You're totally right. I assume to much that I am making the game for the people I speak to in forums, and they have figured so much of it out... The stumps will be mentioned by the first NPC I will add to the game soon, a robot who will be in the drop base.
this game has a whole lot of potential! the most glaring issue i can see is that there is no indication of where to go or what to do when you start it up. I would suggest a simple "text tutorial" when you start a game that will give the player an idea of the important things they need to know, and when you have the game more fleshed out you can add more permanant NPCs or signes to give that info