Skyrim: Turn off your compass marker

[Acier]

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*

 

[bullet_sandw1ch]

thats a little dumb, as you'd be either using clairevoience, wasting magic leaving you open to random attacks, OR you would be pulling out the map every 5 minutes to make sure you were on track. i had to deal with this on a SD t.v, as it cuts off the top,its not fun at all.

 

[Random Argument Man]

Hey....wait a minute... This type of speech sounds familiar

Skip to 1:44.

OT: I'll probably do that when I'll get my copy of Skyrim game of the year edition. I don't know what kind of build I would do though...

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

You have had a taste of what Morrowind was like. Ah, Morrowind. However free you may think you are from the quest pointer's shackles it changes how you explore the map. Once your eye was on the horizon and you strained to see beyond the next hill. Now your eye is on a big white arrow and you don't even think about where you're going or what lies between you and wherever that may be. Totally worth the frustration of not being able to fucking find anything.

 

[Wayneguard]

Isn't the game built around the quest compass though ?

Meaning, the npcs don't give you enough detailed information on where you should actually be going.

Exactly right. This isn't Morrowind here.

 

[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.