[function] searching

I definitely see both sides of this argument. There are two reasons to search an area:

1. You're looking for something specific as part of a quest. In this case, you are clued in to a pretty small (or very specific!) area to search, so the action cost should be minimal.
2. You're looking for caches more generally, in which case it's a sort of investment. Once you find a cache, you can hit it once a day for loot. If you find a good series of caches, you can pick up some pretty serious loot on a daily basis. Mining will work this way also.

In both cases, as amosmj mentioned, you are definitely consuming time, which is what actions represent.

To Shallus: What were you searching for that felt so punishing?

Are you playing?

Think of the actions spent searching as an investment. You can use a bit of logic to find them, too:

1. There aren't likely to be any caches close to active villages and towns (those areas have been picked clean for a long time)
2. You won't find any just out in the middle of a plain field or patch of sand (the person that placed the cache wouldn't be able to find it again)
3. Good places are near old ruined buildings or next to unique objects.

Are you playing?