Clarify what we call a 'cache'

[xanna]

At the moment by my count, there are about 5 different things that we refer to as a 'cache' and boy it's really getting confusing.

• Rock caches built by the player from stones as storage containers
• Memento caches stored in lockboxes and other hidden places (loose boards, rock cache etc.) clued by memento notes
• Hidden supply caches cylindrical containers buried in the snow found via orange transponder gameplay
• Prepper caches randomly¹ generated underground rooms accessed via an aboveground hatch with a wheel
• Prepper's Abandoned Cache a permanent location underground in Pleasant Valley accessed via an aboveground hatch with a wheel, not subject to randomness

There are also the Tales Bunkers that are found via blue transponder gameplay, located underground and accessed by hatches with a lever (not a wheel) that are buried in the snow. I don't think we generally refer to these as caches, and I don't think the game does at any point either, thankfully, but given the similarity with prepper caches, there is still plenty of scope for confusion!

For my own sanity and clarity I wanted to write out this disambiguating list. I hope it might be helpful!

As a community of Anglophone players, do we want to come to a kind of consensus on how to refer to these things? Agree on some names that don't use the word 'cache'? Or is that too difficult?

@Admin I expect you are very reluctant to change the names of things in-game, but have you encountered this issue yourselves? Any ideas to help us?

1. not completely randomly, but you know what I mean

[ManicManiac]

You know what? ...  Fair enough.

Edited July 13, 2023 by ManicManiac

[conanjaguar]

Rock Caches should be Cairns, and the prepper caches should be Prepper Bunkers…

[xanna]

38 minutes ago, conanjaguar said:

Rock Caches should be Cairns, and the prepper caches should be Prepper Bunkers…

Oh but we already have cairns, too. Yes to bunkers, definitely. And/or hatches?

[ajb1978]

I define a cache as "any stash of materials intended for future personal use." So that is super broad, and that's on purpose. A cache might be a can of peaches wedged into a tree trunk. I dunno, maybe some guy was like "I might want peaches later, and this looks like a good place to shove a can." and he just plowed it straight into the tree with brute force because he's an idiot, I dunno, but it's still a cache.

A hatch is a doorway, nothing more. 

A bunker is all of the...well..bunkers, and all of the underground prepper caches too. Not the right use of the word "cache" but it does get a pass since the word is pretty ambiguous to begin with.

[xanna]

Oh sure, they are all caches, in the sense of being collected stashes of loot  (the Prepper Caches are even basically identical to Prepper's Abandoned Cache, even though they are very different things in the game). I'm not saying any are misnamed, just that the similarity of names, while accurate, is confusing when trying to chat about the game.

e.g., if someone asked "Where 's the cache in Forlorn Muskeg?" there's a few different things they could be correctly thinking of. I've seen a few different conversations with misunderstandings due to this sort of thing.

[hozz1235]

At times, and those of us intimately familiar with the game, I think the term may be used loosely (I know I've done it).  But for the benefit of the community at large, I try to make a point to distinguish which type of cache I'm referring to (as you've done in your bulleted list).  I think if we stick to those terms, all should be okay.

For "Hidden Supply Cache", I prefer the term "Transponder Cache" and when using "Hidden Supply Cache" am usually referring to the ammo boxes scattered around HRV.

The same can be said for "Bunker".  I tend to use the term in lieu of "Prepper Cache", since, well, it looks like a bunker!

Edited July 19, 2023 by hozz1235

[xanna]

1 hour ago, hozz1235 said:

the ammo boxes scattered around HRV.

Golly, I forgot about them! Even more caches!

 

1 hour ago, hozz1235 said:

I think if we stick to those terms, all should be okay.

For "Hidden Supply Cache", I prefer the term "Transponder Cache" and when using "Hidden Supply Cache" am usually referring to the ammo boxes scattered around HRV.

The same can be said for "Bunker".  I tend to use the term in lieu of "Prepper Cache", since, well, it looks like a bunker!

Agree 100%