Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Think before creating a useless hint

I just posted this note to the owner of a new geocache:

"The only recommendation I will make is that you delete the text you placed in the hint field, since you're not actually giving a hint. It can be frustrating for some geocachers who spend the time at ground zero to decrypt a hint only to find there is no hint."

I try to post a note to the owner similar to this every time I see a hint like "No hint necessary." If no hint is necessary, why frustrate geocachers by making them decrypt the text you place there? The purpose of the hint is to give geocachers a final resort whenever they decide they have looked long enough and can't find the cache. If you think this through and put yourself in the geocache hunter's situation, it's easy to see why you shouldn't post a hint that says "No hint necessary." I know... there's nothing in the guidelines about this. But to me it's a matter of courtesy.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you! I hate seeing "hints" like this or "hints" that just explain the "joke" from the cache name. If I want to see the hint, it is because I need a hint.

welch said...

Unrelated question:
with the new 'adjust coords' log, how far can a cache owner move the coordinates for a cache??

welch