Question

If I transfer a geocache to another cacher, will it affect my "Cache Owner" and "Favorited Owner" badge ratings?

Comments

Having adopted several out I can confirm
You lose cache owner status of adopted out caches (even though your caching name may still appear on the cache page)
So your caches owned number will drop by how many you have adopted out
Additionally any Fav points associated with those caches will also drop off your caches owned fav points total.
Additionally any associated badges will be affected by the subsequent change in totals

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I have a gold badge as a "Favorited Owner". Could that revert back to a silver badge by losing favorite points on a cache I adopt out? I'm just wondering if once you earn a badge by reaching a badge level if you retain the badge even if the numbers change.

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If you adopt away enough caches so that your number of placed caches is below the threshold for a certain level of the cache owner badge, then you won't have earned that badge. Similarly, if you adopt caches from someone else, you have suddenly placed more caches and earned more FP.

This is true for all badges: they operate on how the database looks when the statistics are generated. Let's say you have logged 1800 caches of the small size and get the diamond badge for that. Then one day, the cache owner of one of these 1800 caches replaces the cache but for some reason places a micro container instead and (correctly) updates the cache size to reflect this. This will mean that you have only logged 1799 small caches, and will revert back to emerald level. This is true for most if not all badges; they can change level (both up and down!) due to events outside your control.

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Thanks for the info!

Answer 1

Yes. The statistics look at what caches you currently own. There's no way to distinguish a cache you have created yourself from a cache you have adopted.

Comments

But specifically, will I lose a badge rating that I have already earned, i.e. could it cause me to go from a gold badge "Cache Owner" or "Favorited Owner" to a silver badge?

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Yes it will. You can lose a tier in the "Favorited Owner" if somebody removes a FP from one of you caches (if you are exactly on the tier) and when you adopt a cache to somebody else you are transferring the cache and all it's FPs to that owner.