Virtual Geocaches

[halthornhill]

I have a quick question regarding the placement of Virtual Caches.
We have just returned from a fab holiday in Florida where we took the opportunity to find some of the virtual caches located in the main theme parks such as Hollywood Studios (GC3338).

It struck me that placing a virtual in the theme parks here would be a good idea. I had in mind places like Legoland, Thorpe Park, Chessington or indeed some of the other major tourist attractions. However, I have been looking around my area (SE England) and there are hardly any virtuals and am beginning to wonder if this kind of cache is either frownd upon by the reviewers or just not popular with Geocachers.

I am also mindful of the new Challenges thing which I understand are a bit like Marmite - you either love them or hate them. Is it the same thing with Virtuals - which I don't see as being the same thing as challenges.

Any views?
Should I bother placing some virtuals?

[martybartfast]

Virtuals haven't been allowed for some time now, the only ones left are the old ones and as they get archived they can't be replaced.

[halthornhill]

Many thanks for your prompt reply Marty, all clear now.

[Mrs Blorenge]

Virtuals - Why no more? (https://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=193243&st=0&p=3469751&#entry3469751)

When Groundspeak stopped listing Virtual caches some cachers were very unhappy and since that time many have asked for Virtual caches to be allowed once more.

The newly created Challenges are "the new Virtuals". They can be created in such a way that they serve to highlight a particular location in the same way that the "old Virtuals" did. Yes, some people love them, others hate them, and then there's a crowd in the middle ranks who are trying them out to see how they work and what sort of response they get from their local cachers.

Over the last few weeks I've seen some very interesting, creative Challenges and some pretty pointless ones (IMO).

[halthornhill]

Many thanks for the link and information.
I can't believe they have been out of circulation for such a long time.
I am now surprised that I managed to collect 8 whilst in Florida. Perhaps they are a little reluctant to let them go.

I too am not sure about the Challenges thing and will most likely give them a go to see how it works.

[Happy Humphrey]

Virtuals and Locationless Caches were replaced by Waymarks. There are thousands of them!
For instance, as you mentioned Hollywood Studios, here's a list of the nearest 7500;

http://www.waymarking.com/wm/search.aspx?f=1&lat=28.359417&lon=-81.5603&t=6

Choosing an area at random, here are the nearest 10000 to Redhill in Surrey;
http://www.waymarking.com/wm/search.aspx?f=1&lat=51.226017&lon=-0.125&t=6

Waymarks are grouped into Categories. You can make categories that you're not interested in disappear, and then from the remainder you can choose either to visit a waymark (similar to logging a virtual cache) or log a category (similar to a locationless).

So with a category like Water Mills;
http://www.waymarking.com/cat/details.aspx?f=1&guid=b233d5ff-5d8f-4802-aaeb-dd492b600b8a&wo=True&wst=1&ct=11&st=2
...you'd see if a local water mill has already been logged and if not you could use it to set up a waymark.

Obviously you can log a category multiple times but you normally only visit a waymark once.

If you prefer a challenge, you could join a scavenger hunt, for instance;
http://www.waymarking.com/hunt/details.aspx?guid=afc1f6f8-9556-4359-a2f9-26af4b70f564

As for "Challenges"; I'm not sure why we need them as well!

[Mrs Blorenge]

... As for "Challenges"; I'm not sure why we need them as well!

I think that if Waymarking was properly integrated with Geoaching into one site then we wouldn't need Challenges to provide the "alternative to Virtuals" but we might still use them to create a completely new category of "outdoorsy things to do without finding a container".

I said elsewhere that I'd love to be able to do one Search that would bring up everything around a specific location. Then if I saw a particularly interesting Waymark nearby we could go and log it and get not a yellow Smiley but (maybe) a Wayvie which would be (maybe) a small circular purple icon with a W in it. If we found a new waymark to add to an existing category we could do so and get a Wayvie+ which would be the same small purple icon but with a small + showing on the middle point.

See? I've got it all thunked out. :D

[markandlynn]

I think that if Waymarking was properly integrated with Geoaching into one site then we wouldn't need Challenges to provide the "alternative to Virtuals" but we might still use them to create a completely new category of "outdoorsy things to do without finding a container".

I said elsewhere that I'd love to be able to do one Search that would bring up everything around a specific location. Then if I saw a particularly interesting Waymark nearby we could go and log it and get not a yellow Smiley but (maybe) a Wayvie which would be (maybe) a small circular purple icon with a W in it. If we found a new waymark to add to an existing category we could do so and get a Wayvie+ which would be the same small purple icon but with a small + showing on the middle point.

See? I've got it all thunked out. :D

Something like

https://www.nearby.org.uk/ perhaps so many location based games in one place :)

[Palujia]

Nice one Mrs B - Sounds good to me. I've tried a couple of the new challenge thingees and the one on Crickley Hill in Glos took us to the most spectacular views in the Cotswolds - somewhere I probably wouldn't have gone on spec. Am also experimenting with the idea of a Blue plaque challenge round Oxfordshire. A bit of history and education ! (first one seems to have fallen a bit flat - in home village of Carterton !!! - but will keep trying)

[keehotee]

Virtuals haven't been allowed to be listed on Geocaching.com for some time now, the only ones left are the old ones and as they get archived they can't be replaced.

Corrected it for you, as this is the GAGB forum and hence should reflect all cache listing sites unless specific to the OPs query......?

For info, it is still possible to create and list virtual caches on opencaching.org, terracaching.com, opencaching.com and navicache.com.