Thanks everyone for their advice, but I've already completed the puzzles for 2 different tribes, and I'm aware of most of the old tricks (like the speed-kissing for parents). Most of this stuff I am asking is minutia that I've noticed after playing the game for so long.

1. My theory about the missing collectibles is this:
a. chief points out collectible
b. rare collectible is randomly chosen from the 16.
c. tablet collectibles only appear once.
d. If collectible is randomly chosen from the 4 tablet collectibles, and they have already been collected (or that particular one has already been collected) then no collectible will show up. I'd like to hear from one of the programmers to see if there is a backup plan programmed in.

2. When I make a male parent, I do the speed kissing until he is Adept. Usually he will start going on an "embracing spree" with the fertile females. However, sometimes I open up my game and see him doing everything BUT embracing, and the population is well below the limit and there are fertile females about.

3. In VV2, the builders would take to repairing the huts if that was the skill they had, and they would do that for the rest of their lives. I wish the builders in VV3 would do the same thing.

4. Regarding the teaching thing by the chief:
a. chief possesses magic powers (see creation of food)
b. Is it not also a magic power that enables the chief to bestow skills upon children?
c. Why should a child chief be deprived of that magical ability?

5. I have plenty of Master Doctors, and I know how to increase their skills. That's not the issue for me. The issue is people rarely seem to get sick. In VV2 there were the gong events, but there were also more crates with rats in them and stuff. It's just rare that I actually SEE a single sick person, much less a bunch.

6. One more thing, in the hints and tips for this game, it says that children can inherit some skill from their parents, but this is totally not the case. None of my babies were born with any skills and only got it from lecturing or from events. False advertising! \:\)