I thought it was entirely in relation, and would have preferred to have been asked prior to moving the post. (It's not like I chose a thread at random to post in.) However, as aforementioned, I don't mind that it has moved, as it is just as appopriate here. I would prefer it where it was, but this is not my forum - so I'll play by your rules!
Sorry again, but I didn't see how congratulating someone for an FTF on a terracaching locationless cache/challenge had anything to do with RIP [GC.com] Challenges. So, as so different discussion wasn't mixed up (ie going off course) I moved it.
I did see that one, but the cheap bottle of Lidl's cider and the half a bottle of port on the side board was as close as I could get for now I could log it in true Groundspeak Challenge (RIP) style, but then Nick would rightly zap my log!
Griff Grof, no worries. I can see that the posts would of fitted in to both areas well. A good reason for being here is that people can see there is an alternative to the gone GS challenges. IMO they are better implemented and so far seem to be of a higher quality / more interesting quests.
If there was one thing that I liked about the GS challenges it was that it gave me another reason to get outside. Geocaching is great, I love getting out and about finding boxes, but many people like me have a similar problems. That is, time, money, transport, or all three are against us, which means we can't cache as much as we like. Quite often we have found all the caches hidden within a couple mile radius of our homes. If there is another fun activity that is related to caching that we can do alongside by taking up to a mile walk from home.. great! However poorly implemented the GS challenges were, they did work for me in that sense.
Groundspeak take note! Yes I know there is waymarking, but there is something that I can't quite put my finger on that makes that game not have a strong pull for me personally.
Thanks Griff, for moving it back, and thanks Gackt for seeing where I was coming from. Walktall's FTF of a LC is a kind of "the king is dead, long live the king" sort of moment (although I do realise it was technically his second LC find, with the retrospective confluence find).
To my mind there is no need to mourn the passing of challenges on GS. They can RIP there, if GS is unwilling to look to take them further - but they will remain a part of other cache listing sites.
Geocaching exists beyond more than GC.com and, likewise, challenges exist beyond GC.com too. There are some bloody awful challenges on TC, so I am not claiming that the LCs there are perfect. But the good ones are very good - and can be very challenging!
Since my last blog entry my caching has become more sporadic than ever, and I have not done as much I would like. That said, I am still getting outside as much as possible, and TerraCaching LC's encouraged me to do that for a while. <- that's actually not great wording, as they are still doing that, but for a short time I was trying to keep a streak going. Did I get far with that? No. But as my previous caching streak of any type was just 6 days, I felt good for achieving 10 days on the LC streak
Why I stopped the streak where I did though, was that even though on some days I managed more than one LC, there was at least one day where I only managed to do a Google Earth based LC, which is against my 'get outside and do something' ethos. Another of the LC's I completed was, although not sitting in front of a computer based like the Google ones, I still did not have to leave the house to find (I am not posting the photo of that one here, you'll have to join up with TC if you want to see that one as it's a lil embarrassing) ... So I stopped. But I have not stopped to do the LC's outright, I am now looking at special / fun ones to do, and planning to get myself up that leader board further. I am currently at position 154
I had two attempts at an LC streak. The first was pretty bad, and lasted only three or four days. The next was much better though, and I managed 42 days. Had I taken things a bit more seriously, I would possibly still be streaking, but I am not really dedicated enough. On some days, I completed two or more LCs on the same day, which I could have spread out, one per day, if I really wanted to. However, I have never wanted caching to be a chore, and my streak was more a bit of fun than a serious challenge.
I have never found a Google Earth based LC though, and doubt I ever will. These do not interest me at all, and I am quite glad that in the next version of TC these caches will no longer be listed with the LCs - but rather have a category of their own, which I will happily continue to ignore. I did have a few days in my 42, where the LCs were based around the house - but I think there were only three or four of these. I found it surprisingly easy to complete a LC a day, "getting outside and doing something". Certainly far more easily than I was expecting.
Over the course of my streak, I was surprised to find myself enjoying finding the LCs - even the naff ones. I think this was because of the challenge of finding a cache a day, and the naff ones came in quite handy at times. More importantly, I found a good deal of LCs which were not so naff, and some which had a lot of promise but which had become naff. I never imagined an LC would need maintenance like a traditional TC, but I have now found enough which need maintenance to know they do. (In fact, I think those I found which need maintenance, would probably be better being archived, such has their promise been diminished.)
Overall, my streaking experience has made me completely re-evaluate LCs. I used to think these were a complete waste of time, and nowhere near as satisfying to find as a "real" cache. While I still think this is the case with the naff LCs, there are some real gems in there which, while out "finding" are no different to finding a real cache. The only difference, was not finding a cache container at GZ - something which, at first, I found odd, but as I became used to this, became normal.
I am presently in position 53 on the LC leaderboard.
The spreading out some of the LCs I completed would of helped be to have a longer streak too. I completed the the five LCs where you have to find common names in cemeteries in one hit, doing one of those each day would of extended by streak straight away by another 4 days. But the day I did them it was lovely and sunny and I was happy to be outside doing something so I stayed out there until I had found them all.
I am with you on the Google Earth LCs. The only enjoyment I have gotten out of them is seeing my name nudge up the leader board a touch more. Ratings I have given these ones have reflected that. It will be good to see them separated from other LCs in their own category, but I wonder how they will do this. If they were in their own category already and I chose to do them I think I would look at them differently as regarding rating. And so I wonder if old Google Earth LCs will be grandfathered in to their current position, or when moved to another category if we should or will able to re-rate them.
I have to say that when I first joined TC I didn't pay any attention to the LCs at all to begin with, and did also think what was the point of them. But I tried the Groundspeak Challenges and enjoyed that they got me outside for another reason, and TC LCs are taking that further. Sunday I went out for a walk around the my home town centre looking for a high up door leading to nowhere to complete an LC, I didn't find one, but I still felt great because I got outside for some relaxing time and fresh air, and observed some things I hadn't noticed in the town before. It also got my mind thinking about some others I could set up, and one did later that day - The tax man scuppered.
Well done on your leader board position Nick, I have my work cut out to catch you up, but it will be fun trying
I have no idea how they are going to work the new Cyber Cache (I think that is what they are planning on calling it) category, but I believe they are planning on removing all the Google Earth (and similar) type caches from the LC category to the new category. As for re-rating caches, that can be done at any time. It is particularly easy for a premium user to re-rate (considerably more so than for a non-premium user). While any user can re-rate a cache at any time, by going to the cache page and changing their rating; a premium user can pull up a screen which provides all caches listed by their ratings, so that it is easy to raise or drop the rating. This is far more useful than I make it sound, as by showing all the caches together, you can easily go "oh, that one was definitely better than that one, and that one was nowhere near as good as that one", etc. and re-rate in a much "fairer" manner.
I am not too worried about my leaderboard position really, or I would do the Google Earth cyber caches. After all, there are enough of them, and I could boost my points quite easily by doing them. But they hold no interest for me, and I refuse to do them just because they would give me points. As far as I am concerned, they are naff, and I would rather go outside and look for a cache/challenge.
I have done one of the five common names in cemeteries, but I don't think I ever bothered logging it - or finding the other four. I probably will at some stage pick a cemetery and go attempt to find all five in one go. I think that will probably feel more rewarding, and more of a challenge.
Otherwise, I am the same as you. When I first joined TC, I paid no attention whatsoever to the LCs, and could not see the point in them. I still can't see the point in a lot of them, but the good ones can be really good - better than some caches! In fact, I would definitely say that I have enjoyed completing some LCs more than I have finding some caches. I can understand that some people will not consider a cache if there is not a container at the end, but as far as I'm concerned if you can enjoy finding a virtual, you can enjoy finding an LC. (There are good virtuals and good LCs, and there are crappy virtuals and crappy LCs. The important thing is not to judge all of a cache type by one experience or preconception - which I admit to having done originally.)