What will kill the game

[gotta run]

Again, as this game has devolved into a pure numbers hunt we can really expect this logging behavior to follow.

I can’t resist bringing up the letterboxing comparison again, which is a fundamentally similar activity (find a box of stuff hidden in public). No one there complains about online logs because, for the most part, there are no online logs.

Therefore, owners do not need to feel validated based on the types of logs they get. They take satisfaction in knowing they have created something that they enjoy working on. And perhaps from time to time they get their butt out from in front of their computer and decide to retreive and read the physical log.

On the other side of the playing field, letterbox hunters have an appreciation of the game from day one because they are required to leave their personal imprint on the log by way of a stamp. You ink your stamp, stamp the book, sign in, use the stamp in the box to stamp your log book, etc. It is a thoughtful process, even moreso when you take the time to make your own stamp, which most boxers do even if they never place a box. They understand the craft that goes into the sport–the time and expense that Sloughfoot references.

In letterboxing, there is no such thing as scribbling your name onto a slip of paper and dashing off to the next film strip can placed .1 mile apart on a 100-mile power trail. The unfortunate development of the power-caching trend killed creative logging and, combined, diminished what was special and worthwhile about this game.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[Trekkin and Birdin]

I agree with all of the analysis so far, but would add one more; written communication in general has taken a real nosedive in the past several years. Blame texting, IMing or just the general environment of the day that prevents meaningful conversation, either in person or by voice, and you have what we see all too often.

Though retired, I have the professional credentials and experience to make this observation…..speech/language pathologist. In the last ten years of my career, things that would never have allowed me to qualify a child for my programming before were standard. It all goes to the dramatic shift in how we live our lives. “Stop and smell the roses” has value for many reasons, and we just don’t do that enough anymore.

[Astro_D]

The art of logging….it should be a requirement class before anyone is able to go caching.

I don’t understand, if cache finds aren’t worth more than 4 letters in a log or a cut and paste log, then why bother to find it in the first place.

I’m getting to know the names of those who don’t bother to leave more than 4 letters or do nothing but cut and paste logs. When I see a log in my email from any of them, I automatically hit the delete button. They’re not even worth my time to open up and read.

It’s amazing the transition this game has gone through over the years.

[gotta run]

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

People have been writing shorthand logs or cut-and-pasting “enjoyed your cache” logs for years.

What’s changed?

Well, finding 4 caches in a day used to be a good day of caching. Now if you find 40 you’re still a piker, and 400 is commonplace.

And, more and more craptastic caches are published to accomodate power cachers.

You’re just not going to get meaningful logs written in bulk, period.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[CodeJunkie]

I’ll admit that I wouldn’t delete a log just because it says TFTC or anything similar. I would agree though that deleting logs that are spoilers (sorry Zuma but yours would probably fall in this category along with one I recently saw on a Sloughfoot cache that said “behind the sign”). I would ask the cacher to change these before deleting them though allowing them the opportunity. In Zuma’s case I probably would have sent the CO a personal message instead, but that’s just my method (your mileage may vary).

For me the tipping point came when I realized this is really a game of hide and seek with most cachers preferring to seek rather than hide. The seek portion of the game has become just a game of go and grab it. I’m pretty confident that the majority of cachers don’t even read the cache description and could care less. They apparently get more joy from looking at the backside of a guardrail, looking in the crotch of a cedar tree, or hugging a stop sign then reading the description of why there’s a cache where it is.

Case / Point – Stuck between a rock and a starry place which BakRdz put out. I think there have only been 2 (maybe 3) cachers that made any reference to knowing or interacting with either BakRdz or Myself, but the description is actually pretty revealing and funny from a caching perspective.

For me I’d rather see my caches sit idle for months at a time and then get 1 decent log, compared to a bunch of useless TFTC or <*{{{{< .

[AuntieNae]

CodeJunkie .. the best log so far has to have been the
.

log

[AuntieNae]

Yep, just a
.

[CodeJunkie]

@AuntieNae wrote:

CodeJunkie .. the best log so far has to have been the
.

log

HMMM? I haven’t gotten one of those yet. I think I’ve been priveledged to at least get a “TFTC”.

[CodeJunkie]

I was approached by a couple of cachers in the area however regarding the concept making logging even easier though. The concept was attaching a QR code to the container so that it could just be scanned in place of signing the actual log.

[rtrezrsnhvn]

@CodeJunkie wrote:

I was approached by a couple of cachers in the area however regarding the concept making logging even easier though. The concept was attaching a QR code to the container so that it could just be scanned in place of signing the actual log.

heck then you won’t even need p/g’s – just do a drive by…no stopping required.

aren’t they coming out with credit cards that you need little to no swiping to pay for stuff too?

just watched the movie WALL-E again with the kids the other night… we are getting closer to that society that’s depicted. We’ll do so little without electronics that our legs and bodies won’t function.

[Mathman]

@AuntieNae wrote:

CodeJunkie .. the best log so far has to have been the
.

log

I too have received many logs like that! I couldn’t believe it. I too appreciate a nice log on my caches but I wouldn’t delete a log for a short log.

[zuma]

@CodeJunkie wrote:

I’ll admit that I wouldn’t delete a log just because it says TFTC or anything similar. I would agree though that deleting logs that are spoilers (sorry Zuma but yours would probably fall in this category along with one I recently saw on a Sloughfoot cache that said “behind the sign”). I would ask the cacher to change these before deleting them though allowing them the opportunity. In Zuma’s case I probably would have sent the CO a personal message instead, but that’s just my method (your mileage may vary).

{< .

I cannot worry too much about posting a spoiler for cache that needs to be spoiled. If someone places a cache on a postal box, do not expect me to keep your little secret.

z

[Todd300]

I only have 5 active caches. Two are a P & G. Both are at boat launches with a good view of the body of water.

The other 3 involve at least a short walk from parking to the cache.

I used to have cemetery caches as well but have pulled those as I don’t think cemeteries are proper places to go geocaching, but that’s a different topic for another time.

But anyways, “TFTC” logs don’t really bother me. For every cut and paste or TFTC log I get, I get several others saying it was a nice cache, they enjoyed the walk, blah blah blah.

To each his own.

[rtrezrsnhvn]

@zuma wrote:

@CodeJunkie wrote:

I’ll admit that I wouldn’t delete a log just because it says TFTC or anything similar. I would agree though that deleting logs that are spoilers (sorry Zuma but yours would probably fall in this category along with one I recently saw on a Sloughfoot cache that said “behind the sign”). I would ask the cacher to change these before deleting them though allowing them the opportunity. In Zuma’s case I probably would have sent the CO a personal message instead, but that’s just my method (your mileage may vary).

{< .

I cannot worry too much about posting a spoiler for cache that needs to be spoiled. If someone places a cache on a postal box, do not expect me to keep your little secret.

z

I’m kind of surprised at the jutzpa (sp) of that hide. You can get in trouble for opening/putting something in a personal mailbox that’s not yours, so this one takes some guts.

[Mathman]

I cannot worry too much about posting a spoiler for cache that needs to be spoiled. If someone places a cache on a postal box, do not expect me to keep your little secret.

z

That is so true. I came across a cache in Minneapolis by a Bowling alley where the cache was located inches from exposed bare electrical HV wire! I definitely stated that in my log even though that I felt my log could be deleted. It wasn’t but at least future cachers were made aware of the situation.

[Author]

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