I wish I could say more than "it all depends". I try to not be directional but some fabrics/projects are very directional.
I'm currently working on a round robin and before it got to me I was sure that I was going to set this round on point -- but then I saw a tiny fussy cut boat in the center and I am just not willing to set a ship on a forever course of sailing on troubled water. Also relating to water sort of, is I have a "no dead fish" rule, if a fabric is directional all fishes must be right side up or at least there shall be no floaters!
Many lines of fabric have their own patterns as well, but my usual buying stop of eQuilter has a lot of free designs meant for particular lines of fabric (particularly panels) and they show many different ways to deal with directional blocks
https://www.equilter.com/pattern/cat...ttern-designer