Newcomer / Intro Confused Rookie looking for a little input

[Schreiber]

Hello everyone,
Just got the game a few weeks ago and have been playing for a couple of hours, mainly doing bulletin board missions, as that seems like the best / easiest way to earn a few credits until I can upgrade some of the ship's systems - anyway, a couple of the missions I've attempted have me somewhat comfused. I tried one where I had to go to a specific system and recover some Black Boxes and then bring them back to another system. But I never found any Black Boxes, instead I got whacked by a random encounter from a Strong Signal Source that spawned 3 hostile craft, which instantly fried my shields and vented me into Space. 2nd time around the "Police" suddenly decided that I was carrying something illegal, though to the best of my knowledge, my cargohold was empty at the time, I hadn't bought anything at the market or scooped up anything in Space. I did however have both a Bounty and a Fine, but both were labelled Dormant and I couldn't pay them at the station I respawned at - so I'm guessing those were what got them agitated.
My questions are:
How do you go about actually finding your mission objectives, if we aren't talking your average "Bring X Cargo type to System Y, Station Z" missions?
How do I get rid of Bounties and Fines that are labelled Dormant? Why are they labelled Dormant in the first place?

 

[Dommarraa]

Find X mission are done by going to the stated system, setting your throttle to 0% and entering any WSS that appear. Anything you pick up in space will be illegal, so once you have them do NOT get scanned by the police. That will involve either smuggling the goods into a station (look the methods up if you want to try) or by only accepting missions like this from Outposts (not Military ones). Most outposts do not have security forces about, so nobody to scan you, but it always worth a quick check of any ships in range as you approach.

Do NOT go into SSS on your own, but I guess you discovered that yourself, they are designed for Wings. USS might have the goods you are after, or a more reasonable challenge, but WSS are the ones you really want for the Find X missions.

I am no expert on Bounties and Fines, I try and keep my nose clean and pay them off immediately, but once you get killed, they become Dormant. You wont appear to be Wanted until the security forces scan you, then they become live again, and everyone will be after you, so pay them off ASAP.

 

[Night Hawk]

When starting out try to stick with "legal' easier cargo delivery or trading missions - getting fines and destroyed is not much fun and will hinder your progress.

Also if you have a look at the bottom of the mission details it usually says "This activity is considered illegal" or something like that - leave these alone for now.

Remember if it looks like easy credits, there is usually a catch - as in real life.

As far as paying off fines, you can try looking in the Pilots Federation area of Contacts when you are docked at a station. Also if you are "Wanted" by a particular faction, like The Federation, just go to an Independent system and pay the fine.

When I first started I had a fine with the Federation and could not afford to pay it, so I did some trading and missions in systems that were not under Federation control and eventually paid off the fine.

Hope this helps

 

[Schreiber]

Thanks for the answers
Been trying to stick to legal missions, but got a Bounty on my head when I attacked what I thought to be the objective in one of the earlier missions I was on. I was tasked with taking out 2 pirate ships, went to investige a USS and a ship appeared and gave me a counter-mission, where I had to kill Authority ships instead. Seeing as I didn't feel like doing that, I engaged the ship and killed him with the help of my Wingman. However we both got Bounties on us for doing so. Afterwards I noticed that my Mission Log had been updated and still had the Counter-mission which the pirate offered me, and I guess I should have declined that before engaging in combat ...

 

[Trader38]

Point to note: Any 'canisters' (ie rebel transmissions/artwork/military plans/toxic waste etc) can be collected from ANY system, the mission can be completed no matter where you collect them from. All can be found in WSS (Weak Signal Sources). Just be carefull if you're not in an anarchy system as you don't want to get scanned with them in your hold.

- - - Updated - - -

You don't need to 'Decline' a counter offer, just ignore it and continue on your original mission.
And yes, killing the counter offer'er (is that a word ?) would get you a bounty

 

[Dommarraa]

Point to note: Any 'canisters' (ie rebel transmissions/artwork/military plans/toxic waste etc) can be collected from ANY system, the mission can be completed no matter where you collect them from.

While this is very true, if you go to the correct system, the chances of a WSS having the correct contents are very high (>75%?). If you go to another system, it will be very low (<25%?)
If you can, collect excess. There is often another mission requiring the same items, you have them in your hold already, so take the mission and hand them in for easy money. Other excess can only be sold at a Black Market, so make sure you know a handy Outpost with a Black Market, they are quite rare.