The scoring on LonelyCache is essentially the same as the ChallengePoint
scoring system described by DGPadmin. The nomenclature differs some. Here,
on LonelyCache, the word "Challenge" is dropped in preference to "Cache."
So here we have Cache Points instead of Challenge Points. Another minor
difference is that in the ChallengePoint system, age is expressed in years
or fractions thereof. Here, age in years is also used, however the age is computed
as days old divided by 365.25 instead of an exact year fraction.
A geocache will accrue 100 points for each year of its existence. These points are
then divided up in equal portions to all of its finders. Once the geocache has been
found, its owner is also awarded this same point value. Geocache owners are only
awarded points for a cache after it has been found.
The number of finds on LonelyCache may not match that on Geocaching.com. This is
because owner finds are not counted, nor are duplicate finds. If a cacher logs
more than one find on a cache, only the first find is counted. Also,
if a cache owner logs a find on his or her own cache, that find is not counted.
Since a geocache's total points increase over time and are divided up among its finders,
the score is dynamic and changes as it is found and as time marches forward. Due in
part to the dynamic nature of this scoring system, archived caches are not included
in LonelyCache and once a cache is archived it will be removed from LonelyCache.
All geocachers that have found a cache will have that geocache's score added to their point
totals. Geocache owners will also have their geocaches' scores added to their point totals.
As mentioned above, geocache owners will not receive points for owned geocaches
unless that cache has at least one finder.
It should be mentioned that not all geocache types are tracked on LonelyCache.
Since event caches are a one time short lived cache, no geocaching events are tracked. Also,
in Washington, neither the Ape cache nor the Geocaching HQ cache are tracked. These caches
have thousands of finds and would be worth such a small amount of cache points that there would be
very little value added including them.