Challenge Cache icon

[+SniperChicken]

I know there is a guideline page for Geocache Challenge caches (Such as the Delorme Challenge) but with it being listed as a [?] cache some cachers will argue that since it is a mystery cache that the physical cache doesn't have to be at the listed coords;such as is the case of an actual mystery cache where the coords have to be solved from info on the cache page. Has there been any attempt to create a definite way to differentiate a challenge cache and a mystery cache ? A new listing type seems easy enough to impliment or is there more to it?

[+Isonzo Karst]

A new listing type seems easy enough to impliment or is there more to it?

 

If you mean a new cache type, all the third party software has to accept it. All the different gps units, the different phone apps, the geocache manager programs. Obviously it's doable, new cache types do get added, but it's not "easy".

 

An icon for the type would probably be easier. I don't know if there's any traction for that.

[+The A-Team]

...some cachers will argue that since it is a mystery cache that the physical cache doesn't have to be at the listed coords;such as is the case of an actual mystery cache where the coords have to be solved from info on the cache page...

There's no requirement that a challenge cache be located at the posted coordinates. From the guidelines:

A challenge cache must be attainable without the need to email the owner. The cache page must include the true coordinates or the means to calculate them, if a puzzle.

Until the recent changes to those guidelines, this clause wasn't there, so there are many challenges where you need to contact the owner to get the final coordinates. I've also seen a few that included a puzzle (albeit a simple one) that needed to be solved to get the final coordinates.

 

I'm not sure we need a separate cache type for challenge caches, for the same reason that we don't need a separate type for night caches. What cache type would a challenge that includes a puzzle be, a mystery or a challenge? What if the challenge cache ends with elements of a multi? Would that be a multi, mystery, or challenge?

 

I would fully support a challenge cache attribute to make finding them (or filtering them out) easier, but not a new type.