What has happened to the Fox cities?

[Trekkin and Birdin]

We haven’t gotten over that way yet, but I’ve looked at some of those as they get published under “newest,” and boy. I have no clue! Guess that class would help, if I could only make it.

There was one with all these photos and nothing else. I’m still scratching my head over that one. Sooner or later, I’ll rise to the challenge, but I have a feeling it will be later! LOL

I heard from a cacher from North Carolina that he’d encountered some Magic Eye hides. I’m still not clear how those worked, if somehow the cache listing actually was like those thing—you know, the fractal designs that suddenly come clear when your eyes settle just right? He said he had to have his daughter find the answers cause he could never get the image to pop out.

[-cheeto-]

It’s a matter of taste whether you like puzzle caches or not…. That is simply what folks are posting here on this thread.

What I would really like to share with everyone is, please give some of the “puzzles” in the “fox cities” a try because you might just enjoy the experience and learn something too. Ignoring puzzle caches is denying yourself a big part of the sport where there is a lot of creativity, education, and fun.

If I ignored dead end caches I would have never seen one of the cleaverest hides I have seen. If I ignored cemetaries, I would have never done the COTM in Greenbay that I also enjoyed very much. Some of the puzzles in the area are flat out the best caches in the area, hands down. You can choose to ignore them if you like, but I will be out there enjoying the effort put into these caches by their owners and maybe learning something I didn’t know before.

I will share my taste, since that seems to now be the subject of this thread. I like all kinds of caches including puzzles but my favorite are those caches that make me pay more attention to my surroundings and teach me something along the way. If they happen to be a puzzle or a dead end or a cemetary (or any other taste/variety), I am really glad I didn’t ignore them.

To each his/her own.

-cheeto-

[marc_54140]

Well said -cheeto-!

[Team Hemisphere Dancer]

Puzzles are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are in for until you try them. Of course there are a whole bunch I throw out because I don’t like the filling.

[-cheeto-]

Awesome reply Team Hemisphere Dancer… Loved the analogy.

I hate the ones where you dont have a “guide” so you end up biting a bunch you dont like! Coconut, ew. Orange, well ok. Caramel, where are the rest!

Now back to solving this soduku!

[LDove]

😛 Mmmm chocolate – I love the coconut! I am, however, not nuts about puzzle caches – I just don’t get them. I consider myself pretty smart, but most of them are over my head. 😳 Guess I will have to take a class with Marc!

[Coastiegirl04]

ok.. you know its not just the fact that there is a ton of puzzles in the Fox cities, but the fact that there is a ton of caches in the Fox Cities, i swear i go over there, find 30 caches no problem, but when i get home, 20 more pop up!! I have been saying this and justin knows i have, Fox Cities is a Black Hole of caches, if i do a search with in 50 miles of appleton, i will have caches that are mostly in the appleton area.. its a black hole!!
So i don’t mind puzzle caches, in fact thats what i try to work on when i’m at work, and bored out of my mind i will work on puzzle caches that way.. gives me something to do while in the watchroom!
the ones that frustrates me, is the ones that make no sense, they just put letters and numbers, and i’m at a lost on how to figure it out..
anyway thats my 2cents

[K0rpl]

Puzzle Caches are EEEWWWYYYY!!!

[Team Hemisphere Dancer]

ok i just made another count of puzzles i did not complete yet. I have 30 puzzles in my first 3 pages of not found caches. Sheesh me gots ta get me brain a thinkin’

[-cheeto-]

Make that 31 now. 😀

[Team Hemisphere Dancer]

@-cheeto- wrote:

Make that 31 now. 😀

Doh!

[Team Hemisphere Dancer]

SO I just went through a ream of paper printing out thse evil puzzles.

At leats paper is easyto come here in this area.

[seldom|seen]

@AstroD-Team wrote:

I want the enjoyment of finding a cache without having to waste time that I don’t even have to figure out some puzzle just to get coordinates.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but with this statement I feel the need to respond to the idea that figuring out a puzzle is a “waste of time”.

From my perspective, spending any time in the field looking for simple 35mm containers or ammo boxes filled with throw-away McD toys in an urban environment is a waste of time. I learn nothing, I see nothing, I gain nothing. I’ll admit, I have a small handful of these myself, but at least I try to make them entertaining.

For me its about opportunity. An opportunity to learn about a place, a thing, a person. It is sometimes not enough to take someone to a destination, sometimes you have to nudge them into reading about it as well, or they will opt to move on to the next cache without a full appreciation of what they are walking away from.

If driving around the state trying to log as many caches as you can to get your numbers up forces you to bypass some very fun, informative and rewarding puzzles that teach you a thing or two about the people and places you are seeing, isn’t a waste of gas and a huge waste of the potential of this sport to be more that finding tuperware containers with multi-billion dollar satellites, than I don’t know what is.

But, that’s just my opinion.

[LMcGisme]

@seldom|seen wrote:

For me its about opportunity. An opportunity to learn about a place, a thing, a person. It is sometimes not enough to take someone to a destination, sometimes you have to nudge them into reading about it as well, or they will opt to move on to the next cache without a full appreciation of what they are walking away from.

If driving around the state trying to log as many caches as you can to get your numbers up forces you to bypass some very fun, informative and rewarding puzzles that teach you a thing or two about the people and places you are seeing, isn’t a waste of gas and a huge waste of the potential of this sport to be more that finding tuperware containers with multi-billion dollar satellites, than I don’t know what is.

Most of the caches I’ve seen that push someone to learn about a place, a thing, or a person have been multi caches, not puzzles. Those are really interesting and a lot of fun – one of my favorite types. I think the issue is more about the proliferation of puzzles that are just there to make it difficult to determine the coordinates just for difficulties sake, not to try to teach anything about the area.

What I see around here are mostly puzzles that have absolutely nothing to do with any interesting facts about the location. They consist of looking at the source code to find hidden coordinates, or a hidden link on the cache page, or decoding a picture or code. Nothing interesting to learn about the area. I also consider it a waste of my limited caching time to try to solve these puzzles when I could be outside getting exercise hunting a cache.

Some people really like these puzzle caches, but just because some people don’t like them doesn’t mean they’re wasting a huge potential in the sport – IMO. They may be missing an excellent opportunity to become a master cryptologist, though. 🙂

[seldom|seen]

OK, I’ll admit, I’m probably a bit biased. Of the puzzles out there that I have placed which have nothing to do with location or history, the majority are not tough (right Marc?) and when you get to the final there is usually something more rewarding than a log sheet. A creative container or an interesting hide.

That’s not to say that all of them are easy. I have a few tough ones and the reward is in solving the puzzle. And those that have solved them have indeed wasted lots of time (right Dave? right Mike, right Carol?) So, I am guilty.

However, I try to keep things in perspective and balance the challenge and reward. A really tough puzzle will always have an Unregistered Geocoin in it for the FTF. With as many puzzles as I have out there, I’d be black-listed if they were just code-breakers to find film canisters.

I also feel like I have a little responsibility to lead by example. That’s why I try to do tributes and collaborations as well. For those that go the extra mile. I’m working on a new series with 9 area cachers, each will co-author one in the series because they have worked hard to solve mine and appreciate what I put into the sport.

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