How do you feel about the challenge caches' rules?

Question

Hi I'm only caching since this year and am about to cache my first few challenge caches in the area. I'd like to make some CC's myself based upon some nice challenges I've come across thus far. (variations, adaptations of those).

BUT

All the nice one's are no longer applicable within the new ruling of GroundSpeak. So my CC idea's are no good either. Now the only challenges I can come up with, are just as boring as the standard ones. And I'm not up to that. It's a sad thing (and also a loss, because now I'm producing less and less fun caches).

Also, other than that, I find the rulings arbitrary.
f.e.: * the streak-ruling in itself. and
* "Requiring caches to be found in earlier years, as it is not attainable by someone new to the game." Uhhm someone new can't log any challenge... 

I agree on having rules on these CC's, but imo they should be good. And afterall it's a CHALLENGE!

So how do you guy's feel about this?

Answer 1

On the whole, I like the guidelines and I can very much see the reason for why they are as they are. One of the main ideas is that challenges should not prevent you from caching. That means no streaks of non-caching, but it also means things like no rush challenges (which cause people to stop caching for a long time to save up local caches), no streaks over a year, no limits on streaks apart from one cache per day and so on.

Personally, I think the ban on requiring finds on leap day is overly hard (which is obviously there not to force new people to wait for four years to qualify).

I can see the reason for disallowing user-defined polygons for challenges (they may be hard to understand for cachers, and it can be possible to make very limiting challenges). On the other hand, not allowing them disallows the popular and largely unproblematic 360 challenges, unfortunately.

Requiring old finds to count for new challenges is a good thing. It that wasn't so, people who have already cached out their area would have no chance at all at some challenges.

So while I have a few minor grumbles, I think in general the guidelines are well thought out and good for geocaching in general.

Comments

To me the 365 streak is a rush challenge and one that i will never do. Because of the reason saving up local caches etc. But thats allowed. Going on a trip I like to do 100+ caches a day, but a challenge like that isn't allowed. So the saving up on caches is not a valid argument to me...

However an easy attainable challenge like owning 3 different style caches would not be allowed. Wich in fact would promote caching. So I wonder why?

And why exclude all the page elements as source of criterea? Fun challenges could be made using the titles... I've seen some older ones, they are great.

On the other hand, the ruling that a cache owner has to meet the requirements is a great one.

And also I don't mind having to wait for years to qualify for a challenge because it's overly hard. Many of the allowed challenges will take many years anyway to complete. So again arbitrary rulings...

Therefor my grumbles are a bit bigger :)

btw my reference to the old founds pointed to the attainability for new geocachers, because newbies par definition can't do challenges!
I was not saying old founds shouldn't count...

---

Well, some challenges are easier for newbies. Most people starting to cache now get acquainted with a streak pretty soon and get the chance to do that before logging everything locally. (I had cached in my area for something like seven years before starting.)

One of the recent challenges here (but before the last revision of the guidelines; it wouldn't be allowed now) was a week-long streak of multis. For newbies: piece of cake. For old hands like me with three unlogged multis within an hour's drive: major project (I hadn't chanced to do it with old finds, so that didn't help).

Allowing challenges that require cache ownership would be a recipe for a lot of bad caches that wouldn't get maintenance, only being published so that the cache owner would qualify for the challenge. That's not in the interest of the game.

---

I here and agree on what you're saying about the acquintance  and about the bad caches. But again I also disagree...

The acquintance is only true if you are guided by an experienced cacher who tell's you about them. If you rolled into the game of geocaching by yourself it takes a lot of time to discover them. And by then you're facing the same problem (I know, it's what happened to me :p )

Considering the bad maintenance and weak caches: That's already happening with the gigantic trails and the badgegen about ownership. Also it's more about the persons mentality in itself I guess.

So I understand the point, but I can't agree since it's neglected in many ways. Maybe another set of rules should apply on ownership then.... Such as experience 200 founds before placing a cache for instance. (only an example)

Several challenges I've found now, will take me 7 years before I'm able to meet the requirements, so that works both ways, but that's ok. And not the issue.

Answer 2

Hi, I'm also a little bit frustrated about the new rules, as now are a lot of
find 500 myst, find 555 myst and similar or find caches on 365 day got a wide spread.

I really miss some challenges which could be created, if the title could be used.

Nevertheless , there are other fields in an cache which could be use (not sure if all oif them would be accepted):

the chache-ID --> find chaches which starts with A-Z

the approver  --> find caches with 25 differnt apppovers

geo coins --> find geo coins which name starts with A-Z

attributes of the caches --> 10 caches with long hike (>10km)

this combinded with other rules could bring a lot of difficulties to fulfil.

I believe it is still possible to create good challenges , but it need some creativity to get a good idea which is not often used by other peoples.

Here is a list of a german cacher, what challenges he has already achieved , reading through may give some good ideas , sorry for German, hope G. translate would bring it in a fine way.

http://www.khstreiter.de/cachen/challenge_caches.htm

Comments

Not OK: Cache ID (GC code), publishing reviewer, trackables

OK: cache attributes

---

Here are the guidelines:
https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=127&pgid=206

---

Yes those would be more fun challenges, but as you can see by the guidelines most of them are not allowed...

I found a great one, called Challenge Frankenstein.
In wich you have to create a Frankenstein like monster using bodyparts hidden in cache titels. Words creating the sphere would also be allowed (RIP, church, halloween,...).

I wanted to do a similar one about animals, but...

---

Yes, the Frankenstein challenge is awesome and I too think that challenges based on cache names should be reconsidered, but it'll be difficult to create checkers

---

True, but as logger you are checking it by hand (that's the fun part).
So a checker that checks the GC's (given by the logger) on "found it" should do for the CO.

Answer 3

I remember there was a lot of discussion when challenges were re-allowed and after all, I would agree with pinkunicorn that the new rules are reasonable and balanced. There may be a few details that personally I would handle in a different way but all in all I am happy with the rules. Don't forget that a specific challenge that you may consider dull or even boring may be interesting to someone else - tastes are different, and it is a good thing they are! Please fell encouraged to come up with new ideas, this is how the spirit is kept alive!

Comments

Now, that's exactly the problem, they numb me down. None of the idea's can be done.

I've also had a lot of tips so far (from more experienced cachers), about caches I should definately do. None of those are challenge caches...

I was also wondering why challenge caches have the mystery logo?. Since they aren't. Another symbol would seem logical I guess

---

Apparently it's quite a lot of work to add a new cache type (not only within geocaching.com but also in other applications).

Also, it's not obvious what to do with pre-existing challenge caches in a new challenge cache type is added. If you don't change them, there will be a long period where most of the challenge caches actually don't have the challenge cache type. If you do change them, lots of people will complain about having their streaks of mystery caches and things like that broken. A third option could be to archive them all and create new caches of the correct type, but that would raise the question of what to do with the existing active challenge caches that don't meet the current guidelines (I own several of those myself).