Editing D or T rating on active caches

[Todd300]

How does editing the difficulty or terrain rating of an active cache affect the statistics of a geocacher that found that cache previously, especially one that is shooting for a well rounded cacher challenge? I hope I make sense here.

[Mathman]

You definitely make sense because I have always wondered the same thing!

[gotta run]

It changes the D/T rating so you’re screwed if you’re counting on that one, unless you get special dispensation from the CO.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[CodeJunkie]

BakRdz and I have discussed this a number of times. It would be nice if the D/T were locked at the time you logged it, but it doesn’t work that way. This would be great for those caches that get easier / harder during the winter. If the cacher is using GSAK you can override the values, but that has a whole different set of downsides.

[gotta run]

Keeping in mind that stats are meaningless, it’s not about the numbers, yada yada yada…

This is very frustrating when COs put out a whopper of a D5 puzzle and we bust our humps solving it, only to see the CO decide a few months later to put in hints and cut the D in half. 😥

Yeah yeah, it doesn’t matter, but I like having those 5s on the grid, what can I say? So it would be nice to lock those at a point in time.

I wonder if that suggestion has been on the groundspeak feedback feature.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[CodeJunkie]

Maybe if Groundspeak “fixes” this I can up my Wet Maze this summer to a T5. 😆 😆 😆

[BakRdz]

Just did a cache with a D rating of 4.5. I’ll be interested if it stays that because it probably shouldn’t be rated that hard.

Like GR said, doesn’t really matter unless you have one of those “odd” ones that people collect for stats. However, I’ve thought about if it would be possible to have different rating for different times of the year. As example, I’ve “cheated” and walked to a few of GRs island caches. They are rated appropriately high for most of the year, but in January when I did them…2’s at best.

Bottom line, unless you made it a 4.5 or higher and are dropping it, not sure many people will even notice.

[gotta run]

@BakRdz wrote:

As example, I’ve “cheated” and walked to a few of GRs island caches.

WHAT!!!! I had no idea… Cheater cheater pumpkin eater….

On the Left Side of the Road...

[CodeJunkie]

@gotta run wrote:

@BakRdz wrote:

As example, I’ve “cheated” and walked to a few of GRs island caches.

WHAT!!!! I had no idea… Cheater cheater pumpkin eater….

They were puzzles and the coords were “published” so we figured we’d keep on cheating. 😆 😆 😆

[gotta run]

Well I’m still ticked. If has a boat attribute on it you better use a boat even if it means dragging it behind you on the ice in winter.

All right, I think I’ve stolen and beaten this thread to death. Sorry Todd300….

On the Left Side of the Road...

[BakRdz]

@gotta run wrote:

If has a boat attribute on it you better use a boat even if it means dragging it behind you on the ice in winter.

What if I had to pull another cacher along behind me because they kept slipping on the ice?

Ok…now I’m done stealing this thread.

[CodeJunkie]

Back on topic – I think the important things are (my opinions):

1) D/T may vary in these parts depending on the seasons.
2) D/T is open for interpretation and what I call a 3 might be somebody else 2 or 4.
3) Unless the hide has changed significantly from it’s original placement I wouldn’t change it. If it did and there’s major D/T changes then I’d archive the old and place a new stating it’s easier or harder than the previous one.
4) Anything less than 4 (for either D/T) and I wouldn’t worry about adjusting by 1/2 to 1 point each. There’s plenty of caches to fill the 3.5 and below portions of the grid.
5) If you’re the owner – it’s yours to do as you see fit and if it happens to hose the grid of 1 or 2 cachers, so be it.

[JimandLinda]

I think that the fact that we have 4 seasons here (unlike, say, Hawaii) will always keep a CO guessing on whether to change the *s or not. In winter, some will get easier…some will get harder. The D/T isn’t a pure science, just a judgement call. I just changed the *s on a 2 year old cache, based on the number of DNFs and comments on how difficult it was.
Not sure about the answer on the original question, but I believe GR has the correct answer from the start.
Hopefully, T&B will pipe in, since they’ve been “well-rounded” 4 times.

[redwingrr]

My current perspective… the D/T ratings are really not very meaningful. We’ve just been at this for a year and almost have our grid filled in once. Filling it turned out to be a really fun exercise and we’ll probably do it again. But I think the stats are only meaningful over a large sample of caches… more than 1 or 2 per rating, IMO.

The D/T of my own caches vary dramatically – with season, with time (things change) and with “traffic”. There is no one rating that solves the puzzle for a particular cache and I wouldn’t want to try to re-gauge it at various times either. I just think you can’t take the numbers too seriously. Hopefully they’re in the ball park relative to others in the region. I’ll just leave them as is – for some it’s a benefit, for others a disadvantage.

Just this AM I looked at the new location of one of my TBs. It’s in GC24BZZ It’s a 4.5 terrain and the elevation change between parking and cache is about 1700 feet. None of the 4.5s I’ve done were anywhere near as physically demanding as that. But I wouldn’t say the ratings were wrong. It’s just all so relative and subjective. That’s ok with me. It’s all good.

[Trekkin and Birdin]

As someone said, for caches rated 4 and below, probably not a big concern for those who enjoy rounding out that D/T grid. Of course, we don’t love seeing one of those toughies get changed on us, but someone’s grid shouldn’t be the determining factor for a cache owner. We’ve “lost” critical cells a few times along the way as the result of a change, and while it sets us back, it also gives us a new adventure to seek out to “plug” that hole. For the longest time, we only needed two more caches old enough to qualify us for the original well rounded in California. Ran the macro and noticed…..what? No 3/4.5 from before 4/6/07? There used to be!

We still haven’t figured out which one got changed, but we’ll get that one replaced and have fun doing it. I’ve heard there’s some kind of macro that “locks” one’s finds for a given date in time, but we’ve never bothered to hunt that one down. As a team that enjoys well rounded challenges (along with many others) and who owns the one for the Badger state, we’d rather see people qualify fairly on the date they find ours. I know at least one team has had a cache swing back and forth with the seasons, and finally got things lined up to get the WRC when the stars aligned, before it swung back again.

In the end….it’s just a game. 😯 Enjoy it the way you wish!

[Author]

Posts