Logged a virtual cache in France, but country not marked as logged

[+Vatvedt]

Hi,

 

I logged a French virtual cache ("To log this cache, you must access an pass in Europe"), and I got the souvenir for France, but when I look at the list of countries in my profile it doesn't say France 1 geocache. It doesn't list France at all. Why is this? Because the cache is virtual?

 

Virtual or not, shouldn't it list the country? If I were there physically, and logged this cache and a traditional, would that just count as 1 cache in France? I would think that would count as two caches. :-)

 

Just curious. :-)

Edited August 21, 2014 by vatvedt

[+J Grouchy]

Sometimes it takes a day or so to update your stats.

[+Vatvedt]

It's been two days now. Logged on Tuesday, but I guess I can give it a few more days. :-)

[+narcissa]

Hi,

 

I logged a French virtual cache (GCB652), and I got the souvenir for France, but when I look at the list of countries in my profile it doesn't say France 1 geocache. It doesn't list France at all. Why is this? Because the cache is virtual?

 

Virtual or not, shouldn't it list the country? If I were there physically, and logged this cache and a traditional, would that just count as 1 cache in France? I would think that would count as two caches. :-)

 

Just curious. :-)

 

So wait, you weren't actually in France?

[+sbell111]

Hi,

 

I logged a French virtual cache (GCB652), and I got the souvenir for France, but when I look at the list of countries in my profile it doesn't say France 1 geocache. It doesn't list France at all. Why is this? Because the cache is virtual?

 

Virtual or not, shouldn't it list the country? If I were there physically, and logged this cache and a traditional, would that just count as 1 cache in France? I would think that would count as two caches. :-)

 

Just curious. :-)

I'm concerned about your comment 'If I were there physically'. Were you not physically present in France when you found the virtual cache?

[+sbell111]

I get it now.

 

The cache that you found is actually listed incorrectly. It is an old school locationless that was incorrectly listed as a virtual. As such, it really should be archived and locked.

 

Also, since the location that you logged is in Norway, I'm not sure why you would want your profile to show you as having cached in France.

Edited August 21, 2014 by sbell111

[+frinklabs]

It looks like the OP might have been there, with the team that also logged that cache (as a note) the same day.

 

http://coord.info/GLF8EH6M

 

But then they were in Norway the same day?

 

Can't figure out what's up with this.

[+Isonzo Karst]

There's a list of caches which are, "ignored when awarding souvenirs or determining distance-related statistics."

The cache you found is on that list, so no souvenir or distance-related stat will be generated by finding it.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=7cf4124c-1061-4412-b79a-7df1df4d8783

[+NYPaddleCacher]

There's a list of caches which are, "ignored when awarding souvenirs or determining distance-related statistics."

The cache you found is on that list, so no souvenir or distance-related stat will be generated by finding it.

 

http://www.geocachin...9a-7df1df4d8783

 

I hadn't thought of that but apparently it didn't exclude it for the awarding of a souvenir, but it did exclude it as a cache found in France.

 

It looks like the cache is sort of a variation on the locationless brass cap cache in Canada, but rather than finding a brass cap, all one needs to do is be on any "pass" (I'm assuming a mountain pass) in Europe. In other words, you don't actually have to be in France to log it. I can understand why it would be on the exclusion list, but apparently the exclusion list isn't quite working the way it's supposed to.

Edited August 21, 2014 by NYPaddleCacher

[+CanadianRockies]

There's a list of caches which are, "ignored when awarding souvenirs or determining distance-related statistics."

The cache you found is on that list, so no souvenir or distance-related stat will be generated by finding it.

 

http://www.geocachin...9a-7df1df4d8783

I hadn't thought of that but apparently it didn't exclude it for the awarding of a souvenir, but it did exclude it as a cache found in France.

The OP "found" the French virtual cache on Aug. 17 but their France souvenir was acquired on Aug. 19. The OP logged no finds on Aug. 19. Shenanigans?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

It looks like the OP might have been there, with the team that also logged that cache (as a note) the same day.

 

http://coord.info/GLF8EH6M

 

But then they were in Norway the same day?

 

That's certainly possible. Last year I was in Denmark, Norway, and German all on the same day (within just a few hours actually). According to the log and the photo they were at Splügenpass, which is actually in Italy, but the cache allows logs from *any* mountain pass in Europe.

 

As someone else mentioned, this should have been listed as a now-defunct locationless cache rather than a virtual, but the logging requirements would also have been a good fit for the now-defunct Challenges.

 

[+NYPaddleCacher]

There's a list of caches which are, "ignored when awarding souvenirs or determining distance-related statistics."

The cache you found is on that list, so no souvenir or distance-related stat will be generated by finding it.

 

http://www.geocachin...9a-7df1df4d8783

I hadn't thought of that but apparently it didn't exclude it for the awarding of a souvenir, but it did exclude it as a cache found in France.

The OP "found" the French virtual cache on Aug. 17 but their France souvenir was acquired on Aug. 19. The OP logged no finds on Aug. 19. Shenanigans?

 

If they wanted a find in France when they were actually in Italy, then it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that they would take advantage of the "log a cache, delete the log, but still get the souvenir" loophole.

 

 

[+hpie]

Related to this, I logged a virtual cache in China and didn't get the China souvenir. The Cache is not on that "doesn't count" list (thanks, someone, for that list). What did I do wrong?

[+Vatvedt]

Wow, this generated a lot of talk.

 

I didn't think of the exclusion-list. Thanks, Isonzo Karst. I didn't know about the souvenir loophole either, but it's not a loophole I would like to use. I'd like to log a cache from a country that I'm actually in, or in this case a virtual cache like this. This isn't the only one of it's kind though. And I like that there's old and different kind of caches.

 

The souvenir date, I'm guessing is that we were on a small trip in Europe when logging it the 17th of August, and I had all the caches on my GPS. So I used GSAK to log all of the caches the 19th (and the finds where logged the date they were found. Or in this virtual case "found"), when I were back home with my computer. I didn't know of the cache until the 17th, and to keep it in mind, it was also noted as logged the same day we were travelling through some passes.

 

It's not a problem to log caches in many countries in Europe the same day. My friends just completed logging two caches in 15 countries in 24h.

 

Hope this issue doesn't create any "ill will" towards this cache, as that certainly wasn't the intention. If it does, I'm really sorry I posted this in the first place.

 

Either way, I got my answer. It's because of the exclusion-list. Thanks!

 

This topic can be closed now.

Edited August 21, 2014 by vatvedt

[Pup Patrol]

Related to this, I logged a virtual cache in China and didn't get the China souvenir. The Cache is not on that "doesn't count" list (thanks, someone, for that list). What did I do wrong?

 

There is no souvenir for China, and a lot of other countries.

 

Not completely up-to-date, but good enough:

 

1.2. List of Available Souvenirs

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=436

 

 

B.

[+hpie]

Related to this, I logged a virtual cache in China and didn't get the China souvenir. The Cache is not on that "doesn't count" list (thanks, someone, for that list). What did I do wrong?

 

There is no souvenir for China, and a lot of other countries.

 

Not completely up-to-date, but good enough:

 

1.2. List of Available Souvenirs

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=436

 

 

B.

 

Oh. Okay. Thanks!

Darn it.

[+CanadianRockies]

The souvenir date, I'm guessing is that we were on a small trip in Europe when logging it the 17th of August, and I had all the caches on my GPS. So I used GSAK to log all of the caches the 19th (and the finds where logged the date they were found. Or in this virtual case "found"), when I were back home with my computer. I didn't know of the cache until the 17th, and to keep it in mind, it was also noted as logged the same day we were travelling through some passes.

I was going to say that this explanation was unlikely to be the case here, since this cache is on the list of caches that should be excluded from both maps AND souvenirs. But I noticed "Froweg" (and others) also have logged finds, received their France souvenirs, and did not get their maps marked. Software glitch?

[+The A-Team]

The souvenir date, I'm guessing is that we were on a small trip in Europe when logging it the 17th of August, and I had all the caches on my GPS. So I used GSAK to log all of the caches the 19th (and the finds where logged the date they were found. Or in this virtual case "found"), when I were back home with my computer. I didn't know of the cache until the 17th, and to keep it in mind, it was also noted as logged the same day we were travelling through some passes.

I was going to say that this explanation was unlikely to be the case here, since this cache is on the list of caches that should be excluded from both maps AND souvenirs. But I noticed "Froweg" (and others) also have logged finds, received their France souvenirs, and did not get their maps marked. Software glitch?

Yes, it's a software glitch, and one that has been fixed before. I wonder if the fix hasn't been properly documented or something, because it keeps getting re-broken.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

The souvenir date, I'm guessing is that we were on a small trip in Europe when logging it the 17th of August, and I had all the caches on my GPS. So I used GSAK to log all of the caches the 19th (and the finds where logged the date they were found. Or in this virtual case "found"), when I were back home with my computer. I didn't know of the cache until the 17th, and to keep it in mind, it was also noted as logged the same day we were travelling through some passes.

I was going to say that this explanation was unlikely to be the case here, since this cache is on the list of caches that should be excluded from both maps AND souvenirs. But I noticed "Froweg" (and others) also have logged finds, received their France souvenirs, and did not get their maps marked. Software glitch?

Yes, it's a software glitch, and one that has been fixed before. I wonder if the fix hasn't been properly documented or something, because it keeps getting re-broken.

 

I wonder if it has to do with the fact that the OP logged the cache using GSAK, and thus used the API, rather than through the web site.

[Mr.Yuck]

I get it now.

 

The cache that you found is actually listed incorrectly. It is an old school locationless that was incorrectly listed as a virtual. As such, it really should be archived and locked.

 

Also, since the location that you logged is in Norway, I'm not sure why you would want your profile to show you as having cached in France.

 

The review process wasn't as "tight" back in the old days, and I've seen plenty of locationless masquerading as virtuals. Not to mention any names, but how about that brass disc benchmark cache in Western Canada? There might have been quite a few "incorrectly listed" back in the day, but very few survive, and I'm sure they'll be grandfathered in as long as they have an active owner.

[+Chrysalides]

The OP "found" the French virtual cache on Aug. 17 but their France souvenir was acquired on Aug. 19. The OP logged no finds on Aug. 19. Shenanigans?

 

If you found a cache on date X, but only managed to log it online on date Y and backdated your Found It date to X, you'll have a find on X but a souvenir on Y - with Y being converted to Pacific time.

 

I got a couple of my August souvenirs on Aug 1, 2014 (local time in Asia) and logged it online. But when I was logging it, it was Jul 31, 2014 in Seattle, so my souvenirs said "Acquired on Jul/31/2014".

[+CanadianRockies]

The OP "found" the French virtual cache on Aug. 17 but their France souvenir was acquired on Aug. 19. The OP logged no finds on Aug. 19. Shenanigans?

If you found a cache on date X, but only managed to log it online on date Y and backdated your Found It date to X, you'll have a find on X but a souvenir on Y - with Y being converted to Pacific time.

 

I got a couple of my August souvenirs on Aug 1, 2014 (local time in Asia) and logged it online. But when I was logging it, it was Jul 31, 2014 in Seattle, so my souvenirs said "Acquired on Jul/31/2014".

I don't think time zone differences would explain a two-day date disparity.

 

Furthermore, this particular cache was on the list that was supposed to exclude it from both appearing on maps and being awarded a souvenir, regardless of when it was logged. As I later pointed out, however, it appears that the exclusion list has a software glitch.

[+Chrysalides]

The OP "found" the French virtual cache on Aug. 17 but their France souvenir was acquired on Aug. 19. The OP logged no finds on Aug. 19. Shenanigans?

If you found a cache on date X, but only managed to log it online on date Y and backdated your Found It date to X, you'll have a find on X but a souvenir on Y - with Y being converted to Pacific time.

 

I got a couple of my August souvenirs on Aug 1, 2014 (local time in Asia) and logged it online. But when I was logging it, it was Jul 31, 2014 in Seattle, so my souvenirs said "Acquired on Jul/31/2014".

I don't think time zone differences would explain a two-day date disparity.

 

Furthermore, this particular cache was on the list that was supposed to exclude it from both appearing on maps and being awarded a souvenir, regardless of when it was logged. As I later pointed out, however, it appears that the exclusion list has a software glitch.

 

I did not say the time zone difference explains the 2 day difference. I said the actual time (in Seattle) the log entry was created determined the date the souvenir was awarded.

[+sbell111]

The OP "found" the French virtual cache on Aug. 17 but their France souvenir was acquired on Aug. 19. The OP logged no finds on Aug. 19. Shenanigans?

If you found a cache on date X, but only managed to log it online on date Y and backdated your Found It date to X, you'll have a find on X but a souvenir on Y - with Y being converted to Pacific time.

 

I got a couple of my August souvenirs on Aug 1, 2014 (local time in Asia) and logged it online. But when I was logging it, it was Jul 31, 2014 in Seattle, so my souvenirs said "Acquired on Jul/31/2014".

I don't think time zone differences would explain a two-day date disparity.

 

Furthermore, this particular cache was on the list that was supposed to exclude it from both appearing on maps and being awarded a souvenir, regardless of when it was logged. As I later pointed out, however, it appears that the exclusion list has a software glitch.

 

I did not say the time zone difference explains the 2 day difference. I said the actual time (in Seattle) the log entry was created determined the date the souvenir was awarded.

Exactly. The difference between the souvi date and the 'find' date isn't a symptom of something being broken. They merely track two different things. The 'find' date is the date that the cache was found. The souvi date is the date that the log was entered and, therefore, the date that the souvenir was awarded.

Edited August 22, 2014 by sbell111

[+Echo_Sierra]

There is no souvenir for China, and a lot of other countries.

 

Will it retroactively award the souvenir should Groundspeak release one?

[+Vatvedt]

Yes, it will. :-)

[+NYPaddleCacher]

There is no souvenir for China, and a lot of other countries.

 

Will it retroactively award the souvenir should Groundspeak release one?

 

That's how all previous country based souvenirs have been done. It's questionable though whether they will add any more. Despite the fact that lots of geocachers have asked for them, at one point just after the last batch was released, someone from GS wrote that no more country based souvenirs would be released. A year or so later another wrote something that gave a slim glimmer of hope that they "might" release more....that was at least a year ago.