What would you change?

[+Star*Hopper]

Let's for a moment forget all the 'Political Correctness', & for clarification call the Guidelines the 'Rules', instead.

 

Seems the #1 overriding theme in the various boards here is about interpretation / ways of playing / wishing for changes in - The Rules. Even if that's not what the OP's about, a good many seem to dissolve into that.

 

OK, here's your chance to say what you'd like to see changed.

Premise: If you could change any ONE rule in geocaching, what would it be? State the rule (guideline) & what you'd change about it -- or what new rule you'd like to put in, or for that matter, completely eliminate - and if it needs saying; why. Maybe some of your input (with good backing) will even progress to the point of becoming adopted changes!

 

For the sake of keeping the thread from becoming a complete mishmash, keep it to ONE item per post, whether you're adding your own item or commenting on someone else's input -- & if you have more than one, make each a separate post. Please.

 

Go!

~*

[+nikcap]

Honestly, not a thing.

GC.com is fine the way it is.

It's how some of the people play the game that I would want to change, but that's not realistic and is part of the nature of the openness and flexibility to the GC.com website.

[+StarBrand]

Just a personal thing and not really a 'rule' or guideline. Simple change really.....

 

 

Make the site so that 1 gc# equals 1 and only 1 find.

[CoyoteRed]

Just a personal thing and not really a 'rule' or guideline. Simple change really.....

 

 

Make the site so that 1 gc# equals 1 and only 1 find.

I'd go just the opposite. No find is revealed publicly by this site, but allows as many "visits" as one wants. This would mean that a cache owner has not need to delete a log, except for spoiler issues. That is dealt with by hiding the text of the log and not deleting it.

 

Here's the end result: finds are defined however the log writer wants to define it, smilies would go away, GC.com would not be officially/unofficially sanctioning a find, "gift caches" would be greatly reduced (there is no smilie to gift), folks would not hunt a cache simply for the smilie and focus more on the hunt or not hunt it at all. After attrition much of the trache would go away.

[+Wild Thing 73]

Do away with Multi's....waste of cacher's time, gas, and effort....cacher only receives one smiley no matter how many legs. They are just not "cost effective"....No Earth cache with more then 2 short questions.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

There is really nothing about the website or about the geocaching rules that I would wish to change; it is fine as it is.

 

However, when it comes to the forums, I have a modest proposal:

I wish to propose that a new rule be enacted that in any thread, and on any topic, once I have shared my personal opinion on a matter via a post, no on should ever be allowed to send any kind of post to that thread, or to any thread, that even remotely disagrees with me or with any of my stated positions. This demand is only reasonable, for it is simply a very well known fact (just ask Sioneva or Signal the Frog) that I am extremely suave, debonair and sophisticated, and that I am highly intelligent (after all, my IQ has been measured at over 13) and discerning, and it is also well-known that I have been posting on the Interweb since it was founded in the year 1389, and thus I have more seniority and more wisdom than anyone else on the Interweb. Thus, it only makes sense that my opinion on any matter, in any thread, should be the final word on that matter, and any posts sent subsequent to mine should only be posts which agree with my viewpoints or which not only agree with my viewpoints but which also pay me compliments for suaveness, debonairness, sophistication, intelligence and discernment (oh, and my handsomeness.)

 

In fact, I am so certain that my modest proposal will be enacted into a forum rule by Groundspeak that I can say in advance, with confidence: Thank you all for doing the needful and for following this commonsense rule from this moment onward!

 

 

 

 

[+Kit Fox]

Any cache hidden on commercial property, or on public safety devices (guardrails, green transformers, etc) would require written proof of permission before these caches could be published.

[+BlueDeuce]

more bacon.

[+The Blorenges]

 

 

 

 

Maybe I'll just agree with the previous poster* with all the suaveness, debonairness, sophistication, intelligence and discernment (oh, and handsomeness.)

 

 

 

 

MrsB

 

 

(or maybe I'll just come back to this topic later, when he's forgotten all about it )

 

*I was referring to Vinny, btw ... but I'm sure Blue Deuce has suaveness, debonairness, sophistication, intelligence and discernment and handsomeness too.

 

 

I'm such a crawler.

Edited November 25, 2008 by The Blorenges

[+prodrive]

...The end of the Premium Caches...

[+macatac1961]

Any cache hidden on commercial property, or on public safety devices (guardrails, green transformers, etc) would require written proof of permission before these caches could be published.

 

Imagine that?

[RuideAlmeida]

I hate to see caches placed in public art, not one or two meters away, but sometimes even inside sculptures and other kind of art pieces... simply hate it.

I would agree with a rule that forces a cache to be at some distance from the refered object.

 

My lips are sealed for any "event-cache subject"

[+KJcachers]

remove the trackables listing on the cache page. make it a true find when you get to the cache site. Keep the thieves from raiding caches for Jeep TB's and cool coins.

[Skippermark]

It's all good now.

[RuideAlmeida]

It would be neat if we have our finds and finds in our caches beside the nick, in the logs.

 

For example: Kelux (754/1600)

Edited November 25, 2008 by ruidealmeida

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

If I could change anything I would add a profile check-box for 'Hide my stats (Y/N)' to give cachers a choice in whether their find count is visible to anyone but themselves.

 

Alternatively I would stop giving smilies at all for 90 days to show that it wouldn't affect the vast majority of cacher's habits... we'd still keep caching just like we do now, thereby debunking and retiring the constant accusation that we cache for numbers!

[+fox-and-the-hound]

I think it's great just the way it is, but I would like to see a picture-link feature for coins and TBs. I've heard a lot of people say they don't like to load the pictures twice and it would be nice to still see the pictures linked to coin logs somehow.

[+Too Tall John]

I was amazed that nobody had brought up the "Hide My Stats" option yet.

 

But then, there it is!

 

I'd take TAR's suggestion one further: remove find counts from all cache logs. They'd still be available through a user's profile, but having them right there where everyone sees them helps put cache stats in the forefront of everyone's mind.

[+Too Tall John]

A rating system.

 

I like the idea of the type that looks at your preferences and recommends caches that other cachers with similar preferences have rated highly. Kind of like the Netflix model.

[+nikcap]

I was amazed that nobody had brought up the "Hide My Stats" option yet.

...

I'd take TAR's suggestion one further: remove find counts from all cache logs. They'd still be available through a user's profile, but having them right there where everyone sees them helps put cache stats in the forefront of everyone's mind.

 

While I'm all for this one. This has little to do with the actual rules of Geocaching. This is just how the site is laid out.

 

Any cache hidden on commercial property, or on public safety devices (guardrails, green transformers, etc) would require written proof of permission before these caches could be published.

 

This would just be GC.com enforcing their existing rule. (or cache placers not lie about receiving permission)

 

As for actual rules, I think I would actually need to see a list of what rules are in place.

Best I can tell is: Permission, Logbook, if you take something, leave something, 528ft between caches, and if you require additional logging requirements list it as a "?" cache.

Any others?

 

Alternatively I would stop giving smilies at all for 90 days to show that it wouldn't affect the vast majority of cacher's habits... we'd still keep caching just like we do now, thereby debunking and retiring the constant accusation that we cache for numbers!

 

Ground speak did this several years ago in an attempt to sped up the load time of pages. I think it resulted in the mass lining up around the lily pad with torches and pitch forks.

[+Wenniget]

remove the trackables listing on the cache page. make it a true find when you get to the cache site. Keep the thieves from raiding caches for Jeep TB's and cool coins.

I agree with this comment somewhat. One of my best surprises was when I found a cache and the TB dropper hadn't logged it yet. As long as the finders/droppers can still log it so that the owner can be tracking it. The downside would be that sometimes people pick up travel bugs just in order to help them along in their travels (from a prefound cache) and that would eliminate that and no doubt reduce travel - not a good thing!

Isn't it too bad that thieves and dishonest people always end wrecking a good thing?

Edited November 25, 2008 by Wenniget

[+Too Tall John]

Alternatively I would stop giving smilies at all for 90 days to show that it wouldn't affect the vast majority of cacher's habits... we'd still keep caching just like we do now, thereby debunking and retiring the constant accusation that we cache for numbers!

Ground speak did this several years ago in an attempt to sped up the load time of pages. I think it resulted in the mass lining up around the lily pad with torches and pitch forks.

I heard that they tried to make the picketing an event, but since there were no smileys involved, nobody came... Edited November 25, 2008 by Too Tall John

[+trainlove]

I would scour the world and physically remove ALL lamp posts and guard rails. Then without the temptation, there would never have been anyone placing lame caches there.

 

But then people would never be able to do 100 caches a day on numbers runs.

 

But some are actually not lame, and some are at nice scenic spots where nothing else could be placed and so on...

[Mr.Yuck]

Any cache hidden on commercial property, or on public safety devices (guardrails, green transformers, etc) would require written proof of permission before these caches could be published.

 

Imagine that?

 

Sign me up for this one.

[+Viajero Perdido]

Move geology-virtuals over to wherever they're keeping all the other virtuals.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

As for actual rules, I think I would actually need to see a list of what rules are in place.

Best I can tell is: Permission, Logbook, if you take something, leave something, 528ft between caches, and if you require additional logging requirements list it as a "?" cache.

Any others?

 

Surely I am reading that wrong... you're not really saying that a Charter Member doesn't know where the rules and guidelines are listed?

 

http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx

[+-cheeto-]

The only Guidelines (read: rules) that I am aware of pertain to hiding/listing a new geocache:

Cache Listing Requirements / Guidelines

 

As someone already pointed out, many of the above posts pertain to functionality of the site not changing a guideline or rule of the game.

 

I would make one change to the afformentioned guidelines:

- Puzzle caches (actual waypoints, not bogus coords) and waypoints of a multi should not pre-empt placement of a traditional cache. If a puzzle final ends up 25 feet from another or 50 feet from a multi waypoint, so be it.

 

I think the cache saturation rule should also be revisited to determine if .1 is still valid given the popularity of the game in some areas and the increasing lack of places to hide caches and still there remains great places to hide them but because it's 450 feet from a crummy dead end cache a new one cannot be placed.

 

-cheeto-

[+CM-14]

remove the trackables listing on the cache page. make it a true find when you get to the cache site. Keep the thieves from raiding caches for Jeep TB's and cool coins.

 

+1

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I think the cache saturation rule should also be revisited to determine if .1 is still valid given the popularity of the game in some areas and the increasing lack of places to hide caches and still there remains great places to hide them but because it's 450 feet from a crummy dead end cache a new one cannot be placed.

Not to stray too far OT, but can you show me a map, any map with any center point, that does not have room within 10 miles for 100 new caches? The space may not be along a roadside, but it's there!

[+sbell111]

Any cache hidden on commercial property, or on public safety devices (guardrails, green transformers, etc) would require written proof of permission before these caches could be published.

This would just be GC.com enforcing their existing rule. (or cache placers not lie about receiving permission)

I looked through the guidelines, but couldn't find one that required written permission (or even explicit permission). Can you point it out?

[Neos2]

I'd add a disclaimer to every post that said something like

 

"Remember, the views opined in the forums do not reflect the views of the majority of geocachers!"

[GOF and Bacall]

Hows about a "guideline" limiting a user to three posts to any give forum thread?

[GOF and Bacall]

Two

[GOF and Bacall]

One.

[+Too Tall John]

Any cache hidden on commercial property, or on public safety devices (guardrails, green transformers, etc) would require written proof of permission before these caches could be published.

This would just be GC.com enforcing their existing rule. (or cache placers not lie about receiving permission)

I looked through the guidelines, but couldn't find one that required written permission (or even explicit permission). Can you point it out?

Hogwash.

 

There is no way anyone informed about "public safety devices", as the first quote above calls them, would believe that they are allowed at all in the first place. Transformers, public utility poles, and the like, are highly regulated in most areas to the point that hanging a "Lost Puppy" poster on them is actually illegal, the placers of such things can be prosecuted for trespassing.

 

I know it was almost a year ago, but geowizerd did some research for us.

[+lmcgisme]

I would change the rule for what is a puzzle/unknown cache and break it into two different cache types - the bogus coordinates mystery/unknown cache type and the "start here" mystery/unknown cache type. The bogus coord type would require you do do some pre-work before even getting the starting coordinates. The "start here" type would have valid starting coordinates, but then you need to solve something with information gathered at the site, do an ALR, an unusual cache container, etc.

 

With two different cache types you can filter better with a PQ, which I would like to be able to do. With the "starts here" type coordinates and the cache page information you can take a shot at finding the cache, which is not true of the bogus coords cache type. The way it is now I exclude a lot of "start here" types because I don't want to load bogus coords into my GPS, and there's no easy way to tell the difference.

[+Unkle Fester]

Do away with Multi's....waste of cacher's time, gas, and effort....cacher only receives one smiley no matter how many legs. They are just not "cost effective"....No Earth cache with more then 2 short questions.

 

We have a local multi with over 14 waypoints, they suggest multiple days to complete. While the area's they take you to are pretty cool, as Wild Thing mentioned, it's just not worth the effort. To say it's not about the numbers is only partially true. If I spend 12 hours caching, I would expect the payoff to be more than one smiley. Now, I have had days that I end up with a ton of DNF's, but that is different. (I need to update my GPSr downloads more often) If I got a smiley for every leg, or it was broken out into 14 earth caches requiring pictures for proof of find, so be it.

[+Socorro]

Allow TBs to be logged in Earthcaches

[+Snoogans]

I'm fine with things the way they are.....

 

But just for the sake of the thread:

 

<My best Conan voice> I would CRUSH my enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the lamintation of the women! </voice>

 

<My best Tom Sawyer voice> If'n I was God Jeremy....</voice>

 

I'd merge Waymarking with geocaching. Day one! Waymarking is a wet dog as a separate entity. Definitly NOT just IMO.

 

I'd sell personal cache/waymark icons just like personal coin icons. This would stimulate geotourism in an even more noticable way that would be used as an example to local and state governments that try to limit/ban geocaching.

 

I'd survey the geocaching public regularly and act upon trends in those surveys over time rather than just ignoring data that doesn't fit with my vision.

 

I'd crank up the money maker and merchandise the heck outta this site.

 

I'd impose a bottom-up feedback system for volunteers as well as peer reviews and fire volunteers who collect and maintain a certain number of points within that feedback system over time.

 

I'd tryyy to bring back virts if I could find a happy medium with guidelines for listing that would reduce some of the abuse of the old system.

 

Locationless caches and webcam caches would RETURN! People LOVE them. Terracaching.com has proved that!

 

I'd try to bring back moving caches. Again with a happy medium to listing guidelines and a way for an owner to maintain/update them BEFORE review or they would self archive.

 

I would take my profits and build a fortress of solitude!

 

THEN, I would do everything on this list:

 

My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.

 

My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.

 

My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.

 

Shooting is not too good for my enemies.

 

The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

 

I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.

 

When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No." and shoot him. No, on second thought I'll shoot him then say "No."

 

After I kidnap the beautiful princess, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out.

 

I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labelled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labelled as such.

 

I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum -- a small hotel well outside my borders will work just as well.

 

I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.

 

One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.

 

All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least have several rounds of ammunition emptied into them, not left for dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal.

 

The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request.

 

I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.

 

I will never utter the sentence "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know."

 

When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice.

 

I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father.

 

Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

 

I will hire a talented fashion designer to create original uniforms for my Legions of Terror, as opposed to some cheap knock-offs that make them look like Nazi stormtroopers, Roman footsoldiers, or savage Mongol hordes. All were eventually defeated and I want my troops to have a more positive mind-set.

 

No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head.

 

I will keep a special cache of low-tech weapons and train my troops in their use. That way -- even if the heroes manage to neutralize my power generator and/or render the standard-issue energy weapons useless -- my troops will not be overrun by a handful of savages armed with spears and rocks.

 

I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. Even though this takes some of the fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" (After that, death is usually instantaneous.)

 

No matter how well it would perform, I will never construct any sort of machinery which is completely indestructible except for one small and virtually inaccessible vulnerable spot.

 

No matter how attractive certain members of the rebellion are, there is probably someone just as attractive who is not desperate to kill me. Therefore, I will think twice before ordering a prisoner sent to my bedchamber.

 

I will never build only one of anything important. All important systems will have redundant control panels and power supplies. For the same reason I will always carry at least two fully loaded weapons at all times.

 

My pet monster will be kept in a secure cage from which it cannot escape and into which I could not accidentally stumble.

 

I will dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw my enemies into confusion.

 

All bumbling conjurers, clumsy squires, no-talent bards, and cowardly thieves in the land will be preemptively put to death. My foes will surely give up and abandon their quest if they have no source of comic relief.

 

All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick.

 

I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by.

 

I won't require high-ranking female members of my organization to wear a stainless-steel bustier. Morale is better with a more casual dress-code. Similarly, outfits made entirely from black leather will be reserved for formal occasions.

 

I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.

 

I will not imprison members of the same party in the same cell block, let alone the same cell. If they are important prisoners, I will keep the only key to the cell door on my person instead of handing out copies to every bottom-rung guard in the prison.

 

If my trusted lieutenant tells me my Legions of Terror are losing a battle, I will believe him. After all, he's my trusted lieutenant.

 

If an enemy I have just killed has a younger sibling or offspring anywhere, I will find them and have them killed immediately, instead of waiting for them to grow up harboring feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age.

 

If I absolutely must ride into battle, I will certainly not ride at the forefront of my Legions of Terror, nor will I seek out my opposite number among his army.

 

I will be neither chivalrous nor sporting. If I have an unstoppable superweapon, I will use it as early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve.

 

Once my power is secure, I will destroy all those pesky time-travel devices.

 

When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, ferret, or whatever sickeningly cute little animal capable of untying ropes and filching keys happens to follow him around.

 

I will maintain a healthy amount of skepticism when I capture the beautiful rebel and she claims she is attracted to my power and good looks and will gladly betray her companions if I just let her in on my plans.

 

I will only employ bounty hunters who work for money. Those who work for the pleasure of the hunt tend to do dumb things like even the odds to give the other guy a sporting chance.

 

I will make sure I have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what in my organization. For example, if my general screws up I will not draw my weapon, point it at him, say "And here is the price for failure," then suddenly turn and kill some random underling.

 

If an advisor says to me "My liege, he is but one man. What can one man possibly do?", I will reply "This." and kill the advisor.

 

If I learn that a callow youth has begun a quest to destroy me, I will slay him while he is still a callow youth instead of waiting for him to mature.

 

I will treat any beast which I control through magic or technology with respect and kindness. Thus if the control is ever broken, it will not immediately come after me for revenge.

 

If I learn the whereabouts of the one artifact which can destroy me, I will not send all my troops out to seize it. Instead I will send them out to seize something else and quietly put a Want-Ad in the local paper.

 

My main computers will have their own special operating system that will be completely incompatible with standard IBM and Macintosh powerbooks.

 

If one of my dungeon guards begins expressing concern over the conditions in the beautiful princess' cell, I will immediately transfer him to a less people-oriented position.

 

I will hire a team of board-certified architects and surveyors to examine my castle and inform me of any secret passages and abandoned tunnels that I might not know about.

 

If the beautiful princess that I capture says "I'll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!", I will say "Oh well" and kill her.

 

I will not strike a bargain with a demonic being then attempt to double-cross it simply because I feel like being contrary.

 

The deformed mutants and odd-ball psychotics will have their place in my Legions of Terror. However before I send them out on important covert missions that require tact and subtlety, I will first see if there is anyone else equally qualified who would attract less attention.

 

My Legions of Terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.

 

Before employing any captured artifacts or machinery, I will carefully read the owner's manual.

 

If it becomes necessary to escape, I will never stop to pose dramatically and toss off a one-liner.

 

I will never build a sentient computer smarter than I am.

 

My five-year-old child advisor will also be asked to decipher any code I am thinking of using. If he breaks the code in under 30 seconds, it will not be used. Note: this also applies to passwords.

 

If my advisors ask "Why are you risking everything on such a mad scheme?", I will not proceed until I have a response that satisfies them.

 

I will design fortress hallways with no alcoves or protruding structural supports which intruders could use for cover in a firefight.

 

Bulk trash will be disposed of in incinerators, not compactors. And they will be kept hot, with none of that nonsense about flames going through accessible tunnels at predictable intervals.

 

I will see a competent psychiatrist and get cured of all extremely unusual phobias and bizarre compulsive habits which could prove to be a disadvantage.

 

If I must have computer systems with publically available terminals, the maps they display of my complex will have a room clearly marked as the Main Control Room. That room will be the Execution Chamber. The actual main control room will be marked as Sewage Overflow Containment.

 

My security keypad will actually be a fingerprint scanner. Anyone who watches someone press a sequence of buttons or dusts the pad for fingerprints then subsequently tries to enter by repeating that sequence will trigger the alarm system.

 

No matter how many shorts we have in the system, my guards will be instructed to treat every surveillance camera malfunction as a full-scale emergency.

 

I will spare someone who saved my life sometime in the past. This is only reasonable as it encourages others to do so. However, the offer is good one time only. If they want me to spare them again, they'd better save my life again.

 

All midwives will be banned from the realm. All babies will be delivered at state-approved hospitals. Orphans will be placed in foster-homes, not abandoned in the woods to be raised by creatures of the wild.

 

When my guards split up to search for intruders, they will always travel in groups of at least two. They will be trained so that if one of them disappears mysteriously while on patrol, the other will immediately initiate an alert and call for backup, instead of quizzically peering around a corner.

 

If I decide to test a lieutenant's loyalty and see if he/she should be made a trusted lieutenant, I will have a crack squad of marksmen standing by in case the answer is no.

 

If all the heroes are standing together around a strange device and begin to taunt me, I will pull out a conventional weapon instead of using my unstoppable superweapon on them.

 

I will not agree to let the heroes go free if they win a rigged contest, even though my advisors assure me it is impossible for them to win.

 

When I create a multimedia presentation of my plan designed so that my five-year-old advisor can easily understand the details, I will not label the disk "Project Overlord" and leave it lying on top of my desk.

 

I will instruct my Legions of Terror to attack the hero en masse, instead of standing around waiting while members break off and attack one or two at a time.

 

If the hero runs up to my roof, I will not run up after him and struggle with him in an attempt to push him over the edge. I will also not engage him at the edge of a cliff. (In the middle of a rope-bridge over a river of molten lava is not even worth considering.)

 

If I have a fit of temporary insanity and decide to give the hero the chance to reject a job as my trusted lieutentant, I will retain enough sanity to wait until my current trusted lieutenant is out of earshot before making the offer.

 

I will not tell my Legions of Terror "And he must be taken alive!" The command will be "And try to take him alive if it is reasonably practical."

 

If my doomsday device happens to come with a reverse switch, as soon as it has been employed it will be melted down and made into limited-edition commemorative coins.

 

If my weakest troops fail to eliminate a hero, I will send out my best troops instead of wasting time with progressively stronger ones as he gets closer and closer to my fortress.

 

If I am fighting with the hero atop a moving platform, have disarmed him, and am about to finish him off and he glances behind me and drops flat, I too will drop flat instead of quizzically turning around to find out what he saw.

 

I will not shoot at any of my enemies if they are standing in front of the crucial support beam to a heavy, dangerous, unbalanced structure.

 

If I'm eating dinner with the hero, put poison in his goblet, then have to leave the table for any reason, I will order new drinks for both of us instead of trying to decide whether or not to switch with him.

 

I will not have captives of one sex guarded by members of the opposite sex.

 

I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more along the lines of "Push the button."

 

I will make sure that my doomsday device is up to code and properly grounded.

 

My vats of hazardous chemicals will be covered when not in use. Also, I will not construct walkways above them.

 

If a group of henchmen fail miserably at a task, I will not berate them for incompetence then send the same group out to try the task again.

 

After I capture the hero's superweapon, I will not immediately disband my legions and relax my guard because I believe whoever holds the weapon is unstoppable. After all, the hero held the weapon and I took it from him.

 

I will not design my Main Control Room so that every workstation is facing away from the door.

 

I will not ignore the messenger that stumbles in exhausted and obviously agitated until my personal grooming or current entertainment is finished. It might actually be important.

 

If I ever talk to the hero on the phone, I will not taunt him. Instead I will say this his dogged perseverance has given me new insight on the futility of my evil ways and that if he leaves me alone for a few months of quiet contemplation I will likely return to the path of righteousness. (Heroes are incredibly gullible in this regard.)

 

If I decide to hold a double execution of the hero and an underling who failed or betrayed me, I will see to it that the hero is scheduled to go first.

 

When arresting prisoners, my guards will not allow them to stop and grab a useless trinket of purely sentimental value.

 

My dungeon will have its own qualified medical staff complete with bodyguards. That way if a prisoner becomes sick and his cellmate tells the guard it's an emergency, the guard will fetch a trauma team instead of opening up the cell for a look.

 

My door mechanisms will be designed so that blasting the control panel on the outside seals the door and blasting the control panel on the inside opens the door, not vice versa.

 

My dungeon cells will not be furnished with objects that contain reflective surfaces or anything that can be unravelled.

 

If an attractive young couple enters my realm, I will carefully monitor their activities. If I find they are happy and affectionate, I will ignore them. However if circumstance have forced them together against their will and they spend all their time bickering and criticizing each other except during the intermittent occasions when they are saving each others' lives at which point there are hints of sexual tension, I will immediately order their execution.

 

Any data file of crucial importance will be padded to 1.45Mb in size.

 

Finally, to keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, I will provide each of them with free unlimited Internet access.

 

Except these:

 

Too late on this one. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would provide a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time.

 

And this:

I will not grow a goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X.

Look here. I AM a disaffected member of Generation X. I feel closer to Evil Spock and Evil Cartman with my goatee and I am NO LESS diabolic because of it. I'm keeping it!

 

Edited November 26, 2008 by Snoogans

[+BlueDeuce]

Rating scale: 1-10

 

I was referring to Vinny, btw ... but I'm sure Blue Deuce has

suaveness 3 , debonairness 3, sophistication 5, intelligence 7 and discernment 6 and handsomeness 5

 

of course that's not all I am, there's also caring 8, humor 8 humbleness 1

Edited November 25, 2008 by BlueDeuce

[Clan Riffster]

Premise: If you could change any ONE rule in geocaching, what would it be?

Current guideline Rule:

By submitting a cache listing, you assure us that you have adequate permission to hide your cache in the selected location.

Proposed Change:

By submitting a cache listing, you assure us that you have adequate permission to hide your cache in the selected location. Any hide placed on private property, up to and including business properties, must have explicit permission from an individual qualified to provide said permission. The contact information for the person providing permission must be posted on the cache page.

 

By incorporating this addition to the existing guidelines rules, the result would, hopefully, be that more caches are in line with this somewhat obscure statement:

If you are given permission to place a cache on private property, indicate this on the cache page for the benefit of both the reviewer and people seeking out the cache.

 

This addition would also demonstrate that Groundspeak respects the rights of property owners, leading to us having a better image in the community.

 

Would this ever happen? No. Of course not. It would be a death blow to too many P&G's.

(but you did ask...)

[+niraD]

Do away with Multi's....waste of cacher's time, gas, and effort....cacher only receives one smiley no matter how many legs. They are just not "cost effective"....

Would you also do away with extreme terrain caches that "waste" time, gas, and effort on a single smiley? What about 4-star camouflage? What about anything else that might "require multiple days/trips" to earn a smiley?

 

How non-trivial can a cache be before it is a "waste" of time, gas, and effort?

[+Corp Of Discovery]

Add a splelcehcker.

[+webscouter.]

Premise: If you could change any ONE rule in geocaching, what would it be?

Current guideline Rule:

By submitting a cache listing, you assure us that you have adequate permission to hide your cache in the selected location.

Proposed Change:

By submitting a cache listing, you assure us that you have adequate permission to hide your cache in the selected location. Any hide placed on private property, up to and including business properties, must have explicit permission from an individual qualified to provide said permission. The contact information for the person providing permission must be posted on the cache page.

 

By incorporating this addition to the existing guidelines rules, the result would, hopefully, be that more caches are in line with this somewhat obscure statement:

If you are given permission to place a cache on private property, indicate this on the cache page for the benefit of both the reviewer and people seeking out the cache.

 

This addition would also demonstrate that Groundspeak respects the rights of property owners, leading to us having a better image in the community.

 

Would this ever happen? No. Of course not. It would be a death blow to too many P&G's.

(but you did ask...)

I've advocated this on our local forum for many years.

[Mr.Yuck]

Do away with Multi's....waste of cacher's time, gas, and effort....cacher only receives one smiley no matter how many legs. They are just not "cost effective"....No Earth cache with more then 2 short questions.

 

We have a local multi with over 14 waypoints, they suggest multiple days to complete. While the area's they take you to are pretty cool, as Wild Thing mentioned, it's just not worth the effort. To say it's not about the numbers is only partially true. If I spend 12 hours caching, I would expect the payoff to be more than one smiley. Now, I have had days that I end up with a ton of DNF's, but that is different. (I need to update my GPSr downloads more often) If I got a smiley for every leg, or it was broken out into 14 earth caches requiring pictures for proof of find, so be it.

 

Well, you two are certainly entitled to your opinions, be it doing away with multi's or getting to log a smiley on every leg of a multi, just as I'm entitled to my opinion there should be explicit permission required for caches on commercial property or on electrical transformers. I'd like to think I have a better chance of seeing my dream become reality though.

[+TrailGators]

I'd merge Waymarking with geocaching. Day one! Waymarking is a wet dog as a separate entity. Definitly NOT just IMO.

 

I'd tryyy to bring back virts if I could find a happy medium with guidelines for listing that would reduce some of the abuse of the old system.

 

Locationless caches and webcam caches would RETURN! People LOVE them. Terracaching.com has proved that!

 

I'd try to bring back moving caches. Again with a happy medium to listing guidelines and a way for an owner to maintain/update them BEFORE review or they would self archive.

 

I think I would do what Snoogans said and bring back everything in one site. Variety is the ticket! I love the way that Waymarking categorizes everything and lets you customize your world to add or ignore the categories that interest you. So the one site could use the best ideas from both sites.

[+sweetlife]

1 GC# =

 

The technology has to be there, no matter how many times you move a TB or Geocoin, it does not raise your moved / discovered count. has to be a way to move that technology to the GC finds.

 

Barry of sweetlife

[+Too Tall John]

For the sake of keeping the thread from becoming a complete mishmash, keep it to ONE item per post, whether you're adding your own item or commenting on someone else's input -- & if you have more than one, make each a separate post. Please.

 

Go!

~*

I'm fine with things the way they are.....

 

But just for the sake of the thread:

 

<My best Conan voice> I would CRUSH my enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the lamintation of the women! </voice>

 

<The remainder of this post was snipped to fit the request of the OP. We beg you, please, please, please don't post the rest as individual posts. >

Seems an awfully centrist view of things, especially even coming from you, Snoogans!

 

Edited November 26, 2008 by Too Tall John

[+Snoogans]

<The remainder of this post was snipped to fit the request of the OP. We beg you, please, please, please don't post the rest as individual posts. >

 

Jeesh, it would take pages and pages huh? Don't ever give me a button that will destroy the universe and dare me not to push it.

 

Seems an awfully centrist view of things, especially coming from you, Snoogans!

 

What can I say. It's ALL about ME. Allllll Snoogans all the time.

[Mushtang]

1 GC# =

 

The technology has to be there, no matter how many times you move a TB or Geocoin, it does not raise your moved / discovered count. has to be a way to move that technology to the GC finds.

 

Barry of sweetlife

I would hope that if this is ever done it's on a per-cache basis that the cache owner would select. That way, if you didn't want multiple Finds or Attendeds on a cache of yours you could disable that ability when you create the cache page. For the rest of the owners that DO want to allow it, or just don't care either way, they can.