I noticed my thread was locked because it had reached its page limit (strange?) http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1498130-will-it-ever-go-back-to-journal-and-finding-your-own-way/

However maybe the discussion was not done

I found these two mods, maybe these two mods together is the answer?

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/32695/?

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/4424/?tab=1&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fskyrim%2Fajax%2Fmoddescription%2F%3Fid%3D4424%26preview%3D&pUp=1

Not sure if we needed a PT.2 to this thread. The last page of the previous one was quite heated. But I'll be glad to "reset" the course of this thread with my own opinion on the matter.

Daggerfall had journal logs but no proper way to organize them.

Morrowind had organized journal logs but no proper way to track your quests.

Oblivion had trackable quests with brief yet informal journal notes.

Skyrim was the same but with strictly formal quest notes.

There is literally no further simplification to be made, unless the quest system is completely redone. (ie. There is no true way to complete a quest) and for what it's worth, I'm very happy with the way it's turned out. It allows me to stay connected with the story and what's currently going on. If the opportunity arises and I feel the need to travel off the beaten path and explore, it's there.

As someone who has played the hell out of Morrowind, I really appreciate map markers as I'd constantly get lost due to the really short view distance. With MGEXE, that's not really a major issue anymore, especially when you've had a decade to memorize the locations of everything.

These games are only going to get bigger, and are only going to become more cluttered. Some sort of way-finding system will definitely be crucial.

That Even Better Quest Objectives mod looks good. It does a good job of pointing out the defects in the vanilla journal.

It makes absolutely no sense to me why something like this was not included in the base game. It is frustrating for console players to have to deal with the inadequate journal with no solution other than buy a PC.

It is a heck of a lot of work to properly mod a game. I spent probably 60 to 80 hours, maybe 100, I don't know but it was all weekend, every weekend, and many hours during the week for nearly two months straight, finding and installing mods to my Oblivion game last year and now half of them are out of date. That's actually a good thing because it means people are still improving their work, but it does mean more work for me.

I just downloaded nearly 2.5 GB of data to do the updates and am looking at probably another 10 to 15 hours of work, maybe more, just to install a few updates to some major mods, including (Better Cities, UL, OBSE, MOO, Better Dungeons, BOSS, Guild Advancement and Brasher's Fighter's Guild Quests, all of which have gone through significant updates in the past 8 months or so). Took several hours just to download all the updates, not to mention the time spent tracking down updated patches. Since each mod has to be installed individually and play tested before you install the next one, 10 to 15 hours is probably a conservative estimate of how long it is going to take to do all these updates.

I kind of enjoy tinkering with mods but many would find it tedious.

I have yet to budget the time to install Skyrim on my PC, much less install mods for it. I am sure when I get around to it I will definately use this Even Better Quest Objectives mod, as well as a mod that adds spellmaking, and attributes (I have seen youtube video reviews of Skyrim mods that address these issues). I suspect many of the issues I have with Skyrim could be addressed with mods. But, I just don't have time right now to want to bother with all that. Maybe someday.

But it is unfortunate that the only solution for console players is to buy a PC, learn how to install mods and then spend a significant portion of your life tinkering with them. If tinkering with a PC is not something you enjoy, the whole modding thing may jsut be a bit too overwhelming.

I hope we get a The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind styled journal system again with quests and topics written in them again I miss it so much. Also with the Player Character (PC) being able to write her or his own whatever they want in the journal. Like Today on 3E 200 I traveled to place x and found Daedric Boots in a chest.

I don't want to see quest arrows and quest markers on my compass and map ever again.

It is even worse in ESO, there you get all npc:s that actually have a quest available get an arrow pointing over their head and in your compass... I guess it is an "mmo thing", but If that somehow ever creept into a "real" elder scrolls game I would probably stop playing the series.