Puzzle caches: when to archive?

[marc_54140]

I would like this to be a serious discussion.

Please take your jokes and funny comments to the Off Topic area.

There are lots of puzzles out there, and many do not see a lot of action.

What would be a good, or reasonable way of determining when the cache has run it’s course, and should be archived?

I’m thinking perhaps a ratio between number of months it’s been active, and the number of finds. Or number of logs? Or…..?

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

Tough one. I’ll have to give this one some thought before I answer.

[marc_54140]

Cache Name D M L M/L
Difficulty Months Logs

Carol for Papr D 5.0 9 20 2.22
Dave’s World of 2.5 17 5 0.29
Dead End #40 4.0 18 6 0.33
For Lttr words 3.0 16 6 0.38
Friends 4.5 14 5 0.36
I read 5.0 14 4 0.29
Just another a 4.0 13 7 0.54
Mijn Netherlan 4.0 10 6 0.60
Mother in law 2.5 14 6 0.43
One for the bir 2.5 17 5 0.29
On Wisconsin 3.0 25 5 0.20
Pole to Pole 4.0 32 7 0.22
POMC 1 2.0 11 6 0.55
POMC 2 2.0 10 6 0.60
POMC 3 2.0 9 6 0.67
POMC 5 2.0 6 5 0.83
POMC 6 2.0 6 5 0.83
POMC 7 2.0 5 5 1.00
POMS 8 2.0 2 5 2.50
POMC 9 2.0 2 5 2.50
PPPP 4.0 3 6 2.00
Revenge 5.0 6 7 1.17
Simple gifts 2.5 19 5 0.26
Pen Revisted 4.5 25 5 0.20
Penultimate 4.5 30 6 0.20
What’s the big 4.0 2 6 3.00
Zoe Bro de Bro 4.0 6 6 1.00

The number of logs listed includes notes. For example, on Carol for Papr Dolls, there are a lot of notes. But this indicates an active cache.

[shrek and fiona]

well think about it if you put out a regular cache should there be a limit as to how long it should be there.
it should be up to the person that put the cache out unless it has posts that it needs maintenance and the cache owner doesn’t respond then a review should archive it.

[sandlanders]

If you have difficulty maintaining a cache or it becomes too painful to see one so ignored, archive it. Otherwise, leave it for those of us who don’t live in the area and who would like to try some puzzle caches when we’re in the 54140 neighborhood.

Wait at least another winter on some. Some cachers like to solve the puzzles when the snow is too deep or the weather is too cold (or if one’s caching partner doesn’t like to go out much in the winter).

We put a puzzle cache out a week ago that no one has found, but the activity level isn’t as great here as it is where your caches are. No one has found a traditional cache of ours either that was put out at the same time.

[-cheeto-]

I’ve thought about this same question myself. Another thing to ponder is, do I turn some of my puzzles into traditionals with the same,similar, or altogether different theme, opening up the cache to be “re-discovered” by those who solved the puzzle and found by those who ignore puzzles?

For instance, my original Where’s Dave cache has pretty much died off in terms of “activity”. However, as others have pointed out time and again on mine, as soon as you go and archive one they let you know vocally that they had it solved and were waiting for the right opportunity to log the find.

Regardless, I have found posting notes regarding upcoming archiving helps out a lot.

[gotta run]

No guideline needed. Completely up to the owner and the usual considerations. A puzzle that is inactive but isn’t taking up prime real estate isn’t hurting anyone. Lots of new people coming into the game all the time and it’s good for them to see/do “legacy” caches and puzzles.

This seems to get back to similar “when to archive” threads. People who have “cleaned out” areas understandably want to see new stuff come in so they have something to do, but there are many other people playing.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[marc_54140]

I am thinking along the lines of what to consider before archiving a puzzle cache.

How do you tell when the action is over with, and the number of new finds is going to be really low.

And yes, I know the feeling, when having solved a puzzle, and it gets archived before I get to it. But they are usually a distance off, like down in Milwaukee or Racine, etc.

How long do you wait for someone from outside the area to come and find the puzzle they solved months ago? You usually only hear about them after you archive the cache.

I personally do not see a lot of outsiders logging local puzzles. It’s a matter of cachers not usually traveling far from home, and when they do it’s for numbers, not puzzles.

So, maybe not a hard and fast ‘guideline’, but some things to consider.

[gotta run]

Well, the question seems to be who are you placing the puzzle caches for? There is only a certain constituency of cachers in an area who will do puzzles so the find rate by default will drop quickly after publication. So if your objective is to keep feeding that “club” new puzzles, then you’re going to archive frequently. Something that doesn’t take up prime real estate. But if you have a puzzle with lasting value, that has an actual cache at the end, ???? GC guidelines state something about the expectation of relative “permanence” I believe, though that’s relative.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[Decrepit]

I don’t know when they should be archived, but I can say… “Please don’t do it right now!” 😆 I have approximately 100 puzzles solved, I’m just waiting until my other knee gets fixed and the trails dry out a bit before I can go get them.

I love the extra challenge the puzzle caches give me and they also allow my dad (Old) to do a little caching from his chair. Keep the puzzles coming! 😀

Thanks!

[furfool]

I’m not big on puzzle caches myself, but I have a thought for future puzzles.
How about looking at similiar puzzles in the given area, see how long they have been active and how many cachers attempted them. You can maybe get an idea when the action really starts slacking off. Maybe pick a number for find/dnf logs and then archive it when that number is reached. Or maybe archive it the summer (or whatever) after the number is reached. That way the winter solvers can still have a little time to find it.

[Trekkin and Birdin]

As someone who enjoys puzzle caches, here’s my MO. We don’t have many true puzzles down here. I’ve put out one, and hope to increase that number, but I seem to be better at solving some than figuring out how to create them.

We started with Rochester, as it’s only about an hour away from here. Most of those have now been solved, and most of THOSE are found. Someone archived one last week that I spent hours reading NASCAR stuff to solve, we went twice over the winter and concluded it was encased in ice. Oh well. I know it hadn’t been found since last April, so I’m guessing all the local puzzle freaks had already found it. So be it.

As the cache owner, it’s up to you whether or not to keep them active. We haven’t been up that way save for a little bit. I know I spent time solving one in the Reforestation Camp and hope to actually find it one of these days. But if the owners have reason to archive it, that’s just my tough luck. I still had the fun of solving them. I know not everyone is so nonchalant about such things, but that’s really their issue, not yours. I suppose the argument could be made that reworking an archived puzzle makes a new one available, and as someone who’s found all but three caches within 50 miles, that has appeal. But again….that’s our issue. We do have other hobbies to keep us amused if the caches don’t appear. 😯

[gotta run]

@Trekkin’ and Birdin’ wrote:

I know I spent time solving one in the Reforestation Camp and hope to actually find it one of these days. But if the owners have reason to archive it, that’s just my tough luck.

Well, that would be “Pirate Pete’s Plunder” and we have no intention of archiving that one so you are safe!!! Our others out there are just designed to be long walks, unless you choose take some illegal and ill-advised shortcuts, which we know you’re not the type to do!

On the Left Side of the Road...

[Trekkin and Birdin]

Nope, in fact I think we’ve done all those others, including a wonderful 5 mile cross country ski trek!

Glad to hear the Pirate’s Plunder will be available to find yet. We’ll be back up that way eventually!

[Ry and Ny]

@Trekkin’ and Birdin’ wrote:

As someone who enjoys puzzle caches, here’s my MO. We don’t have many true puzzles down here.

This to me is the key. My $0.02 pissy rant:

Telling me to look at a plaque and subtract xxx from the year of the event is not a puzzle.

In this day and age of the internet and databases that solve any ROT or substitution cypher is not a puzzle. If you’re not using a Vigenere cipher or higher with a hint at the keyword, it’s not a puzzle.

Telling me to subtract 2 from the number of windows in the nearby landmark is not a puzzle.

I freakin’ LOVE puzzles. Love ’em. I play ARG’s on a regular basis and those revolve around truly mindbending puzzles that take communities to solve over the course of the games.

The examples above are wastes of my time, precisely because they’re not really puzzles. Wastes of time because people are working through a “puzzle” that will be solved every single time not with even the slightest modicum of thought but with gruntwork, simple arithmetic, or, if we don’t even want to put that effort into it, plugging the “cypher” into a standard flash based substitution solver. Then, after the “solve” is done, it’s a waste of my time plugging the child waypoint into my GPS manually. Frankly, if you need to put me near a landmark, mark your final and say “hey, check out the info on the plaque of that site over yonder. There’s some cool info over there.”

So the answer is mixed. For a thoughtful, interesting puzzle, I don’t think there’s a standard or a limit, so long as tghe final is maintained. I’d rather see a tough s|s type of puzzle sit out there for 8 months on the Lonely Cache List and remain active than see yet another plaque waiting for my uber unique subtraction skills to be able plug manual coordinates onto the GPSr sit there for 2 weeks unfound before archiving.

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