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#Post#: 11793--------------------------------------------------
Re: Adventure Lab
By: Griff Grof Date: June 21, 2019, 4:11 am
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Virtual Rewards 3.0? In the GCHQ podcast, when asked, the lackey
responsible for Virtual Rewards didn't rule it out - so don't
lose hope :)
[quote author=walktall link=topic=821.msg11792#msg11792
date=1561030296]It's been handy to see what others have done and
pit falls they've had. I want to make this a very local series
if mobile signal allows.
[/quote]
That's a good point, looking forward to it.
#Post#: 11794--------------------------------------------------
Re: Adventure Lab
By: Griff Grof Date: June 25, 2019, 9:49 am
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Some more Adventure Lab developments. Geocaching organisations
have been offered another Adventure Lab credit (for 10 Labs).
Apparently they are adding ratings to the app - that's good, so
that if you put a lot of time and effort into it, you get
rewarded (like favourite points).
From what I gather, Adventure Labs seem popular. People have
embraced them, attempted them and there seems to be enthusiasm
surrounding them. It looks like the 'experiment' has been a
success.
My personal opinion is that they're too separate from geocaching
itself: there's little to no integration with geocaching. com
and the geocaching app (except them adding to your find count).
It was different when Lab caches existed for the duration of a
Mega event - Adventure Labs stay in place for 6 months (or
more), so they should be more integrated: size (as some people
are placing actual containers), Difficulty/Terrain (How
difficult are these containers to find/how difficult is it to
access the find code? Are they wheelchair accessible or is
special equipment required?) and how about the option of writing
a log entry? Then there's the fact that they do not appear on
the geocaching. com map. If Adventure Labs are in place for
months, at least, shouldn't their start point (or all locations)
be shown on the map?! They cannot be searched for. They are not
reviewed, in the case of Virtual Labs, so there is no form of
quality control (wasn't that the reason Groundspeak
grandfathered the Virtual cache type?).
I don't know where they're going with Adventure Labs, but I just
hope they address some of the above and make them part of
geocaching - a proper cache type - not a separate game that
happens to increase your GC find count.
#Post#: 11795--------------------------------------------------
Re: Adventure Lab
By: walktall Date: June 25, 2019, 3:52 pm
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Good points and some I've voiced myself.
The point of being reviewed - when creating Adventure Labs (AL),
you have to create a virtual Traditional cache (not to be
published), so they can be reviewed before you create the actual
AL cache. So there is some review.
Also, I'm unsure how much you can, if at all, you can tweak a AL
cache once it has been found, so if there is an issue that needs
a tweak, can it be done?
The other thing that separates them also, is they can only be
done 'live' as there is now no GPX download :( There are going
to be areas were they just can't be placed or if you are on the
wrong network, you can't find them :o :(
#Post#: 11796--------------------------------------------------
Re: Adventure Lab
By: walktall Date: June 28, 2019, 4:18 am
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I had an idea for a set of Labs but one location has no mobile
signal and I think, it has the most interesting thing to find
out of the set, will have to re-think :(
#Post#: 11797--------------------------------------------------
Re: Adventure Lab
By: walktall Date: July 14, 2019, 7:04 am
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Not sure if I'm going to be able to get any out, not helped by
poor mobile coverage near home :(
Had to re-think again, as another idea I had I can't use with no
mobile signal :(
#Post#: 11800--------------------------------------------------
Re: Adventure Lab
By: Griff Grof Date: July 15, 2019, 5:10 am
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That’s frustrating.
Looking at the app, there are a few new ones out now. They’re
all rated 5 star ::)
#Post#: 11801--------------------------------------------------
Re: Adventure Lab
By: walktall Date: July 27, 2019, 3:21 am
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Run out of time with me going away :(
I did get an email reminder from GC HQ so I replied, saying the
timing was very bad for me with a busy July and me going to two
Mega's. Had nothing back from them yet.
#Post#: 11810--------------------------------------------------
Re: Adventure Lab
By: Griff Grof Date: September 12, 2019, 4:38 am
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Now that I’ve actually completed some Adventure Labs (four at
Aberdeen and one at GCF) I’ve got some more comments.
I actually quite liked them - it’s great how they can lead you
on a tour around somewhere. The app works very well. I really
like the sense of achievement after completing each one (e.g.
the stars displaying on the screen, which is a nice touch).
They seem to have really caught on - in Aberdeenshire, people
(including myself) were spending an afternoon completing them
rather than finding a ‘proper’ series of caches elsewhere. There
are lots more on the app now, and people are travelling to
complete them just as they’d travel to find a ‘proper’ cache.
So, I do think they have a place in geocaching.
But Lab caches still need to be taken more seriously if this is
going to work long-term.
I spoke to several others at GCF who agreed that Adventure Labs
should have D/T ratings, size, and integration with the
geocaching website and app (i.e. the starting Lab appearing on
the map). Project-GC don’t include Lab caches where they would
be appropriate (e.g. number of finds per month, per year, etc.)
which is really annoying as GC.com says August 2019 was my best
month but Project-GC doesn’t. Apparently Project-GC do include
Labs if you’re a paying member... but with Adventure Labs
possibly being permanent, and lots more around, people’s Lab
cache counts are increasing fast and I really think they should
be included on Project-GC just like any other cache type...
they’re no longer one-off caches available for Mega and Giga
events.
#Post#: 11811--------------------------------------------------
Re: Adventure Lab
By: walktall Date: September 15, 2019, 4:09 am
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I wonder with the changing World we live in and more security
concerns, that non-physical caching is the way that GC is
heading.
I was speaking to a reviewer at a normal Event and he was asking
for cachers to make valid comments known to GC if an Adventure
Lab is poor, as they want to set a good base for these and to
weed out the poor ones.
Lab caches have been going for some time now but still not fully
included in your stats :(
Now we have Adventure Labs, still in a testing phase but how
long will this last or after the failure of the Challenge caches
(which were wiped off the whole GC system), are they being very
cautious.
#Post#: 11866--------------------------------------------------
Re: Adventure Lab
By: Griff Grof Date: September 6, 2020, 7:22 am
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It's been one year since the last post on this thread, and I've
actually grown to really like Adventure Labs :o ;D
I've been awarded one, but have no idea where to put it - most
interesting towns/villages already have one! Roman Cirencester
came to mind, but a new one appeared there a couple of days
ago... so it's back to the drawing board ::)
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