[Resolved] GCA5B93 100 caches in 10 countries (plus some more...)

Hi lovely challenge checker team

Apologies for troubling you on what looks like a busy Sunday, but I was hoping you could create or modify some checker scripts for me.

GCA5B93 - find 100 caches in each of 10 countries
I might have to modify this one if I cannot find enough qualifiers, so sorry to mess you, but if I have a checker I can throttle it to find people who will allow me to get it published ;-)

GCA5B9Z - find 20 caches in each of 20 countries

GCA5BBE - find 3 caches in each of 30 countries

GCA5BCD - find 100 caches in each of 10 UK counties

GCA5BCN - find 20 caches in each of 20 UK counties

GCA5BFB - find 3 caches in each of 30 UK counties

Hope these all make sense. Thank you for the work you do to make the game even more fun and interesting,

RubyShoos

First three:
https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCA5B93/75528
https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCA5B9Z/75529
https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCA5BBE/75530

Next three:
https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCA5BCD/75531
https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCA5BCN/75532
https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCA5BFB/75533

Hi Hügh

Thank you - these work perfectly, and while I think the output is great (love a linked cache name), the number of characters vastly exceeds the permitted log length.

Would it be relatively easy to get it to return just a list of qualifying countries (or counties) and number of finds in each?

And if that is easy enough, is it too hard to have the next countries (/counties) in line when the criteria are not met?

e.g.
You have found 100 caches in 9 countries
UK 834
France 256
Japan 211
etc.

You require one more country to qualify. You could add to your finds in
Germany 97
Croatia 74

If this is a complete pain, then just the first request would be much appreciated.

Thank you :-)

I can offer the following change.

https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCA5BFB/75533

If this is good, I will apply it to the remainder.

Perfect! Thank you :-)

All are updated.

Hello again lovely folk over there at the challenge script palace
re:
GCA5B93 - find 100 caches in each of 10 countries
I might have to modify this one if I cannot find enough qualifiers, so sorry to mess you, but if I have a checker I can throttle it to find people who will allow me to get it published ;-)
https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCA5B93/75528

I've had to modify it :-/

So could you amend it to be:
find 100 caches in each of 10 countries (as was)
/OR/
find 100 caches in each of 10 (/12) Distance to Finds

It would be great if the checker could return either/or/both status.

Thanks for your efforts and commitment to the challenge caching contingent. Genuinely appreciated.

Quote

find 100 caches in each of 10 (/12) Distance to Finds

This is not publishable, since it depends on the user's home location. Project-GC does not have access to this data.

Also, is there any chance of resetting the counter?

I've made it look worse than it is (or will be with the new criteria)

Ta x

Unfortunately, no.

Well, actually, I suppose they can be reset if I went through, deleted them all, and re-created them from scratch. But this is somewhat tedious.

That said, once your cache is published, people will run their own names through and "fix" the count. Plus, the challenge difficulty (the number that appears in the skull) will re-calculate as appropriate and adjust to the new difficulty. (See https://project-gc.com/w/Challenge_difficulty)

But if you really insist I suppose I can reset numbers.

OK - thanks for the info... and I thought I was well versed in challenge cache criteria :-/
What I requested was one of the propositions I suggested to the reviewer to make this acceptable and they did not raise that, but fair enough.

Can we try:
find 100 caches in each of 10 countries (as was)
/OR/
find 100 caches in each of 10 countries and/or US states (excluding 100 finds in the US if the states part is invoked)

I am not sure that this will secure enough local finders to be published, but the only way to know is to request the checker (...sorry)

and thank you <3

Please try this and let me know if changes to #s required are necessary.

https://project-gc.com/Challenges//75927

If it is good, then I will delete the previous checkers and attach the GC code.

So, with a very cursory test, it looks like this works. I well treat more rigorously tomorrow and get back to you. In the meantime, feel free to delete the other one. It’s not allowed anyway :-(

I have removed https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCA5B93/75528 (100 finds in each of 10 countries) but left the other five checkers intact.

Take your time testing https://project-gc.com/Challenges//75927, and let me know when you have settled on exact numbers.

:)

And thank you. Muchly

Me again. I'm back and have been running local cachers through the checker you kindly produced (https://project-gc.com/Challenges//75927 ). Trouble is, I have not managed to find the number I need to get my challenge published.

I want my challenges to be accessible, so I went back to the idea of

find 100 caches in each of 10 countries (as was)
/OR/
find 100 caches in each of 10 (/12) Distance to Finds

I cannot see anything in the challenge guidelines that makes this not allowable. Is the issue with creating a checker for it? Can you not scrape the data from cacher's 'Statistics' page? It's only that I know more people qualify via this route.

I'm sorry to bother you again if this is not possible, but I thought it was worth an ask!

Project-GC Challenge checkers do not have access to users’ home location, for privacy reasons.

We cannot scrape from the statistics page, since that violates Geocaching.com’s Terms of Service.

OK. Thank you for coming back to me. That is a shame from the POV of my challenge, but not from a more general perspective and is completely understandable. I will keep pummelling the checker and keep thinking how I can make this challenge more accessible without compromising the principle it is based on.

Hi again

I have to admit defeat on this one. I cannot find enough local cachers who qualify to secure publication. I want it to be more accessible, so I am diluting it. Could you amend the (original) checker to require 81 finds in 9 countries (i.e. not include the USA states element). I am sorry to mess you around, but would really like to get this published.

This is the link to the original checker (now disabled) https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCA5B93/75528

Many thanks, RubyShoos



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2023 11:30AM by RubyShoos. (view changes)

I have disabled the other checker, re-enabled this one, and changed it to 81 in each of 9 countries.

Hi Hügh

Many thanks for all your work and help with these. The amendments work exactly as I hoped, and I have secured a list of local qualifiers too.

I *think* these challenges are good to go now (fingers crossed).

Thanks again, RubyShoos