I have been playing without the compass helpers for awhile now and I am finding it to be very enjoyable and entirely possible. Without spoilers, here are some tips for those who might be considering trying this.

1. The map will tell you about where to go. If the marker is not there, open the map, then open the journal, select the quest, and press "Show on map". It tells you about where to go.

2. Once you are in about the right place, think it through and pay attention. Some no-spoiler examples.

I go to a location. The person is not there but his wife is. I talk to her and she tells me about their work in the mine. Well, there's the mine right there. I go in and walk up to people until I find him.

I am told to go to a place and kill something. No directions are given but it is obvious that it is near town. I use "show on map" to get the right general area. I look at the features and spot the indent that usually means a cave.

Another fed-ex job, deliver a book. I arrive in the intended city no further instructions. How to find this guy? I read the book that I am to deliver to him. The book strongly suggests his line of work so I go to the appropriate place and find him.

My point is that there is enough in the game to figure it out, and for me I regain the feeling of exploration and discovery. If you were thinking about trying it, do so. The compass markers are not nearly as necessary as some believe.

This is where most people have a problem. Without this function you would not know how to complete many a quest.

Turned mine off day one. Couldn't play the game any other way.

Agreed that the show on map without markers is a somewhat acceptable solution to having no real directions. You just have to imagine that they said "its over there somewhere". At least, I still have to look for it that way.

I like to pretend the markers are just the game's shortcut through the tedium of asking generic NPCs the same questions of "Where is X and how do I get there?" over and over until someone spills his guts about it.

People who played Daggerfall will know how awful this activity was.

Playing without the compass entirely is great as well. I also only open the map when I already know exactly where I am. The world seems much more alive when you aren't always making a bee-line to an objective.

One of the absolutely best memorable moments for me in this game so far was getting lost in a snowstorm at night. When the storm broke at daylight and I could finally check my map... I was actually wandering around in circles. That was a great feeling.