Day One
Sometime in the mid afternoon, as far as I can tell. The bathysphere has survived the journey, and I have arrived in unknown territory. Communications with the professor have remained intact by some miracle of luck and science. It appears that I will be able to remain in contact with the modern world, and so I will attempt to describe what it is I am experiencing here, although I can’t help but feel that mere words will be vastly inadequate in conveying the world I have discovered.
As soon as I landed I was approached by a native who calls herself Aurora. She says she is the daughter of a neighboring tribal chief. Apparently the local people are organized into a clan system, but despite a relatively sophisticated society I have already noticed a surprising lack of organization in any other area of life. Aurora led me to a bush of local berries that are quite palatable, and she suggested that we might clear some trees to gather wood, but neither she nor the sole tribesman accompanying her lifted a finger to do so until I began to direct their efforts.
Immediately the young woman gasped, as though even my most basic directions were entirely unexpected. She and her companion began whispering to each other about some prophecy of a chief sent by the “Great Spirits.” I can’t help but wonder at a culture in which a chief could rise to power by something as simple as indicating a tree to be felled.
At this first sign of leadership, Aurora produced a gathering of blue crystals, 20 in number, that pulsed with light at my mere touch. As the tribesman turned to building a hut from the wood he had gathered, again under my watchful eye, Aurora urged me to use one of these crystals in order to speed up the work. I saw no use in this, however, as the entire hut was completed in a mere three minutes. What level of impatience must these people possess to insist on speeding up the construction of a three-minute shelter?
Game Tip:
Do NOT spend any crystals during the initial tutorial. The game implies that using them is necessary, but it is not. Wait for each task to end in its own time, and the demand to use a crystal will disappear and the game will move on. If you want to play for free, you should also DECLINE all offers to upgrade the warehouse or to purchase crystals or coins. You can easily level up without spending any real money if you save your crystals for certain key tasks.
No sooner had the tribesman completed our first hut than another man stepped out of the forest. He called himself the chief of the Trevolaze tribe and said that his small clan would gladly join ours if only we would construct two more of these crude structures. How could these people with such obvious talent, able to build a hut in only three minutes, have been nonetheless entirely without accommodations until my arrival? I suspect this will be only the first of many mysteries that I shall encounter in this strange new world.
I directed the building of the two huts, as requested, and then introduced the natives to the wonders of agriculture. I can not describe my shock when the watermelons they planted grew to full ripeness in again only three minutes! With such an abundance of naturally growing fruit, I suppose it makes sense that these peoples had never turned to farming. Nonetheless, I had to hide my disbelief when Aurora yet again encouraged me to “hurry the task along” by using one of the blue crystals which I must study as soon as I am alone. I can’t begin to imagine feeling impatient at the three-minute ripening of an entire watermelon! What other wonders must lie in store for me here?
Game Tip:
To get more free crystals you can allow the game to post for you on either Facebook or Twitter or both. I allowed the Twitter access in order to get 20 crystals and my account was instantly bombarded with tweets from The Tribez. Sign into Twitter online immediately, use the gear at the top right to access settings, and select apps to revoke the game’s access to your Twitter account. You’ll keep the crystals. I had trouble getting the Facebook quest to work, but I’ll do the walkthrough without it, as you shouldn’t really have to use either one, let alone both. If you don’t want to give the game access to either a Twitter or a Facebook account, just let the quest timers run out and they will disappear.
Yet again the sophistication of these people surprised me when they asked me to direct the construction of a local bar. As soon as it was completed they began to “pay” me for the use of the building in local currency. They are already paying me rent on the crude huts as well, entirely unbidden, as often as every few minutes. Never in my life have I encountered such a generous and appreciative culture! A tracker arrived later in the day, calling himself Dzu from the tribe of Nin, and offering to “sell” me a large amount of local currency in exchange for some money from the modern world, although what he would possibly do with it I have no idea. Sadly, I brought no such currency with me and had to decline.
As the day drew to an end, the natives turned to some minor embellishments of their newly constructed surroundings, requesting the construction of a few cauldrons and flower beds, and asking me to show them how to cut down a large tree on the outskirts of… well, of what is rapidly developing into a small village. I did as they asked, but while they were preoccupied later with farming I must admit I destroyed the flower beds. They did not ask for them again.
Game Tip:
If you have to create something for a quest that you do not want in your village, you can use the hand icon in the expanded interface (lower left) to bring up several options, one of which is a bulldozer icon that you can use to destroy anything you have created. If it is something you put a decent investment in, consider using the box icon instead to store it for the time being. You can store up to two structures for free. Destroying something that raised your villagers’ happiness level, such as a flower bed, will erase that amount of happiness from your total, but you can always replace it with something you like better.
Personal Note: after felling the first large tree, as required by the quest, I did not destroy any more of these. Wood is the easiest and fastest resource to accumulate in the game, and I think the largest trees are really cool. I built my settlement around them and even left a park-like area for some of the larger houses, allowing the smaller trees that occasionally pop up to stay there as long as they aren’t in my way.
Published: May 10, 2013 11:30 pm