dragonZone: States of the Nation

Welcome to States of the Nation

What is the States of the Nation?
States of the Nation is a real and virtual geocaching scavenger hunt where your home state will compete against other Australian states to find and hide geocaches. Over the 5 week course of the game there will be hundreds of scavenges that you can track down, find and convert into points for your state. Some scavenges will be easy. Some scavenges will be tough. Some scavenges may be impossible. Don't despair. You are not competing just for yourself; you are competing as a state. For more information, discussion, questions and answers please check the games forum.

States
You will need to check and confirm your home state for the game. If you have an Australian state set, this is what will be used to tag your first scavenge in the game. Once your first scavenge is tagged you will not be able to change states. If you do not have a home state set then you will not be able to claim any scavenges until you have set a home state.
If you're hoping to choose the state with the highest number of members or points in the hopes of coasting to victory you will still need to work to achieve glory for you and your state. Working together as a state is a strategic component of this game and you will need to achieve a minimum number of scavenges in order to be in the running for a prize should your state win. Until you achieve that minimum contribution the scavenges you claim will not count towards the state totals.
The game will automatically balance the states so that points are calculated based on an assumption that all states have the same number of members. This could mean a small state with high scavenging members may win ahead of a large state where everyone only does the minimum required. It's part of your job to get your state members out to scavenge. Go out as a team. Create and attend an event, but be aware of other states who might crash your party! Hide geocaches to build your scavenge numbers. Find scavenges to get your points. Do lots of small points scavenges. Do fewer higher points scavenges. They all help your state to try and climb the ladder towards victory.

Scavenges
There will be a number of scavenges released on a weekly basis but each scavenge will remain until the end of the game. This means even if you decide to join the game part way through, the early scavenges are still available for you to claim. Scavenges will require you to find a geocache, hide a geocache, attend an event or do something else completely different. The game focuses on all aspects of geocaching and so all cache types, sizes, terrain and difficulty will be up for scavenging. TrigPoints, Events, History, Virtual, Webcam, Podcache and Locationless geocaches are all scavengable, so you're not just looking for a box under a bush. Each week there will be a mix of physical, non-physical and locationless geocaches so even if you are not in a geocache rich area, use the locationless component of scavenger series to get out, find something to log and gain points for your state. If you watch the scavenges as they are released you might also spot the 'not so hidden' patterns and plan for future weeks of the series.
Hiding geocaches will also be a large part of the scavenger series, but please remember this is a game of geocaching and geocaches that you hide should be long lasting, be of good quality and you should be proud of what you hide. Please avoid hiding a geocache just for the day so your state can find it before you archive it. Geocaches that exist for a short period of time may result in any claims on that geocache being disqualified. Play creatively, but also play fairly. More geocachers hiding more geocaches makes for more geocaching fun.

Validating Your Claims
The game software will validate that the claim you are making fits the scavenge criteria. The software is dumb and exact matching is the manner by which a claim is validated. If a scavenge requires you to find a geocache with a size of nano, then a geocache with a nano container that is marked as micro will not meet the criteria. If the scavenge requires to you to find a geocache with the word summer in the name, then summers is also a valid match, as would be SUM MER S and SUM-MER-S. All punctuation and spaces will be removed before a match is made. Some scavenges will require you to claim specific geocache codes and they will need to be matched perfectly. Your claim will also be validated against your log along with the date of your claim. If they do not match you claim will be rejected.

Points
The game software will calculate points based on the greater of the terrain * difficulty or geocache container * geocache type. You can see the geocache container and geocache types values tables at the bottom of the scavenges page. If you claim a scavenge out of your home state (excluding locationless) then your points for that scavenge will be boosted by 50%. Go on an interstate geocache raid or go geocaching if you are travelling to boost your state scores.

Registration
You do not need to register specifically for the game but you will need to have an Australian home state. When the game commences you will be able to lodge your claims. Your first claim will register you for the game and place you on the ladder. You will need an account at Geocaching Australia in order to play this game. Please do not try and cheat the system by creating fake accounts to boost your state points. Fake accounts will be deleted and the owner banned.

Prizes
The state that has the most points will be declared the winners. Winners receive prizes provided they make the minimum contribution to the state points.
Everyone who plays the game will receive a virtual reward on their geocacher page to memorialise their contribution to the game.

Winners and Rewards
Congratulations to the ACT, the best state of the nation, for taking out first place in the States of the Nation geocaching game. Each ACT team member who made the minimum contribution will receive an email confirming their win and ask for their address information so we can get their prize out to them. Congratulations also go to the top 5 placed geocachers in each other state who will receive an email and be asked to provide their address information for a reward. Everyone who participated will receive a virtual reward on their geocacher page commemorating their participation in the States of the Nation game. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the success of this game and the administrators J_&_J and Sol de lune for running this years game.

Rules

• Geocaches for the game must be listed at Geocaching Australia.


• Once a scavenge has been claimed it will be removed from your scavenge list and cannot be claimed again.


• Geocaches for the game are not restricted by hidden or published date unless the scavenge clearly states an exception.


• Geocaches you claim for find requirements must be found during the scavenge period. i.e. You cannot claim scavenges where you found the geocache prior to the scavenge commencement or after the scavenge conclusion.


• Geocaches you claim for hide requirements must be hidden during the scavenge period. i.e. You cannot claim scavenges where you hid the geocache prior to the scavenge commencement or after the scavenge conclusion.


• Geocaches you claim for the game must be claimed in the game after the scavenge commences and before the scavenge concludes.


• Each scavenge must be claimed against a different geocache. i.e. You cannot claim more than one scavenge per geocache.


• Choose the geocaches you log against your scavenges carefully. You will not be able to remove claims.


• The game tracking mechanism relies upon your honesty when logging your claims. The games administrators will undertake verification of a statistically significant number of logs. Players who continually log inaccurate information will be disqualified from the game.


• The game administrators decision is final. The game administrators will delete logs that do not clearly state which scavenge is being claimed and a justification for the claim. The game administrators will attempt to contact you in the event of any confusion, however the game administrators reserve the right to delete any logs that are deemed not to have met the requirement.


• The games administrators reserve the right to provide clarifications to the rules at any point during the game.