people will look to as they develop “requirements” going forward.

[Lostby7]

@GetMeOutdoors wrote:

If the ALR is worth doing, it will be done. If it’s overly-lame or a waste of time, then it will get skipped. This change might actually IMPROVE the sport (rather than diluting it) by causing cache designers to put more thought into their OLR’s (optional logging requirements) to make them interesting and enjoyable. Though I’m unfamiliar with most of Alex’s ALR caches, they seem to be interesting enough to want to do the additional things anyway and tell about them in the log. Maybe that’s the kind of example people will look to as they develop “requirements” going forward.

I agree with that line of thought and S|S “Consult the Oracle” has been on my todo list for a very long time. I actually found the cache a couple of years ago but didn’t have time to sketch the art (plus it was dark out at the time). Eventually I’ll grab that one ❗

If it’s worth doing people will do it…if they choose not to…so be it. Their loss.

[labrat_wr]

@Decrepit wrote:

@labrat_wr wrote:

What’s an ALR?????

Additional Logging Requirement

sorry Decrepit, I was being a bit goofy waiting until the fourth page of the thread to throw this comment in.

I guess the 😯 😯 😆 😆 😛 😛 got missed at the end of the post.

Disclaimer : Always answering to a higher power.

[Decrepit]

It could also be that I’m loopy on pain killers! 😆

[-cheeto-]

My initial post that started this thread spelled out the acronym ALR… I guess I could have explained what they were better for the masses. My bad..

[Mathman]

@-cheeto- wrote:

My initial post that started this thread spelled out the acronym ALR… I guess I could have explained what they were better for the masses. My bad..

What’s an acronym?????

😆 😉

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