How long do you have to pirate for in act 1

did you take a job like "get some ore and deliver to a group of miners"?
do you have to use your tradingscreen for matching the deal or do you have to deliver personally (I don't remember that scenario exactly) - maybe it's the answer to your probs.

is there a waypoint left on your contactlist after leaving the base?

if you "miss" a mission somehow you don't get the next e-mail - that's true.
What's that Joint Forces Mission about?

thanks for reply, the only waypoint i have is the training grounds by base, with the mines and stuff. thats still there even after i clocked a kick ass time.

i met the ore quota ages ago in the game, so i think thats what ur talking about there.

apparentely the joint forces mission is act 1 (mission 3) from the stepsons and to take out a marauder base with a bunch of wingmates. i've completed act 1 (mission 4) where you steal the maas fighter using remote link, but never got mission 3.

the next mission is where you meet h r oregon, which i have completed and is the last email i have.

did you receive the stepsons e-mail inviting you to destroy that marauder base? check your e-mail account.
sometimes you don't get a waypoint on your contactlist. read the e-mail and choose the waypoint manually. (shift + m)
the stepsons are around touchdown/greenback. (180° from base)

did you finish the ore trade? by tradingscreen or personally?

Yup finished the ore mission via the trade screen and i do not have an email about destroying a marauder base.

i'm now up to 800 pods stolen and no game advancement as far as missions. will probably end up starting another game.

thanks for the help.