 |
opencaching.com
Geocaching by the community, for the community
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
CoyoteRed
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
Posts: 220
|
 Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 11:53 am Post subject: The elimination of "The above coords are bogus" |
 |
|
I propose when the starting point does not have a clear defined point, instead of putting in bogus coordinates the placer puts all zeros.
So when a person does a search they can put in their zip like usual, but the search routine also spts back the cache in the county the zip is in. Or the searcher can put in "search for caches in counties x, y, and z" and get reasults that way.
Thus eliminating the problem of "The above coords are bogus."
CR
_________________
"...been know to miss the finer points." |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Scout
Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Posts: 235
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 12:15 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Using zeros has serious problems. If I do a search for caches based on distance from a certain point, it won't return those caches.
_________________
Scout http://GPSgames.org
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CoyoteRed
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
Posts: 220
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 12:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Yes, that is correct because the position is ambiguous. This will allow "mystery" caches that are not pinned down on area. A "mystery" cache could be anywhere in a county, state, country, or even the world. You have figure out where it is!
Therefore, for completely bogus coords using all zeros would serve.
One of the problems I have with gc.com is the restriction of how far away bogus coords can be from the actual cache. One of the problems is TB distance, it gets thrown off. But that will get fixed here.
Plus, a more advanced search routine could be developed that could include mystery caches if they fall within a county within the search parameters.
CR
_________________
"...been know to miss the finer points." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Scout
Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Posts: 235
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 12:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Can you point to any examples of mystery caches that don't even tell you what country they are located in?
_________________
Scout http://GPSgames.org
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CoyoteRed
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
Posts: 220
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:05 pm Post subject: |
|
|
No, because there aren't any that I know of.
However, that doesn't mean there couldn't BE any. Letterboxing has mystery boxes and that is what I'm basing this on. These can be global, regional, or local.
Imagine: You want to do a mystery box. How you found out about is not important right now. But, there you sit with a bunch of clues. Kind of like a modern day treasure map. The only coords are based on points you have to figure out. Maybe you have to start at "The only place in the world where all seven species of swan exist together." Well, where the heck is that? With a global mystery cache, it could be anywhere in the world! Then, "Find the thickest oak tree. Mark a waypoint and adjust by Nxx xx.065 Exx xx.008. There you will find..." You get the point.
What I'm trying to do with this is establish a way to include as many different variations of this as possible. I think mystery caches will add greatly to the game.
CR
_________________
"...been know to miss the finer points." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CoyoteRed
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
Posts: 220
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:09 pm Post subject: |
|
|
HERE is the second box I ever put out. It was converted to a hybrid, but was keep a mystery on LB.org. This is an example of a global mystery cache.
You have to figure out if it's even near you!
CR
_________________
"...been know to miss the finer points." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Scout
Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Posts: 235
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Fair enough. Global treasure hunts might have some following. Using zeros as the published cache coordinates is as good a convention as any.
The biggest challenge will be educating people not to use this convention when they really have no desire to make their cache a global treasure hunt. They won't care if people know the cache is in some park, they just don't want to publish exactly where. So, they use zeros instead of a parking lot or a trailhead or something, not realizing that by doing so, they are "hiding" their cache from searches based on distance. Not what they want at all. I think this case will greatly outnumber the true global mystery caches.
P.S. Why wouldn't you at least tell people the letterbox is in, say, South Carolina?
_________________
Scout http://GPSgames.org
Last edited by Scout on Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:26 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CoyoteRed
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
Posts: 220
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Tis true about educating people, I'll give you that.
However, by just giving zeros as the coords does not necessarily mean it's a global hunt. They still would have the option of putting in a country, state, or county if they want to narrow it down a little.
Yep, the idea of getting people to know the difference in putting in the coords to the starting point versus if there really isn't a starting point is the key.
CR
_________________
"...been know to miss the finer points." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Renegade Knight
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
Posts: 151
|
| Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2004 8:44 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I've been giving this problem a little thought and don't have a good answer, but I do have an idea.
Locationless, Puzzle caches etc. that don't have a coordinate associated with them because you either solve for it, or report on it. What they can work with though is a region. So in a search they come up if your location is within the boundary of the region. The waypoint and the cache type would not have a coordinate associated with it.
Anyway, could a region be made to work? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Scout
Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Posts: 235
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 10:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Renegade Knight wrote: | | Anyway, could a region be made to work? |
Yes, if I understand you correctly. For example, on http://geocaching.gpsgames.org , you can identify a country and region (state, province, etc.) for a cache when you list it.
You also have to give its coordinates. But these coordinates could be 0,0 if you really don't want to give away where in the country or region the cache is located.
Other players, doing a country or region search, would find these caches listed, even if the coordinates are way off.
My preference, though, is to give some reasonably close coordinates, so that the proximity searches will show the puzzle cache as well.
_________________
Scout http://GPSgames.org
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Team BMW-Biker
Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Posts: 209
|
| Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 12:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
ah ... now, i think i know what this discussion is about  ...
Why don't ...
... make a cachetype "quiz cache" ... for caches that are puzzles that can be "hidden" by an american geocacher and "found" from an german geocacher without travelling to america ... in the database is NULL for the coords and NULL for the country
... if the quiz cache can only be "found" when travelling to america the country in the database is "america"
... if the quiz cache is only findable when travelling to a specific location give the coords ... this coords could be a few miles off to give no additional hint
When someone searches for this type of caches, he simply specifies "quiz cache" as cachetype and "no country" as country ... and now he gets all the quiz caches (btw. quiz cache = coach-potatoe !?)
For country-specific and location-specific caches it should work the same way ...
Distance Search: why should a cache be displayed in a distance search (which shows the local caches) when this cache isn't "local" ?
Oliver |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nici-
Joined: 25 Sep 2003
Posts: 199
Location: Hürth near Cologne, Germany
|
| Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2004 4:08 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Renegade Knight wrote: | | Locationless, Puzzle caches etc. that don't have a coordinate associated with them because you either solve for it, or report on it. What they can work with though is a region. |
Approving caches on Navicache.com for a while now, I found out, that there are basically two different types of caches, that come with bogus coordinates:
a) (Multi part) Caches, where the given coordinates are (or may are) less than a couple of kilometers away from the starting point. [In fact, at NC.com bogus coords are only allowed to be in near distance to the cache in order to keep search functions and maps 'clean' = useable]. I don't see much of a problem here - cachers should be asked to choose their bogus coordinates in a way, that searches and maps son't get littered and cachers can plan their trips with this coordinates. Give a checkbox 'bogus but in the area' and print such a hint at the coordinates.
b) (riddle, virtual, couch potatoe...) Caches, where NO coordinates may be given in order to not spoil the game. Like our 'Enigma#1'-Cache, where even the region has to be hidden - ok, the country is given! The early german geocachers used the deep north see to 'place' this kind of caches there until bogus coordinates and couch potatoe caches got banned.
If zero-coordinats come with problems, how about defining some special 'location', where such caches could be 'placed'?
Greetings
nici-
_________________
Geocaching.de |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB 2.0.6 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search 
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile 
Log in to check your private messages 
Log in 
