Was the Payson treasure hunt Fair? Are the Payson Facebook admins too strict.

I usually wouldn't even write a story like this but it raised some questions. Was the Payson hunt fair? Is the Facebook group "Payson UT News and Goings On" blocking freedom of speech?

I will share all the details I have, and you can determine whether the treasure hunt was fair. Payson, Utah recently hosted a treasure hunt offering a prize of $3,000. This exciting event featured numerous puzzles to solve, each becoming increasingly challenging as participants progressed. It had around 300 people join the hunt.

The admins can not give you any hints you can only use the hints that everyone else was given on the website. When I was at the peteetneet museum I asked a volunteer if they could answer a question and they said "no". which is fine I understand.

Payson Treasure Hunt

The winner had some help from their dad, who’s pretty familiar with hunts. One of the admins mentioned that he

he goes to his hunts

which suggests that the dad is well-versed in all the riddles and ciphers. It raises the question are they just leveraging their resources? It seems like this gives the other groups a pretty slim shot at winning. The admins even acknowledged that the winning group was ahead for most of the hunt, using minimal hints. It’s intriguing to consider the likelihood that the guy who inspired the hunts is helping a team come out on top.

The winning team had the potential to finish the hunt a full day ahead of schedule, but they chose to take a break. While they were part of a larger team, that doesn't seem to be the main issue at hand. One can't help but wonder if the organizers of the hunt were aware that this team was receiving assistance from external sources throughout the competition. It raises questions as to why it didn't seem unusual that one team was solving their puzzles at such an impressive pace.

It's important to note that I typically don't advocate for adding more rules, as I believe players should have the freedom to engage in the game as they see fit. However, when the treasure hunt is marketed to local families, a level playing field is crucial. The event even featured a family-friendly hunt in the park, followed by an invitation to participate in a more challenging hunt for a chance to win $3,000.

Initially, I felt thrilled for the winning group and their achievements, but as they continued to speak, it became apparent that their father might have been the one deserving of the prize. They even organized a Google Drive with all the event details neatly presented, which I found to be both impressive and clever.

Given all of this, one must ask: was it truly fair that they emerged victorious? Should participants be expected to bring their best game? And, considering these circumstances, does this event still align with its family-friendly intentions?

Facebook group

I suggested changing the rules to level the playing field a bit.

one of the main Facebook groups “Payson UT news and Going on” for Payson deleted the post claiming it broke their rules. The admin citing:

This was my reply

I’m pretty sure this would be considered news and the group is literally called “news and ongoing”

From google
News: Information about recent events or happenings, especially as reported by means of newspapers, websites, radio, television, and other forms of media.

This was about a recent event that happened in Payson. It seems coincidental that it didn’t get removed until two of the Admins of the hunt commented. Sounds like one of them got butt her and asked you to remove it.
Not sure why cause I wasn’t trying to talk bad on them. I was just saying maybe we should be having different rules. Yeah they probably could’ve done better and told the group that they’re disqualified. But this is more about the people that played and their dad should’ve known better that he was giving them a huge advantage.

So I assume you will not be allowing the post?

They have replied,

I was not the one who removed your post. This probably isn’t the best place to be heard about changing rules for next year though.

I did also reach out to another admin about the same time. Here is the conversation:

-ME

I am reaching out because I had a post on here that got removed. I’m curious if I can at least have reasoning to why it was removed.

It was reported as not being news a couple times. And the treasure hunt people also reached out to me as you did not have any proof of your post.

Was I supposed to sit there and record them saying it? They spoke to me directly, so are they backing out and just saying they didn’t say that?

I mean, I can provide a lot more context. I was standing there while they were talking about all of this.

The winner said it or did the organizers?

The winners said that they got help from their dad which is a puzzle master in front of the admins. And one of the admins even admitted, going up to his puzzles and trying them out, which is a good strategy to know how to put puzzles together, but if he’s helping contestants, that puts a huge advantage to that group.

Their dad was not an organizer, so that was just using their resources, imo.

You don’t see anything wrong with that?

So my post is removed because a treasure hunt admin doesn’t like what I have to say?

So they can ask the guy that knows about the riddles and the cipher.

But I can’t ask peteetneet volunteer anything about the history of peteetneet? Because wouldn’t that be just using my “resources”?

You accused the treasure hunt admins of helping the contestants and they didn't. This supposed "puzzle master" was not involved, as I understand it. Finally, I was not involved with this treasure hunt. I don't know what the rules were or what the hunt even was. If you have complaints, please contact them.

My question is still unanswered though: was my post removed simply because a treasure hunt admin didn’t like what I had to say? I never accused the admins of anything in fact, I even replied to clarify that point when they commented.

I know they put in a lot of work and I’m grateful for that. What I was pointing out is that when the winners themselves openly said they had help from their dad (who I referred to as a “puzzle master” because I wasn’t sure what other term to use), it created an uneven playing field.

That’s like having a beginner photo contest and then allowing a professional photographer with years of experience and training to enter. Even if they’re technically eligible, the playing field isn’t equal anymore.

Many teams stayed up late and put in hours, so it’s discouraging when it feels like some players had access to help that others couldn’t reasonably match.

But I can see this conversation is getting nowhere, so thanks for your time.

The central issue at hand is whether a Facebook group, which is intended for the general public in Payson, Utah, should be blocking posts of this nature. While it is true that the group operates as a private group, feels like the administrators are not prioritizing freedom of speech. It would be understandable if a smaller, more niche group might have stricter guidelines, but this particular group is designed for the broader community of Payson. The ongoing restrictions have even led to the formation of a second group called "Payson UT News and Goings On (NOT FASCIST)," which has already attracted 2.3K members.

Keep in mind these files are compressed and personal info is removed.