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First things first ... this is a traditional cache. The
container is a large, 50 caliber ammo can hidden in the forest near
Lithia Springs Reservoir. Parking is available at the end of Lithia
Springs Road - park to the left side. The cache is about .65 miles
from the parking area. DO NOT, under any
circumstances drive your vehicle beyond the gate at the parking
area other than to turn your vehicle around when leaving (it is OK
to drive just past the gate for that purpose). Vehicles and quads
on the mountain are illegal (though, as you'll see, some people
have seen fit to violate this rule). Hike along the old road until
you're near the cache. It is a short bushwack.
The game described below is over - it was won by chief20r2 and
his team consisting of Crop Circle, gaboss, XiaDog, Dosido, and
astrostar. However you can follow the history of the game by
reading below. In the meantime, this cache is still available to be
logged as a traditional. |
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Piqued your interest? Ok! So, in addition to
logging a smiley, if you like you can also take part in this year's
WMC 2007 Prisoner's Dilemma Challenge. What is the
Prisoner's Dilemma? In short, it is a game of "Who can I
trust?" In game theory, the classic Prisoner's Dilemma problem
can be described as follows: Two partners in crime, Prisoners A
& B, are in custody and are being interrogated by the police
regarding a felony. Both prisoners are in separate rooms and do not
know what the other is saying. If both Prisoner A & B remain
loyal to the other and keep silent, they each get 6 months in
prison. But if Prisoner A betrays Prisoner B while Prisoner B keeps
silent, then Prisoner B gets 10 years in prison while Prisoner A
goes free. Same thing goes for Prisoner A if Prisoner B betrays and
Prisoner A keeps silent - 10 years for Prisoner A and Prisoner B
goes free. However, if Prisoner A & B both betray each other,
then both get seven years in prison. Clearly the best decision for
both is for them to keep silent and remain loyal to the other,
however the selfish desire for freedom over prison often overcomes
loyalty. If you'd like to learn more about this aspect of game
theory, click here.
It's a conundrum of "win a little", "win a lot", "lose a little",
"lose a lot" that gets to the root of human nature.
So, now we come to our challenge. The first twelve
finders who wish to participate in the challenge can chose one of
12 clues in the cache ... and you're only allowed to take one!
However, you need all twelve clues to find a special bonus
mini-cache placed somewhere in the Pioneer Valley. This bonus cache
contains, at a minimum, two unactivated geocoins - a hard-to-get
2007 Compass Rose coin and a 2006 July Signal the Frog coin - and
perhaps more. The first person to find it takes all. Once the bonus
cache has been found, it will be removed. Clearly, finding the
traditional cache early will give you a time advantage over the
other players (also the first clue was awarded as a prize at my
Western Mass Candlepin Extravaganza event, and that player will be
the only one eligible to visit this cache to retrieve a second
clue).
This game is like a twelve-way Prisoner's Dilemma.
What makes the players of this game like the prisoners described
above is that you need to trade clues with other players to get
enough information to find the bonus cache. However, by doing so,
you're simultaneously working against your own best interests! Be
careful trading clues. Your partners may, in reality, be working
against you. Will traded information always be accurate? Who can
you trust? Of course, some players will remain loyal and trade
clues freely. While others may be more Macheovelian in their
methods. Will you be a stealthy loner, a trusting soul, or will you
find your own partners in crime? And will that partnership survive
once the finish is in sight? It's winner take all, folks! How will
you play the game?
Here are the rules if you wish to
participate in the challenge:
1) There is a green cardboard sleeve in the cache
with twelve envelopes - take only one! Taking more than one will do
you no good anyway. The envelopes are not numbered, so simply pick
one at random. Make sure you mention in your "found it" log that
you took a clue. I will post on this page who has which clues.
2) Email the keyword contained in the envelope to Western Mass
Clan to receive your clue.
3) Your email contained on your profile must be accurate. The
other players must be able to contact you.
4) If you find the bonus cache, post a note here saying you found
it along with photo confirmation.
5) Once all twelve clues are gone, additional clues will be issued
on a randomly selected basis to future finders upon request -
meaning that if you simply sit on your clue and refuse to share it,
eventually another player will also recieve your clue. Time is only
a short-lived luxury in this game.
6) To make this challenge fair for those cachers who do not have
caching children, I am limiting the number of clues to
one per household. In other words, if you
visit the cache with your kids or spouse, it is a violation of this
rule to pick up a clue, and then have each of your children and/or
your spouse also pick up a clue (even if they have separate
accounts).
7) Most of all, please keep this game in its proper perspective
... Have fun!
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