Yeah, everything feels bizarrely compressed, akin to the Underdark map from BGII where you had Silver Dragon lairing on the doorstep of Ust Natha etc. Broken record here, but the Goblin camp, Blighted Village, Druid Grove, and Waukeen's Rest would all probably have been on different maps if it was designed like BG I (or even II, to a lesser degree, since quests usually had you going to a different map across Amn or at least a different district in Athkatla.
I have been playing the new Pathfinder game recently, and so far I really appreciate the feeling of verisimilitude I get from the passage of time and distance while adventuring. Destinations are hours or more apart-they aren't all on the same map. You can even be intercepted by enemies while traveling-It's a little touch, but seeing it in that game made me really appreciate the 'You have been waylaid by enemies and must defend yourself' from BG.
I would say that such attacks age quite quickly.
I don't know if the new pathfinder should be a role model in this matter.
The problem is that they went the other way there and most of the locations are the size of bg1 or even smaller.
More than 20 years have passed since bg1.
