Illicit vs Illegal Cargo on "Legal" Stolen Blueprint Salvage Missions???

[evanevery]

I went over to CEOS/SOTHIS the other day to grind for Fed Rank. I selected only "LEGAL" missions from the board at whatever station I was at. Up popped a bunch of "Salvage Technical Blueprint" missions - particularly from the Fed faction I wanted to cozy up with... These missions were in the "other" system (I forget where I first saw these). Anyway, ran over to the other system, salvaged the blueprints, and my hud immediately flagged them as "illicit" (NOT Illegal) cargo. OK, so I figure its cause I'm in the "opposing" system. I head back to the original system where I am to return the blueprints, back to the same station in fact. I note that my cargo is still flagged "illicit" after the jump. So now I'm wondering if I'm gonna get fined when I get to the station and get scanned. I get to the station, I get scanned, and nothing... No fine, nothing... I turn in my mission and get paid.

So I have a couple of questions...

1. Whats the difference between "Illegal" and "Illicit" cargo? I have not found anything on this doing a couple of Google searches...

2. If I'm only selecting "LEGAL" missions, why am I ending up with "Illicit" cargo in the process?

3. Is this the intended game play or is this some type of bug?

4. I got scanned, but no fine, etc. Is "illicit" cargo fine-able? ...or is it just because this station is where I was supposed to return the blueprints that they didn't fine me?

I'm just curious what the dynamics should be before I accept any more of these types of missions. I can accept that there might be unfriendlies trying to interdict me. I can even understand that these "stolen" blueprints might give me problems in the system where I salvaged them. But what should my expectations be when bringing them back to the station where they were initially indicated to be "Legal" missions?

 

[SadPandaa]

As far as I understand, Illicit cargo is cargo that is not yours and Illegal cargo is cargo that is not aloud in that system (like narcotics and slaves and stuff). I am not sure why you did not get any fines or anything when you were scanned though. Maybe the security was controlled by a faction that is anarchy aligned?

 

[evanevery]

Well, if I remember correctly, I took the mission from the controlling faction at the station. They still scanned me on the way back in and the cargo was still posted as illicit.

It could be that you are correct. However, it would be nice to know what the rules are. My squeaky clean cmdr is not too keen on running anything thats gonna get him in trouble bringing back in... I'm OK with folks trying to run me down for my cargo, etc, but I want to know for sure if I'm gonna get fried or fined if I'm brigning something back into the station where the "legal" mission requests it to be delivered...

 

[xondk]

?

Isn't it more a grammatical thing?

-illicit
1.
not legally permitted or authorized; unlicensed; unlawful.
2.
disapproved of or not permitted for moral or ethical reasons.

-illegal
1.
forbidden by law or statute.
2.
contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.:

 

[X-Terminator]

Test this out in another clean system and report back.

 

[evanevery]

Test this out in another clean system and report back.

Well...

- I was, and still am, clean in both CEOS/SOTHIS (not sure which station I took the "LEGAL" mission from)

- My Cargo (Stolen Blueprints) DID get immediately posted as "illicit" when I scooped it (in the "other " system)...

- I DID NOT get scanned by any ships before or after I jumped back into the mission issuing system (I high-tailed it back once I saw it was posted as "illicit")

- Cargo was still posted as "Illicit" after the jump

- However, I DID get scanned when coming back into the issuing station where the "blueprints" were to be returned (Cargo still displayed as "Illicit")

- However, I DID NOT get a fine or fried etc... Just turned in my mission...


So, I'm not sure what remains to be "tested in a clean system". I was in a clean system (both of them). The whole point here is trying to understand who I need to avoid and evade and whether this is a reliable (or random) relationship.

I also understand what the definitional difference between "Illicit" and "Illegal" is (Thanks just the same), but the question is how the devs have chosen to programmatically differentiate the two...