How do you find stolen goods?

[Gorf]

I've been given a mission and 20 hours to complete (so about 10 hours left, at the time of writing). I need to find 4 tonnes of stolen domestic appliances.

The mission on the BB had no indication of where to find them, so I just thought they would show at weak signal sources in the originating system. No joy, so I went about finishing my other active missions while keeping an eye open for fridges and tumble dryers.

I got to a point where I only had the one mission, and when I looked at the galmap, there were two orange mission markers. I assumed that the other, non-originating marker must be where I can find the goods, so I went there.

Well I've flown around weak, unidentified and strong signal sources and there are none to be had. Anywhere.

The SSSs are hard work. The USSs have ships with indestructible cargo hatches and the WSSs are littered with everything except domestic appliances. I've found plenty of the creations of Rembrandt, Frank Gehry and Field Marshal Montgomery, but the work of Zanussi still eludes me.

Does anyone have any tips for this? I'm getting the feeling that it's something that can only be found in a SSS because, frankly, that's the only place where I can't stick around long enough to see what's in the cargo holds.

[Sendraks]

This is definitely a "find items floating in space mission" and not a "acquire these items anyway you can" mission? Because if it is the latter, you are expected to achieve that via piracy rather than anything else. Given the BB is giving you no indication of where to find them, I'm guessing that it is the latter rather than the former.

The former ""find items floating in space" will tell you which system you are to find the items in. Then it is just a case of finding WSS and getting one that has the right items in.

If you've just been told to retrieve items any which way you can, your quickest option is to get out to a Nav point and start pirating cargo vessels. Shoot off those hatch doors and also use cargo limpets when you can. However, if you want to avoid getting a wanted status or entanglements with the local defence forces, you need to go to an anarchy system with an FSD interdictor equipped and start hunting ships there.

[Gorf]

Cheers for the explanation. I equipped some new gear and went back to the marked system and dropped into the strong signal sources. There were usually two T9s, three anacondas and a couple of cobras. The T9s were carrying one tonne of appliances each, so I didn't fancy the fight for such a small return. I managed to find a SSS with a dropship, one cobra, one eagle and two sidewinders. The dropship had one tonne of appliances (plus loads of gold) and the odds were better so I tried my luck.

Took out the eagle first, then a sidewinder and the cobra. The last sidey hadn't entered the fight but the dropship had been shooting at me with the others so I was down to my last shield ring. I decided to make sure of the sidey first then kept the dropship at arms length while my shields got back up to strength. Took out his shields, then a drive, then his shield generator. Out of my four cargo limpets, one missed, but the other three released a few tonnes each time. Of gold.

with no options left, I tried shooting out his cargo hatch while flying sideways and only firing when his hatch was facing me, but it still survived longer than the rest of his ship.

---

Spotted a CMDR when I went to Leesti to fit the cargo scanner, but he must have been AFK. I think the only way to do this is to find someone who can drop 4 tonnes for me. Even then, it probably won't work as I haven't pirated them... :(

[Kiltrathi]

That would work, you're scooping up someone else's cargo and as such it is marked as stolen.

Your best bet is to use the map to see where they import the required cargo and interdict the traders there. Then go as you did, target the shield and then open the cargo hatch with limpits. I must admit that I've never succesfully completed this mission, I gave up way before the timer ran out and just went on with missions that were less time consuming.

[Sendraks]

I've never tried these missions because PvE piracy in ED is all kinds of borked at the moment.

I think your time would be better spent dropping the mission and carrying on doing more productive tasks at present. It is very frustrating that parts of the game simply do not function as they should.

[TorTorden]

Honestly I pretty much find the entire mission system borked at the moment.

Seriously, who in their right mind would post a "would you kill my wife for me" on craigslist ?
No you post that other places, say maybe black market contacts.

Honestly I find the entire "mission system" in this game so utterly stupid I am suprised this isn't a mockup system for an alpha build, with 1.3 it got just a little bit less broken but at this point, missions are almost as useless as mining in my opinion.

[Walter]

Slightly off topic, but has anyone else noticed just how much criminal activity is being generated by missions?
- I've never understood the 'goods must be stolen' motif - however much I try, I can't come up with a legitimate motive - don't they usually pay more than the goods are actually worth (I could be wrong on that)?
- Just look how many formerly trusted associates can't just be ignored but must be assassinated.
- Smuggling slaves is the new big deal, even commissioned by factions that believe in democracy and inclusion and whose first action when they come into power is to ban the trading of slaves.
- And all factions insist that killing bounty hunters and traders is for the general good of the population. Exactly how does that work? I'm a trader and bounty hunter bringing trade and tranquility, what have I done to deserve such treatment?
What happened to all the 'We need 2t of widgets or the production line grinds to a halt' missions? Or the 'our people are really hungry' missions that will offer you more than the cost of the Fruit & Veg and a new Sidewinder for your trouble.
Perhaps I just don't have a criminal mind.
Sorry, mini-rant over. I'll just go back to looking past the irrationality.

[TorTorden]

Off Topic

@walter
It might just be me, but to me it seems all those missions that actually was ok now either require some insane rank or for you to be "unfreindly", basically if you have allies your fucked..

I have seen the take 2 tons cargo to a system 4 ly away, but not you, we want someone who is at last ranked as a Ranger in exploration for this task...

So I can't do the same missions now, as I did starting out in a sidewinder because I'm not a Tycoon yet ?
Seriously would a tycoon trader be bothered to freight 5 ton of food for 30k ?

It seems to me the game only generates missions that either I'm not qualified for..

Sry, I should take my rantings elsewhere.

[Sendraks]

Slightly off topic, but has anyone else noticed just how much criminal activity is being generated by missions?

Yes, I've noticed that, its shit.

The random "kill this guy, because guy!" or "pirate people, steal their stuff" missions, don't make sense coming randomly from the local powers. They'd make sense coming from the local criminal faction, but everyone and their dog in space seems to want me to rob, maim and kill everyone else and their dog.

Immersion wise its just odd.

Is everyone in the far future just a slathering psychopath?

[Gorf]

Off Topic

@walter
It might just be me, but to me it seems all those missions that actually was ok now either require some insane rank or for you to be "unfreindly", basically if you have allies your fucked..

Isn't the relationship status a bit like a numeric scale, where 0 is hostile and 4 is allied, and as long as you meet the minimum requirement you can do the mission? If it requires a rank of "unfriendly" then you can do the mission as long as you're anything other than "hostile".

Thanks everyone for the other replies. I tried until about 30mins before the mission end, then gave up as I still had zero of the required four tonnes. Back to killing pirates, now.