Newcomer / Intro My first Federal Mission

[gpcady]

I have played the game for a couple weeks now, and I decided to try a Federal rank mission. It was a simple one - find and kill 6 pirates. I've read that these missions can take a long time and folks sometimes time out. This was a very low-level mission, and it took several hours, so I cringe to think of future missions. Anyhow, the mission directive was to kill the 6 pirates and return to the mission giver for the reward. Instead of that, no return and no reward (and no rank advance), I got a second Federal mission. The old mission very clearly said to return for reward, so why would this have happened?

Additionally, this mission is to eliminate Bounty Hunters... these are not necessarily "wanted", are they? So if I kill them, I become wanted... An odd things about this add-on quest is that it does not have a time limit. This is most fortunate as I spent 4 hours searching the intended system and 'combat zones', but never seen one. Is this a glitch?? Should I just drop it and try another? Will it happen again?

Lastly, a diferent question... When I drop to normal speed at these combat zones, *all* I find are System Defence ships.... and they are all fighting each other. What is up with that??

Thanks in advance!

G

 

[Faded Glory]

I have played the game for a couple weeks now, and I decided to try a Federal rank mission. It was a simple one - find and kill 6 pirates. I've read that these missions can take a long time and folks sometimes time out. This was a very low-level mission, and it took several hours, so I cringe to think of future missions. Anyhow, the mission directive was to kill the 6 pirates and return to the mission giver for the reward. Instead of that, no return and no reward (and no rank advance), I got a second Federal mission. The old mission very clearly said to return for reward, so why would this have happened?

Additionally, this mission is to eliminate Bounty Hunters... these are not necessarily "wanted", are they? So if I kill them, I become wanted... An odd things about this add-on quest is that it does not have a time limit. This is most fortunate as I spent 4 hours searching the intended system and 'combat zones', but never seen one. Is this a glitch?? Should I just drop it and try another? Will it happen again?

Lastly, a diferent question... When I drop to normal speed at these combat zones, *all* I find are System Defence ships.... and they are all fighting each other. What is up with that??

Thanks in advance!

G

Yes, the kill x pirates missions can fail to spawn the correct number of targets (I believe). However it sounds like you completed it. When you say no return, no reward and no rank advancement, that poses a few questions...

1. Are you sure it was a rank advancement mission? These all have the word naval or navy in the mission title, and will only start to spawn when your current rank in the right panel of the right HUD main tab shows you to be at 100%. They will also very specifically say (IIRC) that the mission will lead to a promotion.

2. The reason I ask is that having no option to turn a mission in sounds like there were commodities (or materials / data) as part of the reward, but you have no storage for said rewards, typically no cargo rack. However, I don't think naval rank up missions have rewards (it's ages since I've done one), the reward is the rank increase.

That said, when you qualify for a rank up mission, such missions will continue to spawn until such time as you complete one, so there is no requirement to accept the first one(s) that come along if you don't like the look of them.

Could the CZ you drop into be a civil war? Also, did you pick a side before looking at who is fighting? Once you do, the two factions will show up on your scanner as either green (allies) or red (enemies) rather than everybody orange and you will be able to see who is on which side.

 

[Para Handy]

I have played the game for a couple weeks now, and I decided to try a Federal rank mission. It was a simple one - find and kill 6 pirates. I've read that these missions can take a long time and folks sometimes time out. This was a very low-level mission, and it took several hours, so I cringe to think of future missions. Anyhow, the mission directive was to kill the 6 pirates and return to the mission giver for the reward. Instead of that, no return and no reward (and no rank advance), I got a second Federal mission. The old mission very clearly said to return for reward, so why would this have happened?
.................

In addition to what Faded Glory posted...

What is shown in your transactions tab of the left-hand UI screen? If the mission is still active it will be listed there, if there is a reason you can't hand it in that will also be shown.

Did each of the naughty pirates you eliminated show as "mission target"? - If not then that would mean the mission has not been completed.

 

[gpcady]

Thanks for your input. Here is what I know about the situation...

1. It was a "Federal Navy Strike Contract". To be honest, I don't remember if it specifically states a reward is rank advancement. I read that the rank advancement contracts would look different and that they would have 'Federal Navy' in the name. I have been at 100% rank for several days before I started seeing this new type of contract show up.

2. The original contract did offer some credits for reward, but I would not have been able to accept the quest if cargo was a reward as I have no cargo space, and had none when accepting the contract.

When doing the first contract, I noticed "mission target" on the first pirate I found, and thereafter searched for that descriptor. After each mission target eliminated, I confirmed the number of kills in the transaction tab under the contract. The last I was able to see was 5/6. Once I killed the 6th, that contract just disappeared, and was replaced by the new one. No trip to the contract giver, no turn in to collect my reward. I literally killed the last pirate, then seconds later I checked the contract in my left-hand screen and this new contract was there. I only had that initial contract since I did not know how long it would take. So there is no chance I had this second contract already.

The new contract is also a Federal Navy Strike Contract. In the description, it says that I am 'required' to 'deal with' 4 bounty hunters, that the targets are at CZs in G41-14, and to pick up the award at the Tarelkin Orbital in Saktsak. In the information below, it shows the reward (which is just credits) and the destination of Gernsback Terminal in Groomsbridge 1818. How does this make sense? Gernsback is where I accepted the initial contract, but it has nothing to do with the information given in the top description area...

Lastly, I don't know if they were in civil war... that makes sense. I didn't join in as I was just looking for the bounty hunters. The only ships at normal speed space were the system defense guys... every one. Flying around CZs in cruise, I found a few wanted ships, but no bounty hunters. I spent 4 hours (at least) looking for them.

Should I just drop this? What is to keep it from happening again?

 

[Para Handy]

Have a look in your received messages tab of the communications screen. See if the new mission appeared in there.

This reminds me of a type of mission we used to have where you completed it in stages, do something then the next objective was given to you in-game then after that another or go collect your reward. Those types of missions were removed ages ago - I wonder if it has been reintroduced as a new form of "linked" / follow-on mission.

 

[Faded Glory]

That all sounds a bit peculiar TBH. It does sound like it was a rank up mission but... I've never, ever had a mission just disappear, and I've been playing since beta and done truck loads of missions. I've also never had one disappear and be replaced by something different.

It's also very strange to be told to look for bounty hunters in CZ's. There wouldn't typically be any there, just combat ships.

What MalcYorks says about follow ons is a possibility, but I really doubt rank up missions would spawn follow ons, it would make no sense, and I also wouldn't see rank up missions being multi-part. I'm also not sure multi-part missions have made a reappearance. While these missions have the correct wording in the name, do they actually tell you words to the effect that your actions have been noticed by the navy, and doing these missions will get you a promotion? As I said, it's ages since I've done a rank up mission.

If you can post screen shots of what you are seeing it might help us give better advice or suggestions. In the meantime, as I said in my earlier post, if it is a rank up mission, they will continue to spawn until you complete one, so likely no harm in abandoning it (you'll get a small reputation hit with the faction giving it), and seeing if something better comes up.

 

[Greybeard_LXI]

I wonder if it auto completed and you now have the new rank.

 

[gpcady]

I don't have a screen shot of the first mission. I can simply say that it was a 'Federal Navy Strike Contract', and the requirement was to kill 6 pirates in Saktsak system. As I said, once the 6th pirate was killed, I was immediately given this new contract:

As of right now, I am at 100% with no rank (so it didn't auto-complete):

I will try a bit longer searching, but I think I will just start over with a new quest. At least I am getting combat experience.

Even though it says to look at combat zones, where else should I possibly look for them?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[aRJay]

I don't have a screen shot of the first mission. I can simply say that it was a 'Federal Navy Strike Contract', and the requirement was to kill 6 pirates in Saktsak system. As I said, once the 6th pirate was killed, I was immediately given this new contract:

https://i.imgur.com/6yPUSZq.jpg

As of right now, I am at 100% with no rank (so it didn't auto-complete):

https://i.imgur.com/gn8WlX5.jpg

I will try a bit longer searching, but I think I will just start over with a new quest. At least I am getting combat experience.

Even though it says to look at combat zones, where else should I possibly look for them?

Thanks for all your help!

The advantage for hunting them in a CZ is that the CZs are lawless zones so shooting a clean ship whilst in one shouldn't affect your legal standing.

 

[Faded Glory]

I don't have a screen shot of the first mission. I can simply say that it was a 'Federal Navy Strike Contract', and the requirement was to kill 6 pirates in Saktsak system. As I said, once the 6th pirate was killed, I was immediately given this new contract:

https://i.imgur.com/6yPUSZq.jpg

As of right now, I am at 100% with no rank (so it didn't auto-complete):

https://i.imgur.com/gn8WlX5.jpg

I will try a bit longer searching, but I think I will just start over with a new quest. At least I am getting combat experience.

Even though it says to look at combat zones, where else should I possibly look for them?

Thanks for all your help!

Thanks for posting the images.

Looking at the mission, I don't think that is a rank up mission. As I've said before, it's a really long time since I did a rank up mission, but I think they have a distinctive and different icon, from what I recall, it's the official Federation one, or at least incorporates it. That icon is just a standard massacre mission one. Of course stuff changes, so I could be wrong.

You are due a rank up mission though, so keep looking. I've seen threads that suggest the spawning of said missions might be a bit bugged, Don't worry over much though. As you keep accruing points towards the next rank, you will be at over 0% towards it when the right mission spawns.

Bounty hunters should spawn for you because you have a mission to kill them. You will really only know when you target an NPC and it has mission target in red under it's info in the HUD. It's just really strange to be told to go to a CZ for bounty hunters as CZ's are military punch ups, and don't award bounties, only combat bonds. I don't think I've ever seen a wanted ship in a CZ, not that I frequent them.

That said, the picture you posted looks to me like you've completed the mission as it's telling you to go back to a starport in Groombridge, which would be to pick up your reward.

 

[Factabulous]

There was a bug in 2.4 with the ranking missions not spawning (I think) - could well be that they are bugged at the moment. Missions have been known to switch rewards randomly, maybe they've gotten even more random!

 

[aRJay]

There is also a bug in the transactions panel where items in there don't update properly. Such as bounty timers not reducing and Community Goals contributions not showing until after you look at them in the mission board.

 

[gpcady]

Hello all,

Thanks again for your input. Before deleting the erroneous contract, I decided to head back to the giver of the initial contract. I checked the board, and sure enough, there is a reward to claim. As you saw from the pictures there was no mention of this on my transaction panel. Once I claimed the reward, the follow-on contract just disappeared. I am pretty sure that is why there were no bounty hunters at the CV's - it wasn't a real contract. Just a bug... a false alarm. I still learned from your input, so not a total waste.

As a side note, I have made the rank of Midshipman, and my progress is still at 100%.

Cheers,

 

[Para Handy]

Hello all,

Thanks again for your input. Before deleting the erroneous contract, I decided to head back to the giver of the initial contract. I checked the board, and sure enough, there is a reward to claim. As you saw from the pictures there was no mention of this on my transaction panel. Once I claimed the reward, the follow-on contract just disappeared. I am pretty sure that is why there were no bounty hunters at the CV's - it wasn't a real contract. Just a bug... a false alarm. I still learned from your input, so not a total waste.

As a side note, I have made the rank of Midshipman, and my progress is still at 100%.

Cheers,

Good news - congrats.

[arrrr]