I get the map is forthcoming. But I guess to play the devil's advocate I have to ask why one was not included in the original book? Maps are selling points. The Lord of the Rings just would not be the same without a map. Off the top of my head I can't think of a fantasy RPG I've bought or looked at recently that did not have a map in the core rulebook, if that core book included world info like the ARG does. Remember the vast majority of players don't use the forums and probably don't know it exists. That was pretty clear at Origins (and those are the diehards not the casual players).
I guess my major point is we are spending a lot of time on mechanics and we should not forget the sort of things that catch people's eye in the first place, like maps and art. Arcanis has some good versions of the latter. Can we assume that once that cool world map gets finally done that's something we can put in ARG 2.0? Given the stiff competition for people's time and money we can't afford to leave anything out.
Below is the Amazon review that got me thinking about maps. I don't care for the tone but unfortunately some of the observations are valid. Arcanis has always had issues with getting it's presence noted in the wider gaming world. Hopefully we can do some things to change that. 5th ed might be a step in that direction. Time will tell.
https://www.amazon.com/Arcanis-World-Sh ... ewpoints=0