Is there much point to playing Tribal?

[sick puppy]

i think the current research system is generally flawed, not just that high tech stuff is ridiculously hard to research for tribals (5100 points for smelting wtf) but also that in the crashlanded scenario there are things that you never really use like the campfire and interestingly enough you dont really use it in tribal stars either eventhough one might think one'd do.
another example: sleeping spots is something i never start off with using in my sleeping quarters. i always build beds the first day. that's not what i'd expect tribals to do though. they have new colony faith AND very low colony wealth bonus. they could totally sleep on the cold floor the first few nights until i setup my base camp and a research table (which in my opinion should also be researched first from a research spot (which can only research neolithic tech), just like butcher spots and maybe even art corners or stone splitting spots which would in turn work at slower rates). that research table would be used to research sleeping bags, tables, stools (later on in the tech tree and maybe in medieval also dining chairs and armchairs), campfires (later on the stoves), tents (and only after tents actual wooden walls and only after that doors) and i could go on.

all this said, in reality we dont have my dream research tree and tribals are research-crippled. i am still doing a tribal run and it looks damn good. around 15-20 pawns, good health in general, good reserves, good position on the map, still working on relations with one last tribal faction and caravans generally do incredibly well with both missions AND trading.
eventhough i started off with one pacifist pawn i managed to recruit my first prisoner after half a year which immediately fell in love with his captor, food bringer and recruiter. second additional pawn was a crashlanded scientist from the glitterworld. also combat inhibited (among many other things) but was amazing at her one burning passion so she works in the lab all day when she isnt looking after the flowers. (apropos flowers: flower pots also need research. it is good enough for tribals to be able to plant in soil outside AND inside a house) eversince she joined i am inventing new stuff at a reasonable pace, heck, one might say in comparison to tribal starts, left and right.

i've done some short scenarios since and it really shows (to me): if you plan on playing long term (a year or more in actual playtime, so nomads that move a lot for a year doesnt count) even if you make a tribal start, you really just need to look out for one type of pawn: one with burning passion at research. they like their one job a lot so they will never get sad, only maybe if you keep them locked inside for a very long time and feed them badly maybe with bad bedding. otherwise they will very well be worth to be defended. they reach level 20 in no time and stay there forever. in crashlanded, pawns with aburning passion in research that research only almost op in my eyes. you have short research times and a super researcher that doesnt need much aside from food. you can rush through the research tree even if the burning passion doesnt come with a high skill in the beginning. that pawn will earn it though.
on a sidenote, non-violent pawns arent THAT bad. sure they cant shoot the enemy, but after any fight you need docs to heal your other pawns quickly. you also need pawns to capture the enemy or save your own. they will do those jobs just perfectly. just imagine that THEY are THOSE pawns that never make it to an immediately attacking raid battle because they are far away and slow. but you can totally still use them to relocate turrets. saving and healing pawns often means they usually have the best relationships, maybe even fall in love a tad bit sooner due to this and not just giving themselves but another colonist a permanent mood boost.


too long; didn't read: tribal starts are NOT what you think they are.
(they are literal tribal STARTS and if you dont rush the ai spaceship, you will stay in starting phase for a long time. eventually you wont be tribal at all anymore and just be left with abysmal research times.)
you can TRY and make the most out of it, like playing it in a subtropical shrubland, use scenario editor or mods, but it is generally best if you play vanilla only with crashlanded or rich explorer, or any other version with specific scenarios or good mods.

still too long; didn't read: vanilla tribal starts are not finished, just like the research tree isnt.