You have a great map that plays very well and then Valve decides to throw it in the toilet 'because it is too complicated'.
So it's almost impossible to make a great map without sticking to the Dustbowl/2Fort formula.
Oh well. Guess I'll keep on making maps that have no purpose other than to look pretty. Guess I'll be doing this contest after all.
It seems to me that you're saying two things:
1. Valve only accepts badly designed maps- Look at custom official maps like Process, Gullywash, and Snakewater, just to name a few. All of these maps have been heavily praised for their design, by both Valve and the community.
2. Whether or not Valve likes the map's design determines if the map is good or not- Not necessarily true, as demonstrated from Snowplow's removal from the update.
Everyone can agree that Snowplow should have been made official. Valve screwed up. But you really shouldn't let one update ruin mapping for you. If everyone mapped for the sole purpose of being accepted by Valve, then this community wouldn't exist.
There are maybe 3 or 4 maps in the showcase section that have ever been added by Valve, and so many other great maps that could be official that aren't even listed there. Valve can't add everything, and they can't agree with everything that people constitute as good design.
Sorry to divert the topic of the thread, but I feel that this had to be said.
