As advanced as games are they can not ,as of yet, utilize all five senses.The smell of a cooking fire or the reek of rotting corpses from necromancers and or undead lairs would give some indication something was near.traveling in the vicinity of a conjurers lair may make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.I do not know if magic would do this but you do not know that it will not.I would be fine with undiscovered locations being represented by a ? until you actually discover the location as that would make sense.

For the RPG purists Char skill should trump player skill.Slap on a few perks and have it governed by Int.Thereby making the char the dominant factor in how effective the compass is.

As far as the quest arrow is concerned in RDR you were given a shaded circle to give you an idea where your quest target was.If this is used hopefully a smaller area to search is used than RDR because as you know Nords are smarter than Texans.In Morrowind you could talk to Dumner scouts for directions(Texans win this one at least they can read a map) to get the arrow maybe you would have to talk to a Nord scout.I agree with those that feel once in side the dungeon no arrows should be used.Since it is easy enough to switch quests and move the arrow to the exit this is not a huge deal.

Improve it don't remove it

No. Give directions and no compass.

I'm pretty sure if you're a hero embarking on a huge adventure you'd bring a compass...

I'm okay with a compass that I can buy and pull out of my pack to get my bearings (n,s,e,w). I absolutely do not like the quest arrows and hope that, at the very least, we can turn them off (if they are included) :shrug:

Yeah, quest markers svck. I'd much prefer it if I could find my way to my destination by orienting myself in my surroundings and checking out the landscape instead of simply making sure that the red quest cursor is always in the middle of my compass UI.

Pete Hines said that the reason they added a quest marker was because people got lost in Morrowind. The problem with Morrowind wasn't that it didn't have quest markers, the problem was that the directions you were given were often quite crap. The proper way to fix this, imo, is to give better directions instead of added quest markers which take some of the fun out of traveling and exploration.

Great idea! Would add alot to the RPG experience.

Me too.

Directions over quest markers any day. oblivion usually handles like this: "Go to random dungeon and retrieve my magic crystal"; That's it, that's all the directions you're given

I want to rely on the sun to find my direction. :stare:

I have no problems with a simple compass, I have a problem with an arrow pointing you to the direction you need to go to get to your objective. If you can't figure it out with directions, which I hope is given this time, and a little bit of work on your part than maybe a more simpler game is for you. That's my take on it.

Exactly my thoughts. Plus, as others mentioned, better instructions than in Morrowind.

I like directions like in Morrowind. But I understand why Bethesda made the arrow. As long as I can disable it (not along with the entire HUD! I want to have HUD with no arrow) an I get directions like in Morrowind, everyone is happy and it's not rocket science, just a few more dialogue lines.

Isn't this game HUD free according to the GI mag?

I'm perfectly fine with the compass, considering that pretty much every Elder Scrolls game has had some way to determine your direction, most of them with a compass. As far as the quest arrow goes, well, a lot of times I've needed the help. And I would expect my character to be able to find their way around better than me anyway, since they've probably had more need of practicing it. I'd hardly weep if it went away, though, I'm sure I'd be able to eventually manage without it.

Yeah I thought there was no HUD

yeah no quest help, just like in morrowind, and just like in morrowind the directions should be vague or just plain wrong to make it more fun. I like the compass in oblivion. Remember the dwemer puzzle box? i spent like 3 hours looking for that thing in morrowind, it wasn't exactly my idea of fun

I will be miffed if there is no compass.

They would need to do some kind of mad lib type open ended voice work, otherwise unique directions would take up alot of voice work.

For example, there is a question, how do I get there? Answer: Head ___ its near a _____ , kind of thing. With blanks filled in with North,South,Southwest,etc and Large rock, waterfall,etc Of course that would only apply if they did not know the exact location, I never understood in MW why can't the npc just show me on my map were it is, if he already knows. Hell, the circle idea from Red Dead is always something I thought would be good. And even if all this is done, still keep the all knowing compass as an option.

I wouldn't mind the compass if there is no magic arrow.
How else am I supposed to know if I am travelling south southwest according to the directions?!

Keep magnetic compass, get rid of quest markers, replace them with ability to place more of your own map markers imho.

The quest marker needs to go bye bye. Completely ruines any feeling of exploration... at least to me.
I wouldn't want quest markes to be allowed outdoors and disabled indoors. I find exploration equally important (if not even more) outside.

And according to me, the feeling of exploration is pretty important in an open-world RPG as Skyrim.

Solution: Give us directions (either voiced or by a note/letter). Occasionally give us a "Let me mark it on your map", just for variety's sake.

Give me a compass, a compass is pretty standard equipment when going adventuring. Then allow me to place my own marks on my map, which will show on the compass.

Yeah, some of those instructions were confusing, and even completely wrong now and then. I remember being told to head west until I saw a rock stacked on top of another rock in Morrowind. . . Yeah, ok. But it was so much more satisfying when you actually did find things in Morrowind. In Oblivion the range of the map markers was too great. I want to see a hybrid system. Directions to get you to the general area are fine by me, as long as they are accurate and there are distinct landmarks.

If the npcs knows the location, which they often do, I hate it when they don't mark it on my map, pissed me off in MW.

I think you're confusing exploring with tracking. Quest markers makes tracking unnecessary, but it does nothing against exploring. When you explorer, you don't have a goal.