compass is broken east and west are back to front

[noel]

north and south are correct but according to the map im face west but the compass says im facing east

[red51]

Actually that's how a compass works. The needle always points towards magnetic north, so if you turn to east, the needle will point towards west on your compass (since it still points towards magnetic north). Sounds confusing, but in real life you could physically turn the compass to keep the needle on north (then you'd see the actual direction in front of you). Here are some more details about this matter: http://www.compassdude.com/compass-reading.php

However, after the upcoming player models update, there will be an additional, more modern version of the compass with a fixed needle and a floating rose (this way you'll always see your actual direction) ;)

[Tryst49]

As Red mentioned, many compasses had a floating rose rather than a needle later on since this East/West business confused a lot of people. The entire rose floated so you could turn East and the rose would stay where it was. That way, you looked at the rose and it showed you facing East.

I had a friend in the Army who was very intelligent with other things but still couldn't wrap his head around the compass needle pointing in the opposite directions for East and West. Even when you tried to explain it to him, he just didn't get it until we told him to turn the compass anti-clockwise as he turned so the North point of the rose remained under the needle, then the rose showed he was facing East.

[Mardoin69]

LOL! Yeah, took me while to wrap my head around the way a compass works too in military survival training. It still throws me now n then if I'm not thinking about it... but, I'm pretty used to just facing North and keeping in mind if I turn Right (clockwise) I'm facing East... opposite for West... and I then make visual check of compass to know which end means what... basically just go by white end of arrow for E an W. The tricky part is when going SE SW NE NW.... have to turn what you think is right then check compass to see which arrow end (red or white) is pointing there.... make a cheat sheet with info to help you out till you get it memorized is my suggestion.

[Tryst49]

As above. Face North and turn the compass the opposite way as you turn, so the needle is still sitting on the N marker. The rose then shows you which way you are facing. that's by far the easiest way to do it if it still confuses you.

Sadly, we can't do that in game but hopefully the floating rose compass should help a lot since that does it for you.

[Princess Goddammit]

I had this issue too and I still get confused now and again. I thought they had gotten things backwards. However, I rarely use the compass any more. I rely on my map for navigation.