Why does it take so long to get research points. Someone on here got 50000 overnight, I got like 4000 overnight. What gives? I'm trying to have 3-4 villagers working on research but the little buggers keep leaving.

After you upgrade research you'll get research points quickly. Also, I've noticed that once they've been trained to do research (like when they get to the Adept or Master scientist stage) they will tend to return better by themselves. Good luck!

The person that got 50,000 research points was probably several days into the game. At the beginning of the game, the villagers don't know how to do very much, and they are not very productive at the things that they're learning to do. You can usually get enough research points for level 2 of harvesting within the first 6-12 hours of the game (which is an important first purchase), depending on game speed and how much time you spend actually playing the game (the villagers are more productive when the game is actually running).

The early stages of the game require a careful balance between maintaining the food supply and researching new technologies, all the while continuing to ensure that you have healthy villagers. The rate at which villagers perform their assigned tasks increases considerably after you're able to maintain an ample food supply which will support a growing tribe.