The only times the big maps in the old MA had a heck of a lot of interaction going on was when one side was near a reset or there was a bottleneck that forced fighting. It was always a total bore upping from one field, watching a few people die and seeing the enemy totally evaporate, then having to land or auger and chase them to a far off place on the map for the same thing to happen because they get frustrated and move on to the next "easier" base.
I think that's the reason Ht implemented that capturable base design on the bigger maps a while back, to force people to interact. What's the point of flying against other humans if you don't want to engage them?
For some reason the majority of people want to be able to take real estate virtually unopposed. They may say that's not true, but it is. It's very frustrating for them trying to achieve their goal, only to be shot down or having to dump their ord because enemies stand in their way.
If you're a land grabber, which is perfectly legit in my book, it just makes it easier and much more enjoyable if you don't have to fight very hard for a base. You can take bases, hand out the wtg's, slap each other on the backs and say "Yeah we're kickin their butts!" and have your kind of fun. That's fine. I'm just saying it bores the heck out of me, and it seems HTC decided the way it was on the big maps wasn't the best for the community either.