What is a reasonable time to review a new Event listing?

[scidawg]

I listed an event last Wed (11/23) it is now Monday and I have heard or seen nothing from the reviewer. The event is for 12/7. Is this normal. Any caches I have listed previously have had some action in a day or so at most.

[+hzoi]

Normally it would seem a little excessive. However, given that you and your reviewer are both in the United States, which recently celebrated a national holiday, it could well be that other obligations outside of geocaching arose.

 

This is your first event, so you may not have realized, but 14 days is the minimum lead time to submit an event for publication. It also gives your community the least amount of notice that an event is coming up. Next time, maybe submit a month in advance or so. Gives people time to plan, get sitters, look at caches in the area, etc.

 

edited, as I just saw this is your first time hosting an event.

Edited November 28, 2016 by hzoi

[Keystone]

Please note, an event in Belize may not be reviewed as quickly as an event in your home state. The reviewer for Belize may not check that queue every day for new submissions.

[scidawg]

Please note, an event in Belize may not be reviewed as quickly as an event in your home state. The reviewer for Belize may not check that queue every day for new submissions.

 

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. We kinda pulled this together last minute as we are on a cruise stopping on a new private island which hasn't had any caches hidden on it. There are several cachers on the roll call for the cruise so we thought we could do a quick event in order to be able to get a smiley for Belize.

[+Isonzo Karst]

stopping on a new private island

 

New island? ;-)

 

If the island is privately held by the cruise line, your event cannot be published in any case, as that means that the event is NOT available to all geocachers. It would only be available to those on the cruise.

 

Lots of "cruiser" events are held in south FL and all over the Caribbean; they need to be in locations that allow people who AREN'T paying for the cruise to attend.

 

In Tampa and Miami, often the cruiser doesn't realize that the site they've chosen from maps is on the wrong side of port security and will require a cruise line ticket (and sometimes they may not really have enough time to get out of the port area, have event, then get back in thru security and onto boat.)

 

Some fairly successful cruiser events are regularly held in Key West, although the listing requirement for both a start time and an end time sometimes means that the event host doesn't get to their own event because their cruise is delayed. But there are nearly always enough geocaching tourists in Key West to create a gathering, whether the host gets to it or not... ;-)

[scidawg]

stopping on a new private island

 

New island? ;-)

 

 

Perhaps newly developed would have been a better choice of words ;-)

 

Not to argue, but here I have quoted the event requirements from the listing guidelines.

 

An event is a gathering of geocachers, facilitating the social aspect of geocaching. It is organized by geocachers and is open to other geocachers and those interested in learning about the game. It takes place at the posted coordinates, includes start and end times, and lasts at least 30 minutes. Events with several elements, a sequence of events, or events that are near the same time or location and intended for the same audience should be submitted as a single event. Additional waypoints may be added to the event listing for the locations of event activities.

 

Events must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the event date. Events are usually published no more than three months prior to the event date. Events may be published up to six months prior if an overnight stay is expected by attendees or if the event is designed to attract geocachers from beyond the local area. After an event has occurred, the listing is to be archived by the geocache owner.

 

An Event Cache should not be set up for the purpose of gathering geocachers for a geocache search. If an event is already organized outside of the geocaching community or it will happen without a Geocaching.com listing, it is likely not an Event Cache. Examples include concerts, fairs, sporting and scouting events.

 

Event Caches, like other geocaches, will only be published if they meet the commercial cache guideline. Geocache owners can include basic information about the location on the geocache page, even if it is a commercial location. Event listings may request donations or charge a fee to cover legitimate costs of the event. A list of sponsors, without logos or URLs, may be on an event listing. Event listings may only mention sales of event-related Geocaching.com trackables. Listings may include a link to a non-commercial event landing page. Attendees may be required to register at a separate registration page.

 

Where does it say that the event has to be accessible by all geocachers? That might be convention, but it doesn't seem to be listed as a requirement.

[+narcissa]

stopping on a new private island

 

New island? ;-)

 

 

Perhaps newly developed would have been a better choice of words ;-)

 

Not to argue, but here I have quoted the event requirements from the listing guidelines.

 

An event is a gathering of geocachers, facilitating the social aspect of geocaching. It is organized by geocachers and is open to other geocachers and those interested in learning about the game. It takes place at the posted coordinates, includes start and end times, and lasts at least 30 minutes. Events with several elements, a sequence of events, or events that are near the same time or location and intended for the same audience should be submitted as a single event. Additional waypoints may be added to the event listing for the locations of event activities.

 

Events must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the event date. Events are usually published no more than three months prior to the event date. Events may be published up to six months prior if an overnight stay is expected by attendees or if the event is designed to attract geocachers from beyond the local area. After an event has occurred, the listing is to be archived by the geocache owner.

 

An Event Cache should not be set up for the purpose of gathering geocachers for a geocache search. If an event is already organized outside of the geocaching community or it will happen without a Geocaching.com listing, it is likely not an Event Cache. Examples include concerts, fairs, sporting and scouting events.

 

Event Caches, like other geocaches, will only be published if they meet the commercial cache guideline. Geocache owners can include basic information about the location on the geocache page, even if it is a commercial location. Event listings may request donations or charge a fee to cover legitimate costs of the event. A list of sponsors, without logos or URLs, may be on an event listing. Event listings may only mention sales of event-related Geocaching.com trackables. Listings may include a link to a non-commercial event landing page. Attendees may be required to register at a separate registration page.

 

Where does it say that the event has to be accessible by all geocachers? That might be convention, but it doesn't seem to be listed as a requirement.

 

Event caches are also subject to the other guidelines, like the guideline against commercial caches. There are adaptations because events are unique. For example, while you can have an event at a restaurant, you can't make the event into an advertisement for the restaurant and you can't force people to buy anything at the restaurant.

 

An event that requires people to buy a cruise ticket probably won't fly.

[scidawg]

 

Event caches are also subject to the other guidelines, like the guideline against commercial caches. There are adaptations because events are unique. For example, while you can have an event at a restaurant, you can't make the event into an advertisement for the restaurant and you can't force people to buy anything at the restaurant.

 

An event that requires people to buy a cruise ticket probably won't fly.

 

OK, I can see your point there. Although, I suppose the folks that work there could attend as well, so technically you don't have to be a passenger ;-)

 

At any rate, after a week it would be nice to get some official feedback from the reviewer instead of it being ignored. Oh well, guess we won't get to check Belize off of the country list just yet.

[+narcissa]

 

Event caches are also subject to the other guidelines, like the guideline against commercial caches. There are adaptations because events are unique. For example, while you can have an event at a restaurant, you can't make the event into an advertisement for the restaurant and you can't force people to buy anything at the restaurant.

 

An event that requires people to buy a cruise ticket probably won't fly.

 

OK, I can see your point there. Although, I suppose the folks that work there could attend as well, so technically you don't have to be a passenger ;-)

 

At any rate, after a week it would be nice to get some official feedback from the reviewer instead of it being ignored. Oh well, guess we won't get to check Belize off of the country list just yet.

 

Another consideration is that "private" events are typically not permitted. Designing an event for a small group of people who are already on a cruise together isn't in keeping with the spirit of what geocaching events are supposed to be. They're meant to be open gatherings of geocachers, not de facto temporary geocaches for travellers.

[scidawg]

 

Event caches are also subject to the other guidelines, like the guideline against commercial caches. There are adaptations because events are unique. For example, while you can have an event at a restaurant, you can't make the event into an advertisement for the restaurant and you can't force people to buy anything at the restaurant.

 

An event that requires people to buy a cruise ticket probably won't fly.

 

OK, I can see your point there. Although, I suppose the folks that work there could attend as well, so technically you don't have to be a passenger ;-)

 

At any rate, after a week it would be nice to get some official feedback from the reviewer instead of it being ignored. Oh well, guess we won't get to check Belize off of the country list just yet.

 

Another consideration is that "private" events are typically not permitted. Designing an event for a small group of people who are already on a cruise together isn't in keeping with the spirit of what geocaching events are supposed to be. They're meant to be open gatherings of geocachers, not de facto temporary geocaches for travellers.

I don't know anyone else on the cruise, so it is not for people who are on a cruise together in that sense. On the roll call message board we discovered that several of us were into geocaching so thought it would be a nice chance to do a meet and greet with some fellow cachers. To me, that is what every event I have ever attended was about. Oh, well.

[+hzoi]

It's not unheard of to have an event in a cruise port. Looking through forum threads, it would appear the guidelines restriction on commercial might be triggered by the fact that only cruise patrons (or employees) would have access to the event.

 

Nothing's stopping you from getting together -- it just means a published event (and associated find) might not be doable at that particular location. Which would be unfortunate. I have been to a few countries where I didn't get to geocache, and it was a little disappointing for me that I didn't "get credit." I mean, the side of the conference table just across the North Korean border at the Joint Security Area just screams out for a virtual cache, but either no one ever thought to put one there, or Groundspeak rejected the idea. So, no DPRK smiley for me.

 

One thing that the forum threads on cruises and events are light on is resolution -- the questions come up in the forum, but the original poster never comes back with the official response from the reviewer and/or Groundspeak. Whatever you find out, it'd be helpful for the next folks if you come back and let the rest of us know.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Event caches are also subject to the other guidelines, like the guideline against commercial caches. There are adaptations because events are unique. For example, while you can have an event at a restaurant, you can't make the event into an advertisement for the restaurant and you can't force people to buy anything at the restaurant.

 

An event that requires people to buy a cruise ticket probably won't fly.

 

OK, I can see your point there. Although, I suppose the folks that work there could attend as well, so technically you don't have to be a passenger ;-)

 

At any rate, after a week it would be nice to get some official feedback from the reviewer instead of it being ignored. Oh well, guess we won't get to check Belize off of the country list just yet.

 

Another consideration is that "private" events are typically not permitted. Designing an event for a small group of people who are already on a cruise together isn't in keeping with the spirit of what geocaching events are supposed to be. They're meant to be open gatherings of geocachers, not de facto temporary geocaches for travellers.

I don't know anyone else on the cruise, so it is not for people who are on a cruise together in that sense. On the roll call message board we discovered that several of us were into geocaching so thought it would be a nice chance to do a meet and greet with some fellow cachers. To me, that is what every event I have ever attended was about. Oh, well.

 

I completely agree and think it's unfortunate how some events are created in order for geocachers to acquire a certain souvenir, or that some feel that the event won't get enough attendance unless a whole bunch of caches are published nearby to entice people to come to the event.

 

I've never been on a cruise but wouldn't there be some way to enough announce a meet-n-greet for while the ship is cruising? Nobody will get a smiley or a souvenir for it but if the point is actually to have a meet-and-greet does that really matter. As a certified country collector I understand the desire to get a find in a new country but sometimes you just have to work for it. I've been through the airport in Nairobi Kenya five times but still don't have a find there because I haven't yet left the airport. I don't think that requiring an event be available to local cacher (that's aren't on a cruise...or can't go through airport security without a boarding pass) is unreasonable.

 

 

[scidawg]

Event caches are also subject to the other guidelines, like the guideline against commercial caches. There are adaptations because events are unique. For example, while you can have an event at a restaurant, you can't make the event into an advertisement for the restaurant and you can't force people to buy anything at the restaurant.

 

An event that requires people to buy a cruise ticket probably won't fly.

 

OK, I can see your point there. Although, I suppose the folks that work there could attend as well, so technically you don't have to be a passenger ;-)

 

At any rate, after a week it would be nice to get some official feedback from the reviewer instead of it being ignored. Oh well, guess we won't get to check Belize off of the country list just yet.

 

Another consideration is that "private" events are typically not permitted. Designing an event for a small group of people who are already on a cruise together isn't in keeping with the spirit of what geocaching events are supposed to be. They're meant to be open gatherings of geocachers, not de facto temporary geocaches for travellers.

I don't know anyone else on the cruise, so it is not for people who are on a cruise together in that sense. On the roll call message board we discovered that several of us were into geocaching so thought it would be a nice chance to do a meet and greet with some fellow cachers. To me, that is what every event I have ever attended was about. Oh, well.

 

I completely agree and think it's unfortunate how some events are created in order for geocachers to acquire a certain souvenir, or that some feel that the event won't get enough attendance unless a whole bunch of caches are published nearby to entice people to come to the event.

 

I've never been on a cruise but wouldn't there be some way to enough announce a meet-n-greet for while the ship is cruising? Nobody will get a smiley or a souvenir for it but if the point is actually to have a meet-and-greet does that really matter. As a certified country collector I understand the desire to get a find in a new country but sometimes you just have to work for it. I've been through the airport in Nairobi Kenya five times but still don't have a find there because I haven't yet left the airport. I don't think that requiring an event be available to local cacher (that's aren't on a cruise...or can't go through airport security without a boarding pass) is unreasonable.

We will have the meet and greet regardless, we have already discussed it on the cruise forum site. It would be nice to get the smiley, but not the end of the world. Hopefully will get to check off the other two countries we are visiting. And I will post an update if I ever hear from the reviewer.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Event caches are also subject to the other guidelines, like the guideline against commercial caches. There are adaptations because events are unique. For example, while you can have an event at a restaurant, you can't make the event into an advertisement for the restaurant and you can't force people to buy anything at the restaurant.

 

An event that requires people to buy a cruise ticket probably won't fly.

 

OK, I can see your point there. Although, I suppose the folks that work there could attend as well, so technically you don't have to be a passenger ;-)

 

At any rate, after a week it would be nice to get some official feedback from the reviewer instead of it being ignored. Oh well, guess we won't get to check Belize off of the country list just yet.

 

Another consideration is that "private" events are typically not permitted. Designing an event for a small group of people who are already on a cruise together isn't in keeping with the spirit of what geocaching events are supposed to be. They're meant to be open gatherings of geocachers, not de facto temporary geocaches for travellers.

I don't know anyone else on the cruise, so it is not for people who are on a cruise together in that sense. On the roll call message board we discovered that several of us were into geocaching so thought it would be a nice chance to do a meet and greet with some fellow cachers. To me, that is what every event I have ever attended was about. Oh, well.

 

I completely agree and think it's unfortunate how some events are created in order for geocachers to acquire a certain souvenir, or that some feel that the event won't get enough attendance unless a whole bunch of caches are published nearby to entice people to come to the event.

 

I've never been on a cruise but wouldn't there be some way to enough announce a meet-n-greet for while the ship is cruising? Nobody will get a smiley or a souvenir for it but if the point is actually to have a meet-and-greet does that really matter. As a certified country collector I understand the desire to get a find in a new country but sometimes you just have to work for it. I've been through the airport in Nairobi Kenya five times but still don't have a find there because I haven't yet left the airport. I don't think that requiring an event be available to local cacher (that's aren't on a cruise...or can't go through airport security without a boarding pass) is unreasonable.

We will have the meet and greet regardless, we have already discussed it on the cruise forum site. It would be nice to get the smiley, but not the end of the world. Hopefully will get to check off the other two countries we are visiting. And I will post an update if I ever hear from the reviewer.

 

Please post about your experience caching while cruising in the countries you do visit. I've looked at some of the various cruise options as a way to see (and geocache) in more the the Caribbean and have seen a few itineraries which included Belize.

[+J Grouchy]

Allowed or not, I agree that no input or response from the reviewer for that long seems unreasonable. Maybe I'm spoiled here, where caches are routinely published within hours of being submitted...but it seems like there ought to at least be acknowledgment within the first seven days.

[scidawg]

Well, the event was approved this evening, so I guess it's ok by the rules after all. I'll be sure to post back on how it goes as well as the caching on Roatan and Cozumel .

[+hzoi]

Well, the event was approved this evening, so I guess it's ok by the rules after all. I'll be sure to post back on how it goes as well as the caching on Roatan and Cozumel .

Glad to hear it!

[scidawg]

Well, the event was approved this evening, so I guess it's ok by the rules after all. I'll be sure to post back on how it goes as well as the caching on Roatan and Cozumel .

Glad to hear it!

Further update...just got an email from GC Headquarters that the event has been reported as not meeting guidelines and has therefore been retracted. Reading back through the thread, I think we can all figure out who reported it. Thanks a lot. Oh well.

[+K13]

Well, the event was approved this evening, so I guess it's ok by the rules after all. I'll be sure to post back on how it goes as well as the caching on Roatan and Cozumel .

Glad to hear it!

Further update...just got an email from GC Headquarters that the event has been reported as not meeting guidelines and has therefore been retracted. Reading back through the thread, I think we can all figure out who reported it. Thanks a lot. Oh well.

 

I wonder if it is one of the Reviewers who contributed to this thread, or someone else to whom you refer?

[scidawg]

Well, the event was approved this evening, so I guess it's ok by the rules after all. I'll be sure to post back on how it goes as well as the caching on Roatan and Cozumel .

Glad to hear it!

Further update...just got an email from GC Headquarters that the event has been reported as not meeting guidelines and has therefore been retracted. Reading back through the thread, I think we can all figure out who reported it. Thanks a lot. Oh well.

 

I wonder if it is one of the Reviewers who contributed to this thread, or someone else to whom you refer?

Other than Keystone, I don't know who are reviewers and who aren't but I have noticed someone (not Keystone) seems to be the self appointed moral authority of Geocaching.

Edited November 30, 2016 by scidawg

[+narcissa]

Well, the event was approved this evening, so I guess it's ok by the rules after all. I'll be sure to post back on how it goes as well as the caching on Roatan and Cozumel .

Glad to hear it!

Further update...just got an email from GC Headquarters that the event has been reported as not meeting guidelines and has therefore been retracted. Reading back through the thread, I think we can all figure out who reported it. Thanks a lot. Oh well.

 

I wonder if it is one of the Reviewers who contributed to this thread, or someone else to whom you refer?

Other than Keystone, I don't know who are reviewers and who aren't but I have noticed someone (not Keystone) seems to be the self appointed moral authority of Geocaching.

 

There are a lot of lurkers, including reviewers and lackeys. Anytime someone comes to the forum and openly discusses a specific geocache that violates the guidelines, its days are numbered.

 

This is why many forum regulars, like me, follow an unwritten code where we avoid outing specific cachers and caches, and leave this sort of issue to the local geocachers and reviewers to figure out.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Well, the event was approved this evening, so I guess it's ok by the rules after all. I'll be sure to post back on how it goes as well as the caching on Roatan and Cozumel .

Glad to hear it!

Further update...just got an email from GC Headquarters that the event has been reported as not meeting guidelines and has therefore been retracted. Reading back through the thread, I think we can all figure out who reported it. Thanks a lot. Oh well.

 

Yeah. I'd say that it as post #4 that gave it away. Private island owned by the cruise line. Anyone seeing that knows that it's a violation of the commercialism ban. I assume that you told the reviewer that?

[+The A-Team]

Regardless of how this particular occurrence turned out, I think the moral of the story is that you should give yourself a decent amount of extra time to account for delays during the review (whether that's because the reviewer is on holiday, guideline issues arise, etc.). How much extra time to leave could be debated endlessly, but I'd say at least 2 weeks would be sufficient (on top of the already-required 2 week lead-time). Even if the publication gets held up for a week, that would still give prospective attendees 3 weeks to work the event into their plans.

[+dprovan]

Yeah. I'd say that it as post #4 that gave it away. Private island owned by the cruise line. Anyone seeing that knows that it's a violation of the commercialism ban.

Well, no, actually. As long as the description didn't mention the cruise line, I can't see how it would be considered commercialism. As I understand it, the problem here is another clause requiring general accessibility.

 

While I can't complain about this restriction, it's kinda too bad this event isn't allowed. I think it's kinda rare that anyone attends a cruise event other than people on the event owner's boat just because, from what I've seen, local geocachers are rare in cruise ports. So in practice, the accessibility to the private island event is pretty much the same as it would be for an event in a public area at a port.

 

This is further muddied by the fact that some of these private islands aren't owned by the cruise line, they're just used by the cruise line, sometimes exclusively, sometimes not. So, yes, I have to be on a cruise to get there, but that's not technically any more exclusive than having an event on any island requiring a boat to get to. After all, it's really the location of the island that's restricting access more than who owns the island.

[Keystone]

Well, the event was approved this evening, so I guess it's ok by the rules after all. I'll be sure to post back on how it goes as well as the caching on Roatan and Cozumel .

Glad to hear it!

Further update...just got an email from GC Headquarters that the event has been reported as not meeting guidelines and has therefore been retracted. Reading back through the thread, I think we can all figure out who reported it. Thanks a lot. Oh well.

 

I wonder if it is one of the Reviewers who contributed to this thread, or someone else to whom you refer?

Other than Keystone, I don't know who are reviewers and who aren't but I have noticed someone (not Keystone) seems to be the self appointed moral authority of Geocaching.

At least two reviewers, including me, reached out to your reviewer to alert them to the listing guidelines issue (the event only being accessible to commercial cruise passengers). For reasons unclear to me, your reviewer published the event anyways. I did not report the cache to Geocaching HQ.

 

Rather than lashing out at people who care about the listing guidelines, consider reading them, following them, and respecting the decisions of those more familiar with them than you are. The "law" on cruise ship events is well-settled and it was summarized quite nicely in Isonzo Karst's post.

[scidawg]

 

At least two reviewers, including me, reached out to your reviewer to alert them to the listing guidelines issue (the event only being accessible to commercial cruise passengers). For reasons unclear to me, your reviewer published the event anyways. I did not report the cache to Geocaching HQ.

 

Rather than lashing out at people who care about the listing guidelines, consider reading them, following them, and respecting the decisions of those more familiar with them than you are. The "law" on cruise ship events is well-settled and it was summarized quite nicely in Isonzo Karst's post.

 

Keystone, thank you for your input. I don't frequent the boards very often, in fact due to life getting in the way, I haven't done much caching at all lately, so I was unfamiliar with any discussions regarding the "law" on cruise ships. I feel like I am pretty familiar with the guidelines, I just always interpreted the commercial cache ban as being intended to prevent businesses from using the geocaching resources as free advertising, etc, not to prevent some fellow geocachers who happen to be traveling on the same itinerary from having an event. Apparently I was wrong. Still not sure I see the harm in it, and dprovan made some good points in their post but I obviously accept the decision. I do feel that this cache being initially published and the other current thread about the neighborhood cache point out some glaring inconsistencies in the volunteer review process that are problematic, but not my circus, not my monkeys, I guess. We will have our meet and greet anyway, it just will be amongst those cachers on the roll call and will have to get a Belize smiley some other time. Happy caching!

Edited December 1, 2016 by scidawg

[Keystone]

Thank you for your polite response to my rather pointed post, made in defense of forum discussion participants.

 

I know personally about the frustration of visiting a country and not being able to score a cache find. In my case, it involved being on a group tour and staring out the window as we drove past geocaches on our way to destinations where there were no caches within walking distance.

 

I hope you have a great cruise and enjoy fun and fellowship with the other geocachers onboard. You have the right attitude: it's about the experience, not the smiley.

 

There will always be examples where reviewers miss one of the many fine points of reviewing caches, such as the guidance given to us about "cruise caches." Anyone can have a bad day and forget a piece of that guidance; I'm sure I have. Also, many reviewers are dogs.

[+redsox_mark]

Sorry your event was retracted.

 

It is a reality that any specific cache (event or otherwise) which gets discussed here exposes it to "wider review". And not necessarily from reviewers. We've seen a lot of examples on the challenge caches threads. Often a cache gets retracted or archived seemingly based on the forum discussion. One can never be sure, and certainly one can't say who reported it, but it is pretty clear it happens.

 

And it often happens like this case. The OP just wanted to know how long was reasonable to wait. They then made the "mistake"of providing more information about their cache (event), which made it subject to public scrutiny.

 

One can argue if something doesn't meet the guidelines, and the forum points this out and action is taken, that's a good thing, since everything should meet the guidelines. Personally I don't like it.

[+dprovan]

One can argue if something doesn't meet the guidelines, and the forum points this out and action is taken, that's a good thing, since everything should meet the guidelines. Personally I don't like it.

Yeah, I agree with you: I don't like it, but I can't claim that means it's bad. In the challenge cache threads, I kept hoping it would lead to some thought within the reviewer community about why these rules were in place. I thought it might lead to some refinements based on considering how important it was to prevent bad thing X when the rule also prevented good thing Y. But the more it happened, the clearer it was they were more concerned with making sure the rules were always enforced regardless of whether the enforcement had anything to do with why any given rule was in place. In other words, the rules themselves seem to have become more important than the problems being solved.

[+ODragon]

In other words, the rules themselves seem to have become more important than the problems being solved.

Depends on the problem. I think they are solving a lot of the consistency problem of what was published in one place wouldn't be in another.

[+dprovan]

In other words, the rules themselves seem to have become more important than the problems being solved.

Depends on the problem. I think they are solving a lot of the consistency problem of what was published in one place wouldn't be in another.

That's a good example. Inconsistency in itself isn't necessarily a problem, but once you've made it a rule that all rulings must be consistent, you're no longer allowed to think about whether it would be better for everyone for a rule to be adapted to the local conditions.