Skyrim: Turn off your compass marker

[Fijiman]

I may try this for a little bit the next time I feel like playing Skyrim.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

I prefer it on, that way I can tell which path leads to the quest objective, and which one leads to a dead end with a treasure chest.

 

[lord.jeff]

No.

This is not a request, but an order.

I'm on my second playthrough in Skyrim.
I love these types of exploration games, no matter how shitty the storyline may be. Nevertheless on my first playthrough I always automatically storm-

No.

Quest markers can encourage exploration as much as they do discourage it. I can stray off the beaten path even when I really want to keep doing this quest and don't feel like getting lost.

I'm with this guy, I was so worried about losing my sense of direction when trying to complete a quest that I'd walk past forts and other dungeons thinking I'd check that out later and I never did, without quest markers I was forced to focus on only one quest at a time.

 

[Plunkies]

There's mods you can get to give you more detailed quest info in your journal.

 

[applesandoranges]

edit

 

[manaman]

You mean like the older Elder Scrolls games? In Morrowind I thought it was kind of fun to use the directions of the NPCs to find locations and persons. In the first two games it was a bit confusing, though.

Except, you know, in those not so rare cases the directions where off by a few turns leaving you a couple of ravines and gullies away from where you need to be. Forcing you to wandering all over the ashlands, batting away cliff racers, hoping against hope that the next door you stumble across will be the door you need.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I refuse.

I don't need artificial difficulty spikes to force me to explore, and I do need a map option as an anti-frustration tool, showing me what general direction I'm supposed to go in when the quest details either give crap for directions or even just a place name. I already read and collect every scrap of writing I come across, peek through every bandit cave and dwarven ruin in my path, and take unexplored scenic routes to get to my quest marker, to the point that I haven't even completed the main quest yet with any of my characters.

There's too much to see, and it doesn't help me to wander all the way to Falkreath looking for the goddamn dragon I'm supposed to kill at Lost Tongue Overlook. Especially if it turns out I've already seen every glade and tower in a ten-mile radius of Falkreath.

 

[Racecarlock]

How hard is it for people to get that just because someone plays with more aids or less difficulty does not make them worse people or something? And who the hell are you to be giving me orders on playing a game I bought? Why should I increase my difficulty?

 

[Bordersane]

Yeah...but its a good idea to turn it off...it really does make a difference. You're not looking at the compass all the time (as one normally does) but at the WORLD. Way better.

If you need to know where you're going....use that shout that shows you the way to your current goal. Problem sorted!

 

[Xan Krieger]

Also, I'm assuming you still allow yourself to check the map for large cities, yes? The entire story and quests are built around the compass, that's why Morrowind was sometime so frustrating because you could get totally lost searching for specific quest locations. I remember one quest where I had to find a fucking cave, I walked past the damn things at least three times.

Was it the cave outside of Pelagiad where you have to get that skull? Every time I replay the main quest I can never find that place.

I just had rage flash backs.

I also remember the one set of directions to get to that valley that was relevant to the main quest

"Go to the shoreline, turn and walk until you get to a pile of rocks, then turn again and go until you get to a tree then you'll be there!"

*piles of rocks and tress everywhere*

Or when they told you to use those trenches created by lava to guide you to a spot on the coast, pick the wrong one and the map is so big you have to walk another 5 minutes to your goal. Quest markers would've improved the game so to the OP no I will not do it on the grounds that getting lost is infuriating, if I want to explore I'll do it but I will not get lost like that again.

 

[Hawkeye21]

There is a mod that makes quest descriptions more detailed in journal. That should help you out http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11135

 

[Tharwen]

someone turned the hud opacity to 0 so he couldn't see anything, it made sneaking really tense since he had to actually check and see if people were searching for him, and he had to develop a way to shoot the bow without the pointer and such

He also used the clarvoyance spell to find his quest things

the PeterP save

I expect you do, but... do you know who that is? It just seems odd that you didn't mention it...

 

[Reaper195]

*Turns off compass*
"Now, go and find this place called...I dunno....Scary Dungeon Cave."
"Cool! *Charges outside of Witerun, gets bored after ten minutes of having not one clue where to go*"

Seriously...in a lot of games, without the compass, you wouldn't ever get to where you need to go unless by sheer coincidence.

 

[Bruenin]

someone turned the hud opacity to 0 so he couldn't see anything, it made sneaking really tense since he had to actually check and see if people were searching for him, and he had to develop a way to shoot the bow without the pointer and such

He also used the clarvoyance spell to find his quest things

the PeterP save

I expect you do, but... do you know who that is? It just seems odd that you didn't mention it...

yeah... I don't know why I avoided using his name and stuff... I felt like it'd be weird or something, iunno

 

[Tharwen]

someone turned the hud opacity to 0 so he couldn't see anything, it made sneaking really tense since he had to actually check and see if people were searching for him, and he had to develop a way to shoot the bow without the pointer and such

He also used the clarvoyance spell to find his quest things

the PeterP save

I expect you do, but... do you know who that is? It just seems odd that you didn't mention it...

yeah... I don't know why I avoided using his name and stuff... I felt like it'd be weird or something, iunno

Excellent. Move along, citizen.

 

[Gnoekeos]

This is not a request, but an order.

I'm on my second playthrough in Skyrim.
I love these types of exploration games, no matter how shitty the storyline may be. Nevertheless on my first playthrough I always automatically stormed straight to the green/red arrow without a second thought, I experimented turning it off in my second one and I feel sort of free.

I will be looking through every crook and cranny looking for whatever object/person/enemy my devout quest journal sends me to, taking in all the details and taking in way more of the game then I did before. Considering I played nearly all the quests on an earlier playthrough it's remarkable how little I remember about the actual context of the quest while running from one arrow to the next. Now I have to read all the books and journals I find if I want to know where to go/what to do next with no little arrow helper holding my hand. Now I also stumble upon most of the little out-of-the-way details Bethesda developers like to put here and there.

So turn off your compass marker.

Post script: After I found out how remarkable change it was, I also turned off the not-yet-found-location-nearby sense the Dragonborn somehow possesses. That also improves the exploration feel of this game a lot.

Well, that's what you did.

I always explore the entire game thoroughly on my first playthrough. I have been literally to every corner of the map.

I don't feel constrained by having my compass up like you, apparently. The compass does not tell me where to go, it suggests where I go, and whether I feel like doing it then or going after three hours of dungeon crawling for new shouts depends on what I feel like. No little pointer is going to make me go anywhere in a free-roaming game if I don't feel like it.

That's always been my way as well. You really shouldn't take the compass directing you as a personal jab, its just there to be helpful.

 

[Xan Krieger]

Also, I'm assuming you still allow yourself to check the map for large cities, yes? The entire story and quests are built around the compass, that's why Morrowind was sometime so frustrating because you could get totally lost searching for specific quest locations. I remember one quest where I had to find a fucking cave, I walked past the damn things at least three times.

Was it the cave outside of Pelagiad where you have to get that skull? Every time I replay the main quest I can never find that place.

I just had rage flash backs.

I also remember the one set of directions to get to that valley that was relevant to the main quest

"Go to the shoreline, turn and walk until you get to a pile of rocks, then turn again and go until you get to a tree then you'll be there!"

*piles of rocks and tress everywhere*

Or when they told you to use those trenches created by lava to guide you to a spot on the coast, pick the wrong one and the map is so big you have to walk another 5 minutes to your goal. Quest markers would've improved the game so to the OP no I will not do it on the grounds that getting lost is infuriating, if I want to explore I'll do it but I will not get lost like that again.

My personal favorite was a quest to go over a hill and fight some mudcrabs. That was all your instructions - go over a hill, and fight some mudcrabs. No directions, no 'how far away from the city', no landmarks - just that the quest took place on the side of a hill that had Mudcrabs. I just... 30 minutes of searching and I just went 'fuck this' and blew up the city.

As for OP: I don't stare at the Compass 24-7; it's a little helpful thing, nothing more. Skyrim is FUCKING huge, so it's fairly easy to get lost - having the Compass there helps me not wander around the map for a half-hour looking for mudcrabs.
And hey, I'm pretty sure the people of Skyrim are pretty cheerful for that - I haven't destroyed any cities out of boredom due to not being able to find my quest target, so they get to live.

My all time favorite lost moment is finding the mostly naked nord who had been tricked by a witch. "She must still be in this area" followed by an hour of running around with said mostly naked nord and not finding anything. A quest marker would've really helped there instead of me wasting an hour of my time lost.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Um...... no. I like having the compass marker. If ever I want to explore at my leisure I just ignore it or deactivate my current active quest in my quest log, but when I actually am on a quest I want to know where the fuck I'm supposed to go.

 

[cbrichar]

Working without compass / overlay map was the approach I took when recently replaying Assassin's Creed 2 a month ago, and I found the change it made was incredible. I was forced to really learn my way around the city, whether through the streets or by rooftop, and guide myself by landmarks. Sure, I'd consult the map to check progress ocassionally, but not having it as an ever-present crutch forced me to rely on my own sense of direction.

The end result was a far more engaging experience, and I found often that, instead of blazing in an as-the-bird-flies line straight to my target, I'd often enjoy keeping a low profile and walking through the winding streets to find my goal, because I'd learned my way around the city.

 

[BrionJames]

Ahh Morrowind, how I remember ye fondly...oh, and you Daggerfall