I don't get to play as much as I'd like, but when I do I prefer taking off on my own in a fighter and looking for 1v1 or few vs. few fights, and I am often drawn into furballs. I'm usually on during U.S. primetime when there are about 425 players on. A small map during this period is like a football game in a phone booth. Yes, the action is more fast-paced and the enemy keep coming at you with Galaxian-like intensity, but that's not what I care for.
On the big maps I find the kind of fights I like, such as intercepting milkrunners who try to sneak in somewhere unnoticed, or tracking down one or two bogies who are looking for the same kind of air-to-air fight as I - the kind where a bunch of others from either side aren't around to butt in. I'm also drawn to the large red horde attacking an undefended base (like a moth to a flame), but it's just to pick off what I can - I don't play hero unless I get some help there. I'm not into the base capture thing because I'm never on long enough to see it through. In the 2.5 years I've been playing AH, I can count the number of resets I've seen on one hand.
I'll visit the CT now & then and join the side with fewer players, and I've had some good fights, but gangbanging happens there too.
So I prefer the big maps. However, I understand how they can be a drag to players who aren't on during U.S. primetime and log in to find a vast and sparsely populated arena.