I disagree with your theory. I have consistently gotten non-rare collectibles, or even none at all. I am getting so angry that I am about to uninstall the game. I have two simultaneous villages that I am working on, one is nature faction, the other magic. I have completed all of the puzzles, but when it comes to the chief pointing out collectibles, he/she often points out nothing at all. I have tried pausing the game, and thoroughly searching the entire map, but come back with nothing.

On a side note, where did all of the leader boards go? They were quite popular in VV1 and VV2... Why take them out of VV3?