Question

Wouldn`t you consider that the Lost Treasure of Mary Hide is poor in content and challenge, just for a souvenir?

Comments

I think they could've raised the points required for the first challenge to make it harder.

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It should not be difficult to get this kind of souvenir. They can promote the frends feature, but I still do not understand what useful features it gives me in addition to this hunt.
I agree that these souvenirs tend to promote accessory sales.

Answer 1

Those of you in USA and Europe need to remember that you're not the only ones in the world. Here in Malaysia, we are trying hard to get more people interested in geocaching, and this challenge has been really good to make it fun for some. When there are less that 400 caches in your entire country, you need to look for different ways to make the game interesting. The challenge has created a lot of dialogue and discussion between the more active locals, we had 2 events, I placed a new cache (the first Letterbox Hybrid in Malaysia!), and we've been working together as a team. I'm actually surprised how well we're pulling it off! Especially as the explanations are mumbo-jumbo, very confusing, even to me, and I am a competent speaker of English as a first language! I'd have liked it better if the explanations were clearer, and if the entire challenge was set out at the start.

We Malaysian cachers are worried that the challenge will jump next week out of our reach. What if they ask us to log a letterbox cache (I own the only one, everyone who came to the event has already found it)? Or a Wherigo? Moving TBs this week was a task so difficult you probably can't imagine. In fact, in Malaysia, if they set the bar too high, it's actually the most active cachers who are unlikely to be able to achieve it, as we probably own or have found everything within a hundred kilometres of our home.

So I say, so far, the challenge has been OK (it could have been done a lot better and it's not how I'd have done it, but, ah well) and it has achieved its goal here. I added 20 friends who I was connected with on Whatsapp but not on geocaching.com. We have worked together as a team. We have all been a little active with the caching and the challenge is keeping us motivated.

Comments

I like your story about caching in Malaysia. It is true that we need to see the bigger Picture and that it is not easy for everybody to fullfill more difficult tasks. We (in Germany) are in the comfortable situation that we have thousends of Caches availible almost everywhere. Keep on promoting the great idea of geocaching!

Answer 2

Hi,

I do nothing to get these Souvenirs. We attended coincidentally an event, but it was a grill event ( meet and greet no specail Mary Hide event) so we receive the first one.

We don't push to raise our number of cacherfriends. we still get outside and if we receive a second one then it is so.

But the friends are still listed and we automatically take part for the next step.

What does it matter if you have a souvenir more or less?

Geocaching is for me to get outside, find interesting places and perhaps well done caches.

The4Hasards

Answer 3

Well, what would you think is more challenging to get a souvenir?

Attending a (Mega)Event? You could come, sign the log and leave.

To get to a new county? You just drive there, log one cache and drive home.

Or go out to find a cache just on a "special" day?

So, these examples aren't more challenging than the challenge to get the first piece of Mary Hydes map, i think.

What would you call a more "worthy" challenge to get a souvenir?

Comments

The question is, who need such challenges? GC just want make money with Mary Hide. Take a look at the Shops.

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So what? GC wants to get new ppl to go out geocaching. That's not too bad.

And sure they want to make money. They are not a charity organisation.

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Seriously? Drive to another country? That is a seriously major challenge requiring underwater vehicles! Geocaching intentionally pick easy challenges for infrequent/new geocachers. Such as the ones yet to discover this forum.

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Read again: county, not country. ;-)
At least here in Germany it is possible to get a souvenir by visiting an other county, and i think in the US every state has its own souvenir.

Of course, a new country would also count.

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Even country would not be a problem in europe. Tree in one day is not a great challenge. Depending on where you live of course

Answer 4

Yes that´s true. Even if you are not interested in that challenge, you get the souveniers. Just because you do geocaching like every day.

Comments

which is true for most souvenirs (-:

Answer 5

It's true the first two are pretty easy but they will change. The summer challenges last year and the year before were not too difficult either but they are achievable for all cachers. I like the summer souvenir's that groundspeak roll out every year. They generally allow us to meet more like minded people.

Our favourite saying is that everyone plays this game differently.

Happy caching

Nick

Comments

I do like that HQ pushes events as a way to get souvenirs, since I think events are a good way for people to get into geocaching in a good way and events can be created by anyone without any major problems.

In the same way, it's a bad idea when souvenirs require rare caches like earthcaches since they are comparatively difficult to publish and for people who have been caching for a while logging one typically means an hour's drive since they are few and far between and the ones close to home are thus logged since way back.

Answer 6

You are all missing the point. The Mary Hyde summer challenge is not about the souvenirs, it is about promoting the Friends feature of geocaching, and encouraging people to go caching together.

Of course, if you are not interested in souvenirs, then the entire summer series of challenges since 2013 will not have that much appeal.

As usual, cache the way you want to.

Comments

But it is not necessary for the challenge to go caching together.

Answer 7

Yes I agree with you. But keep in mind that it's the first part of the challenge. It's better if a lot of people can participate. I suppose it'll be harder thereafter.

Answer 8

Actually the expectations were higher. The tasks are not much more then a sad image of a task. Finding just one or two caches ore dropping a trackable is no challenge at all.3 down and 3 to go. But I can't believe it's getting much more interesting.

Answer 9

It's a change, something new.
I like the idea.

Comments

Agreed - it's a great idea, but the second week is very disappointing, especially as it doesn't use the points scored by friends anyway. The bar is set far too low - 100 points including those of friends would be more of a challenge.

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It is a mass affair. Everyone is not active as we are. HQ does it for everyone. Also for less active geocachers.

Answer 10

In my opinion an event is a good opportunity to sponsor the "friend" idea within geocaching. Therefore it doesn't matter when this challenge isn't really a challenge.

On the other side: I do not yet understand the additional conditions to meet for what??

Answer 11

I personally find that this challenge is less motivating than the puzzles of last year, which they seemed more amusing, more interesting, and gave more ideas of caches to do ... but wait to see the continuation of the challenge ...

traduit du francais par google

je trouve personellement que ce challenge est moins motivant que les énigme de l'année derniére, qui elles, me semblaient plus amusantes, plus interessantes, et donnaient plus d'idées de caches a faire ... mais attendons de voir la suite du challenge ...

Answer 12

I always enjoy souvenir challenges like these, although I have to agree that they are a little too easy. Hope the last one gets tougher.

I just hate it when you have to attend events in order to get a souvenir and there have been quite a lot lately. Events are much rarer and you have to be somewhere at a specific moment rather than grab a cache whenever you have time. My schedule just doesn't allow me to visit events that often. Besides, normally events only get visited by people who enjoy them, but on days when you get a souvenir for attending an event, all you see is people dropping by, writing their names in the logbook and taking off again without speaking to anyone. So in my opinion they really miss the point with these 'challenges'.

Answer 13

I don't think the challenges were arduous and easily done if you pick up a few caches a week. What I did find odd and did seem a waste of a good challenge was the 'friends' bit. You either had to find the caches yourself - or as a collective - but if you found enough yourself it didn't matter what the others found - and the collective requirement was quite low and only needed you to ensure you found a cache or enough to get the required amount.
It could have required x number of friends to have found x number of caches to make the challenge .. well, more challenging

Originally my friends list consisted of me and two faily dormant relatives accounts - and I have attained each requirement on my own. As it happens I got 3 friends requests within the last 3 weeks which has simply upped the tally but their presence made no difference to getting the souvineers.

Answer 14

They might be easy but the tasks achieved their objective. For example we have seen a large movement of trackables in our area. Some TBs that have been in the hands of cachers for ages were dropped. They just needed a small incentive to do it. Also lots of TBs were picked up and moved.

Answer 15

When the summer challenge was announced, i was happy to have a nice thing to do about geocaching during our family roadtrip. But after the first step (a good idea after all), the other stages appear to be deceiving... just do a couple of cache in a week and... that's all.

It should be easy to increase slightly the challenge level (do some mystery or multi cache, play a wherigo...) to avoid that all geocachers win the souvenir without any effort. Except the first stage, i think every player loot easily the next souvenirs.

The friend league is a nice feature but need some more content to be fun.

Answer 16

Agreed.  I've never really been into the souvenirs at all (I go caching when I want to go caching, not when Groundspeak tells me I should want to go caching.)  But thought this may be fun to do, so I went for it.  But especially now after week four, I wish I wouldn't have bothered with it.  "Get all the friends you can so you can get enough points!!"  Yeah, 35 points was pretty tough to get as a team.

Comments

It looks like at least we get a free "trackable code" out out it.  Though I'm not sure what exactly that means.  Do we just get the number and if we want to send it out we have to create our own tag/coin/other in order to use it?

Answer 17

Are any of the souvenirs a real challenge? Mostly it's only getting outside and finding an only sometimes specified type of cache on a specific date.

This time at least the friend league was something new, so that you could get things done easier as a team. Maybe that's a way to make future Souvenirs more interesting....

Answer 18

For older more experienced caches it was easy but for new caches it was a challenge. I didn't mind it. Was just a little fun.