So why remove ffxiv artwork from the game?

[Magnesium02]

2.0 maps are a lot more geographical than pictoral. When you fully fill out a map you can see that all the empty spaces around the reachable territory is marked with lines that indicate bodies of water, elevated land and other kinds of terrain.

1.0 maps didn't really have any features of the terrain outside the explorable regions which is why it had the artwork. And while I love the artwork on the old maps I don't think that they match the style of the new ones.

[Soukyuu]

For some strange reason, players are taking the Beta test as the final result, forgetting that they are there to find bugs, not to enjoy the "full" game.

Might have something to do with 1.0 "not the full game" ending up being "full game" after all

On topic: I personally am pretty indifferent about the artwork being on the ingame map. I'd rather enjoy it in more detail in an artbook.