crappy logs bugging me

[zuma]

[WStemple]

Almost forgot another point:

A good number of people are using smart phones to cache. Those apps allow them to log while on the go. The smart phone allows them to dictate the log.

One less excuse to not “write” more than TFTC!

[JimandLinda]

This is a touchy issue. I mentioned my niece from Oklahoma last November, when this topic popped up. She caches with 3 children in tow and is looking forward to the day when she can write logs! She uses her smartphone to seek and usually log a one word verification. She said that she at least wants the CO to know that the container is present.

I’d love to get long sagas on my caches, but the length of log is usually relative to the difficulty of the hide. If ‘TFTC’ is all there is, I think of my niece and her kids, and feel good that a cache was present to be found.

[grandpa_r]

[BigJim]

The bottom line is what the CO does when he/she gets fed up with all the TFTC and 🙂 logs on their caches. We had a CO in N. Central WI not to long ago who pulled all his caches for this very reason. Without COs hiding and maintaining caches, Groundspeak doesn’t have a game to administer.

All opinions, comments, and useless drivel I post are mine alone and do not reflect the opinions of the WGA BOD.

[labrat_wr]

For physical caches all logging requirements beyond finding the cache and signing the log are considered additional logging requirements (Lars) and must be optional.

find my caches, sign the log but if all you can muster online is a 🙂 or TFTC, don’t bother logging it online

Disclaimer : Always answering to a higher power.

[CodeJunkie]

@zuma wrote:

The ALR rules have nothing to do with paying the debt that cache finders owe to cache hiders.

WHOA. I totally disagree with this statement as I don’t agree that finders are indebted to hiders. If finders were indebted to us hiders Groundspeak would have implemented a micropayment scheme where finders would be charged for each find and a portion would be credited to the hider. My opinion, but the “mileage” of others may vary.

I, like most CO’s, appreciate a well written log. Over the years many of you fellow WGA members have also helped me over the hump about this though and I’m grateful for it. I used to get completely whipped out about these types of logs, but not anymore. I shrug it off and move on with my day. I didn’t use to be able to do this, but over time have come to realize that I can’t control the actions of others, so it doesn’t pay to sweat the small stuff.

I understand different cachers like different things and do things differently. I enjoy puzzles and sharing my experiences from the field. Others enjoy posting photos. Others enjoy being out with a group of friends and just log a TFTC. That’s the cool part about this sport that we can all enjoy it a bit differently.

[zuma]

@BigJim60 wrote:

The bottom line is what the CO does when he/she gets fed up with all the TFTC and 🙂 logs on their caches. We had a CO in N. Central WI not to long ago who pulled all his caches for this very reason. Without COs hiding and maintaining caches, Groundspeak doesn’t have a game to administer.

Exactly correct.

If I were ever to commit geocide, I would have to consider using my last few days on-line going thru old logs and delete, delete, delete.

z

[zuma]

@JimandLinda wrote:

This is a touchy issue. I mentioned my niece from Oklahoma last November, when this topic popped up. She caches with 3 children in tow and is looking forward to the day when she can write logs! She uses her smartphone to seek and usually log a one word verification. She said that she at least wants the CO to know that the container is present.

I’d love to get long sagas on my caches, but the length of log is usually relative to the difficulty of the hide. If ‘TFTC’ is all there is, I think of my niece and her kids, and feel good that a cache was present to be found.

Well, if letting the CO know that the cache is still there is her only motive in logging the find, then she did that with that the TFTC log, and she surely will not mind having her log deleted. If she would mind having the log deleted, then obviously she has other motives for making the log, and you might want to take the time to provide her some education as to what is expected.

z

[CodeJunkie]

Zuma – I’m hoping to do some of your challenge caches in the future. I guarantee you won’t get any TFTC logs from me.

[zuma]

@CodeJunkie wrote:

Zuma – I’m hoping to do some of your challenge caches in the future. I guarantee you won’t get any TFTC logs from me.

Thanks, I appreciate that. And I expect most experienced cachers already understand when a TFTC is enough, and when something else is expected. The new people however, need a little education, along with a little tolerance.

z

[CodeJunkie]

@zuma wrote:

@CodeJunkie wrote:

Zuma – I’m hoping to do some of your challenge caches in the future. I guarantee you won’t get any TFTC logs from me.

Thanks, I appreciate that. And I expect most experienced cachers already understand when a TFTC is enough, and when something else is expected. The new people however, need a little education, along with a little tolerance.

z

Agreed. I even reached out to a noob hider recently trying to provide some gentle guidance on some new caches that were placed. No response, so I’m not sure how they received it, but was trying to provide some insight from another CO’s perspective. They placed some cahces that won’t survive the first snowplowing, so I was trying to “warn” them ahead of time to spare them the headache of missing caches and the associated $$$ of replacing the purchased containers. I also expressed my thanks multiple time for willingly being a hider also because there aren’t as many hiders as finders. I approached it from an educational perspective so hopefully it was received that way.

[Crow-T-Robot]

I don’t let crappy logs bother me too much. They do confuse me, though. There are so many great caches that get TFTC logs and I am just confused on how finders could take so little from the experience that all they want to do is type in the least amount possible to be able to log a find.

The one thing about crappy logs that does bother me is the loss of the feeling of community that it brings with it. Without sharing your experiences, good or bad, this just becomes a numbers game. A TFTC or smiley face log tells me absolutely nothing about the cache besides that it was found. Caches are slowly being reduced to “check this box if you found this cache”. 🙁

For many CO’s, the reward for placing a cache is the logs you receive and being able to share in the adventure with the finder. With TFTC, there is no sharing of anything and CO’s eventually won’t be overly inspired to place anything beyond a park and grab cache, since numbers mean more than adventures to too many cachers.

Now, I’m not the most prolific cacher, so I can’t speak from the perspective of finding dozens or even hundreds of caches in a day/weekend (heck, 10 caches in a day is a lot for me). So, I get the reasoning behind some TFTC or cut-n-paste logs…I’m sure some caches are just a blur at the end of the day. I guess that’s where “play the game the way you want” comes from. Personally, I couldn’t imagine racking up cache after cache if they were so unmemorable.

[WStemple]

The flip-side of this is also newbies that place caches and have lame 1-2 lines descriptions. Please tell me a little bit more about this place so that I want to go visit it! I think we need to see what we can do to educate them also.

[Barry Butrymowicz]

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