Release Notes (Geocaching.com, Friend League) - July 11, 2017

[+Geocaching HQ]

Release Notes - July 11, 2017

Today’s release includes Geocaching.com’s newest feature: Friend League.

The Friend League is a leaderboard that shows geocaching activity of you and your geocaching friends. If you log a cache or attend an event, you collect points in the form of gold coins.

This feature goes hand in hand with The Lost Treasure of Mary Hyde. To earn the souvenir with the first map piece, you and your crew have to collect 30 gold coins during July 17-23. (Read more about the Mary Hyde souvenirs on the Geocaching Blog.)

The rules for earning gold coins change every Monday at 5 am PDT (Pacific Daylight Time), Noon UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). At that time, the Friend League will refresh and the gold coin count goes back to zero.

Friend League is a test feature. We’ll evaluate usage and feedback during The Lost Treasure of Mary Hyde before deciding how this functionality might be used in the future.


Heather W. and Jayme H. from HQ’s Web and Product Teams are watching this thread to answer questions whenever possible.

Any posts in this thread should relate to features in this release. Comments unrelated to the release may be removed. Please direct unrelated comments to other appropriate threads. Thanks!

[+thomfre]

As much as I like both the design and functionality of this, I'm sad to see that you've made instant logging a requirement this year.

I've really enjoyed the summer souvenirs every year, and I was looking forward to this year as well. But since I'm out caching all of August, I won't be able to log my finds until after the thing is over

 

I hope you will take this into consideration for next year, at least.

[+Korsgat]

As a geocacher that prefers to write logs when I'm in the mood for it, and not just send a short TFTC, I think I will be completely without this summers suvenirs, since I tend to delay the process of logging online as for being more outside caching.

 

Earlier souvenirs have come to me when I have sent in my logs, be after a new country, a new MEGA or a special souvenir for an event. Are this now completely out of range for us who likes to have a story to tell after finding a cache?

 

As for the idea of a friends league and something more fun there, I am not thinking this would have to be wrong. But I believe all points have to count longer after the period of collection are, so that finds done near the time limit may count. In that case, even those of us not logging online at the instant can get finds that count.

[+niraD]

Based on the following snippet:

4. All logs must be submitted by Wednesday, July 26, 5 am PDT (Pacific Daylight Time), noon UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) to qualify for the first souvenir.

5. Later that day (Wednesday, July 26) you will be notified by email if you earned the first souvenir. (Make sure to sign up for the Weekly Newsletter and Tips & Tricks in your email preferences.)

It looks like the logs don't have to be posted instantly, but they do need to be posted within a couple days of the end of the souvenir period. I suppose that makes sense because a "friend league" has to accumulate points together, and Groundspeak doesn't want to be stuck calculating every league's score forever.

 

But if my "friend league" qualifies without me, and I post my qualifying log a day or two late, is there any flexibility for me to get the souvenir? Or does all awarding of one of this summer's souvenirs shut down a couple days after the souvenir time window?

 

And what about this weekend's event souvenir? I didn't see any mention of it expiring.

 

Anyway, I might try to get caught up on my back logging, but July 26 is still a rather optimistic deadline for me to get caught up. But I guess I'll stop waiting for various logging annoyances to be fixed.

[+thomfre]

Based on the following snippet:

4. All logs must be submitted by Wednesday, July 26, 5 am PDT (Pacific Daylight Time), noon UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) to qualify for the first souvenir.

5. Later that day (Wednesday, July 26) you will be notified by email if you earned the first souvenir. (Make sure to sign up for the Weekly Newsletter and Tips & Tricks in your email preferences.)

It looks like the logs don't have to be posted instantly, but they do need to be posted within a couple days of the end of the souvenir period. I suppose that makes sense because a "friend league" has to accumulate points together, and Groundspeak doesn't want to be stuck calculating every league's score forever.

I might be able to post the first few logs in time. But from the end of July, we'll be on the road for four weeks. I neither wan't to nor have time to waste time writing logs then. We like to use the time to actually find caches, enjoy the scenery and just enjoy being on vacation. And then log all the caches when we get back home.

 

I guess I just have to get a large enough team to make sure the rest of them qualify, and just log TFTC on one of the caches we find every week (and delete the log after, so I can submit a proper log in chronological order later).

 

But after thinking a bit more about this. This is turning geocaching into a competition. Not sure if I like that... Yes, we've had Project-GC and statistics for a while, but this is something official...

[+Maingray]

 

But after thinking a bit more about this. This is turning geocaching into a competition. Not sure if I like that... Yes, we've had Project-GC and statistics for a while, but this is something official...

 

It's only going to be up for the Summer Souvenir event, and then they'll re-evaluate. I don't mind it being up as a fun thing later and in some form, and if it isn't tied to any sort of award you can choose to look at it or not.

[+gasbottle]

So, apart from clicking the link at the top of this post, how do I find my Friends' League?

 

I haven't found a single link to it anywhere on the web site.

[+niraD]

So, apart from clicking the link at the top of this post, how do I find my Friends' League?

 

I haven't found a single link to it anywhere on the web site.

On your old dashboard page, there is a "Your Friends" link at the top, and a "View Your Friends" link on the right side.

 

On your new dashboard page, there is a "View friends" link on the left side.

Edited July 11, 2017 by niraD

[+gasbottle]

So, apart from clicking the link at the top of this post, how do I find my Friends' League?

 

I haven't found a single link to it anywhere on the web site.

On your old dashboard page, there is a "Your Friends" link at the top, and a "View Your Friends" link on the right side.

 

On your new dashboard page, there is a "View friends" link on the left side.

 

Thanks. I found the link on the new dashboard now. I'd missed that because I've not found the new dashboard useful so I opted out.

 

I clicked the link to 'Your Friends' on the old dashboard and got taken to the usual (empty) list. No sign of a link to Mary Hyde, Friends League or anything related

[+Maingray]

So, apart from clicking the link at the top of this post, how do I find my Friends' League?

 

I haven't found a single link to it anywhere on the web site.

 

It was in the announcement.

 

https://www.geocaching.com/play/friendleague

[+gasbottle]

 

It was in the announcement.

 

https://www.geocaching.com/play/friendleague

 

Indeed it was, as I mentioned here:

So, apart from clicking the link at the top of this post, how do I find my Friends' League?

 

 

My point is that unless you're using the new dashboard there is no reference to it at all on the web site.

[+JoenGPS]

Some folks are reporting they already have "coins" in their friends league list...?

[hleeful]

Some folks are reporting they already have "coins" in their friends league list...?

 

Yes, the friend league is available this week in order for players to familiarize themselves with the feature. You can log a cache or attend an event and see it reflected in your coins on the site. However, the coins will reset on Monday, and only starting on July 17th will the coins start to count towards the goals for the second souvenir (the first being attending an event on July 15-16). This FAQ has more detail about the souvenirs announced thus far.

[+Ebenn5]

Hi all, The first mission is to attend an event. If one of our member crew is attending one, is this applicable to all the member crews ? Or do we have to do it individually as well ?

[+terratin]

Hmm.. I can imagine that some people like this feature. Me, I'm not to fussed about it. I do hope though that this feature doesn't drop unwanted souvenirs into my account. I mean, I generally don't mind souvenirs but I hide all apart from country and EC ones. Getting one where I did nothing for would be a bit odd.

[+Twinklekitkat]

Hmm.. I can imagine that some people like this feature. Me, I'm not to fussed about it. I do hope though that this feature doesn't drop unwanted souvenirs into my account. I mean, I generally don't mind souvenirs but I hide all apart from country and EC ones. Getting one where I did nothing for would be a bit odd.

 

Pretty sure you can only earn the first souvenir by attending an event yourself. As for the

'Friend League' you will not earn a souvenir even if all your friends meet the goal. YOU must also find at least one cache in order to be awarded the souvenir. So you will not receive it for doing 'nothing'. You must participate in the group. If you don't have any friends it seems you can still be awarded the souvenir if you earn 30 coins on your own which, depending on cache saturation in your area, should not be too hard to accomplish. Of course, this only applies to the souvenir available July 17-23. The goals for the following weeks are still unknown, at least to me.

[+Sherminator18]

Hi all, The first mission is to attend an event. If one of our member crew is attending one, is this applicable to all the member crews ? Or do we have to do it individually as well ?

The requirement for the first souvenir is to attend an event on 7/15 or 7/16. If you want the souvenir, you will individually have to do that. You won't get the souvenir if only someone else in your group does that.

[+Optimist on the run]

For the purposes of gaining "coins", does a CITO count as an event?

[+JoenGPS]

Hmm.. I can imagine that some people like this feature. Me, I'm not to fussed about it. I do hope though that this feature doesn't drop unwanted souvenirs into my account. I mean, I generally don't mind souvenirs but I hide all apart from country and EC ones. Getting one where I did nothing for would be a bit odd.

 

Pretty sure you can only earn the first souvenir by attending an event yourself. As for the

'Friend League' you will not earn a souvenir even if all your friends meet the goal. YOU must also find at least one cache in order to be awarded the souvenir. So you will not receive it for doing 'nothing'. You must participate in the group. If you don't have any friends it seems you can still be awarded the souvenir if you earn 30 coins on your own which, depending on cache saturation in your area, should not be too hard to accomplish. Of course, this only applies to the souvenir available July 17-23. The goals for the following weeks are still unknown, at least to me.

 

You could make it even easier for a loan cacher too by doing 3 caches with 10 favorites or more (10 points each) = 30 coins!

[+JoenGPS]

For the purposes of gaining "coins", does a CITO count as an event?

 

July 15 or 16, 2017

 

Attend any geocaching event (including Mega, Giga, and CITO events) to earn the ‘Ahoy Me Hearties’ souvenir.

[+Optimist on the run]

For the purposes of gaining "coins", does a CITO count as an event?

 

July 15 or 16, 2017

 

Attend any geocaching event (including Mega, Giga, and CITO events) to earn the ‘Ahoy Me Hearties’ souvenir.

I was refering to the souvenir for collecting 30 coins between 17th and 23rd July. I recall there was a lot of confusion about this for one of last year's souvenirs, which is why I asked for it to be clarified.

[+Twinklekitkat]

How do you get to the 'Friend League' other than going to the Blog or the link in this forum? Is it on the friends list? I'm not seeing it.

[+Sherminator18]

How do you get to the 'Friend League' other than going to the Blog or the link in this forum? Is it on the friends list? I'm not seeing it.

When using the new dashboard there is a banner on the right side. Or you could just bookmark the link in your browser

Edited July 12, 2017 by Sherminator18

[+Twinklekitkat]

How do you get to the 'Friend League' other than going to the Blog or the link in this forum? Is it on the friends list? I'm not seeing it.

When using the new dashboard there is a banner on the right side. Or you could just bookmark the link in your browser

 

OK - thanks for that. I normally don't click anything over there since that is the 'ad' space and I don't want to see ads. I thought that logically it would be accessible from my list of friends.

[+JoenGPS]

For the purposes of gaining "coins", does a CITO count as an event?

 

July 15 or 16, 2017

 

Attend any geocaching event (including Mega, Giga, and CITO events) to earn the ‘Ahoy Me Hearties’ souvenir.

I was refering to the souvenir for collecting 30 coins between 17th and 23rd July. I recall there was a lot of confusion about this for one of last year's souvenirs, which is why I asked for it to be clarified.

 

Week 1: July 17-23, 2017

Find and log any geocache* = 5 gold coins.

Attend and log an event cache = 10 gold coins. < ----- That looks like a CITO would count during that week.

Find and log a geocache with 10 or more Favorite points = 10 gold coins.

[+terratin]

For the purposes of gaining "coins", does a CITO count as an event?

 

July 15 or 16, 2017

 

Attend any geocaching event (including Mega, Giga, and CITO events) to earn the ‘Ahoy Me Hearties’ souvenir.

I was refering to the souvenir for collecting 30 coins between 17th and 23rd July. I recall there was a lot of confusion about this for one of last year's souvenirs, which is why I asked for it to be clarified.

 

Week 1: July 17-23, 2017

Find and log any geocache* = 5 gold coins.

Attend and log an event cache = 10 gold coins. < ----- That looks like a CITO would count during that week.

Find and log a geocache with 10 or more Favorite points = 10 gold coins.

 

Thanks for that! So looks like a short trip to London for ECs and Virtuals, and a theatre play just comes in time.

[Moun10Bike]

How do you get to the 'Friend League' other than going to the Blog or the link in this forum? Is it on the friends list? I'm not seeing it.

When using the new dashboard there is a banner on the right side. Or you could just bookmark the link in your browser

 

OK - thanks for that. I normally don't click anything over there since that is the 'ad' space and I don't want to see ads. I thought that logically it would be accessible from my list of friends.

 

There's a link in the upper right corner of the friends page.

[Moun10Bike]

How do you get to the 'Friend League' other than going to the Blog or the link in this forum? Is it on the friends list? I'm not seeing it.

When using the new dashboard there is a banner on the right side. Or you could just bookmark the link in your browser

 

OK - thanks for that. I normally don't click anything over there since that is the 'ad' space and I don't want to see ads. I thought that logically it would be accessible from my list of friends.

 

There's a link in the upper right corner of the friends page.

 

Whoops, never mind! I've been informed that that link is only visible to Lackeys (sorry)!

[hleeful]

For the purposes of gaining "coins", does a CITO count as an event?

 

Yes, any type of event (CITO, Mega, etc.) will count for the first souvenir July 15-16, as well as count towards 10 coins the week of July 17-23. To obtain the souvenir on July 15-16, one must attend an event himself/herself.

[+Sherminator18]

I originally did like this new feature and thought it sounded fun. But now I am getting friend requests from random geocachers that I don't even know, I assume just so they can boost their numbers for this. It's getting on my nerves now and is, I believe, an oversight on the part of HQ.

[+niraD]

I originally did like this new feature and thought it sounded fun. But now I am getting friend requests from random geocachers that I don't even know, I assume just so they can boost their numbers for this. It's getting on my nerves now and is, I believe, an oversight on the part of HQ.

Building a huge Friend League of random people doesn't really do anything useful anyway. To get the Souvenir, each person needs to contribute at least 5 points. If everyone contributes only 5 points, then you need only half a dozen active members of your Friend League to earn the first week's Souvenir.

[+Sherminator18]

I originally did like this new feature and thought it sounded fun. But now I am getting friend requests from random geocachers that I don't even know, I assume just so they can boost their numbers for this. It's getting on my nerves now and is, I believe, an oversight on the part of HQ.

Building a huge Friend League of random people doesn't really do anything useful anyway. To get the Souvenir, each person needs to contribute at least 5 points. If everyone contributes only 5 points, then you need only half a dozen active members of your Friend League to earn the first week's Souvenir.

Yeah I know that. But I'm still getting friend requests from random people that I don't know.

[+Korsgat]

I originally did like this new feature and thought it sounded fun. But now I am getting friend requests from random geocachers that I don't even know, I assume just so they can boost their numbers for this. It's getting on my nerves now and is, I believe, an oversight on the part of HQ.

Building a huge Friend League of random people doesn't really do anything useful anyway. To get the Souvenir, each person needs to contribute at least 5 points. If everyone contributes only 5 points, then you need only half a dozen active members of your Friend League to earn the first week's Souvenir.

Yeah I know that. But I'm still getting friend requests from random people that I don't know.

I think this is the price for Groundspeak not having announced the goals or the tasks for all weeks. People just do not want to miss out the souvenirs, and therefore are gathering unknown (personal unknown at least) geocachers on their team to avoid possible trouble.

 

Sad to say this is a direction Groundpeak should have seen coming....

[hleeful]

I'm still getting friend requests from random people that I don't know.

 

Our hopes are that users will send friend requests to other users they actually know or want to meet up and go geocaching with. However, if you do not want friend requests, there is an option to turn them off entirely by going to your account settings -> preferences and checking the box that says "Block friend requests from other geocachers". We also limit the amount of friends a single user can request in a given amount of time in order to reduce spamming.

[+Sherminator18]

I'm still getting friend requests from random people that I don't know.

 

Our hopes are that users will send friend requests to other users they actually know or want to meet up and go geocaching with. However, if you do not want friend requests, there is an option to turn them off entirely by going to your account settings -> preferences and checking the box that says "Block friend requests from other geocachers". We also limit the amount of friends a single user can request in a given amount of time in order to reduce spamming.

I know that I can turn off friend requests, but I don't want to. I still want people that I ACTUALLY know to be able to request to be my friend.

[+hzoi]

I originally did like this new feature and thought it sounded fun. But now I am getting friend requests from random geocachers that I don't even know, I assume just so they can boost their numbers for this. It's getting on my nerves now and is, I believe, an oversight on the part of HQ.

I've only gotten one random request so far since this league thing started. You must be a nicer guy than me.

Edited July 12, 2017 by hzoi

[+cerberus1]

I'm still getting friend requests from random people that I don't know.

 

Our hopes are that users will send friend requests to other users they actually know or want to meet up and go geocaching with. However, if you do not want friend requests, there is an option to turn them off entirely by going to your account settings -> preferences and checking the box that says "Block friend requests from other geocachers". We also limit the amount of friends a single user can request in a given amount of time in order to reduce spamming.

I know that I can turn off friend requests, but I don't want to. I still want people that I ACTUALLY know to be able to request to be my friend.

+1

The only "friend" on our friend list agreed with me that we didn't really need to have that anymore.

We were his only "friend" too.

We both have real friends that we chat, hike, etc. with regularly.

I'm not on faceplant or tweeeter, our friends are just that ... friends.

- Unlike my sister who has 300+ "friends" ... none that would head out to change a tire for her...

[+dprovan]

I originally did like this new feature and thought it sounded fun. But now I am getting friend requests from random geocachers that I don't even know, I assume just so they can boost their numbers for this. It's getting on my nerves now and is, I believe, an oversight on the part of HQ.

I'm not sure "oversight" is the right word. Surely when they considered this new feature, they recognized that they'd be encouraging this behavior.

[+Sherminator18]

I originally did like this new feature and thought it sounded fun. But now I am getting friend requests from random geocachers that I don't even know, I assume just so they can boost their numbers for this. It's getting on my nerves now and is, I believe, an oversight on the part of HQ.

I'm not sure "oversight" is the right word. Surely when they considered this new feature, they recognized that they'd be encouraging this behavior.

I really don't know what they're thinking sometimes.

[+Sherminator18]

I originally did like this new feature and thought it sounded fun. But now I am getting friend requests from random geocachers that I don't even know, I assume just so they can boost their numbers for this. It's getting on my nerves now and is, I believe, an oversight on the part of HQ.

I've only gotten one random request so far since this league thing started. You must be a nicer guy than me.

I'm not a guy. But maybe I'm nicer? Or they're seeing my name active in the forums? Or just picking random letters and requesting people? I have no idea how these people found me. They were all from Europe and I'm in the US

[+The A-Team]

The idea sounded interesting until I got to this:

4. All logs must be submitted by Wednesday, July 26, 5 am PDT (Pacific Daylight Time), noon UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) to qualify for the first souvenir.

This is disappointing to see. It seems strange to exclude those who are traveling and will be unwilling/unable to log from the field during the period, especially considering this promotion is occurring in the peak of the northern hemisphere summer travel season.

 

I urge HQ to reconsider and tweak things such that traveling cachers are able to participate. As it stands now, I expect to be able to easily meet the requirements for the souvenir (myself and my friends will have ~100-200 finds), but won't be able to receive it simply because I won't be at home at the right time. As a matter of principle and to keep my logs in order, I will not be logging from the field and will wait until I get home to log my finds, but I'd still like to be able to participate and receive the souvenir. Am I out of luck?

[+hzoi]

I originally did like this new feature and thought it sounded fun. But now I am getting friend requests from random geocachers that I don't even know, I assume just so they can boost their numbers for this. It's getting on my nerves now and is, I believe, an oversight on the part of HQ.

I've only gotten one random request so far since this league thing started. You must be a nicer guy than me.

I'm not a guy. But maybe I'm nicer? Or they're seeing my name active in the forums? Or just picking random letters and requesting people? I have no idea how these people found me. They were all from Europe and I'm in the US

Whoops. Well, that confirms the nicer part, anyway.

[+thebruce0]

I originally did like this new feature and thought it sounded fun. But now I am getting friend requests from random geocachers that I don't even know, I assume just so they can boost their numbers for this. It's getting on my nerves now and is, I believe, an oversight on the part of HQ.

I've only gotten one random request so far since this league thing started. You must be a nicer guy than me.

I'm not a guy. But maybe I'm nicer? Or they're seeing my name active in the forums? Or just picking random letters and requesting people? I have no idea how these people found me. They were all from Europe and I'm in the US

Podcast, maybe? You're famous

Hey Sherminator, wanna be my friend?

[+lodgebarn]

I care not about how many Souvenirs I have and to me this feature is most unwelcome.

[+Cache O'Plenty]

Hi all, The first mission is to attend an event. If one of our member crew is attending one, is this applicable to all the member crews ? Or do we have to do it individually as well ?

 

The event attendance is for July 15 or July 16 and results in a souvenir for the attendee. You get 10 coins for attending. However, those 10 coins will disappear on Monday when the coins reset for the new week.

 

Coins for the next souvenir start on Monday, July 17 and all coins of your "Crew" count, including yours. You have to have at least five coins (one cache, any kind) in order for you to qualify.

Edited July 13, 2017 by Cache O'Plenty

[+Sherminator18]

I originally did like this new feature and thought it sounded fun. But now I am getting friend requests from random geocachers that I don't even know, I assume just so they can boost their numbers for this. It's getting on my nerves now and is, I believe, an oversight on the part of HQ.

I've only gotten one random request so far since this league thing started. You must be a nicer guy than me.

I'm not a guy. But maybe I'm nicer? Or they're seeing my name active in the forums? Or just picking random letters and requesting people? I have no idea how these people found me. They were all from Europe and I'm in the US

Podcast, maybe? You're famous

Hey Sherminator, wanna be my friend?

Maybe? But I don't think it's from the podcast. It's no ones names that I recognize

[+Twinklekitkat]

This is an inquiring minds want to know kind of question. What is the sorting criteria for your crew? When looking at MY crew the people in the top spots are my friends who have found caches this week (or since the inception of the friend league). That makes sense. Now how is the rest of list of my crew determined? I realize it's only a list of 10 of my 12 friends. I get that. But how are they listed here? What's the sorting order after # of coins collected? It's not by date friended, not alpha order, not by date joined, not date last visited. What is it? Also, if more than 10 of your friends are active during the time frame, will you be able to see more than 10 slots?

[+hzoi]

I care not about how many Souvenirs I have and to me this feature is most unwelcome.

I think we catch the theme. Perhaps if you change your forum title to "I am a curmudgeon and oppose all change," we can just take it as read for future topics and you can find other things to grump about.

[+monsterbox]

On 13.7.2017 at 4:37 PM, Twinklekitkat said:

This is an inquiring minds want to know kind of question. What is the sorting criteria for your crew? When looking at MY crew the people in the top spots are my friends who have found caches this week (or since the inception of the friend league). That makes sense. Now how is the rest of list of my crew determined? I realize it's only a list of 10 of my 12 friends. I get that. But how are they listed here? What's the sorting order after # of coins collected? It's not by date friended, not alpha order, not by date joined, not date last visited. What is it? Also, if more than 10 of your friends are active during the time frame, will you be able to see more than 10 slots?

It's so easy The list simply show the top gold coin earnings. And everyone of your friends does count!

[+hallycat]

So far this gets my vote for the least fun summer challenge that has been created.