How many maps do I need?

I love making maps. 

I love making them pretty and interesting and fun. I love editing the in game RTP to make the maps look and feel even better. I even bought MZ just because it had mapping layers! Full price, as soon as it came out!

Mapping is important to me for more than looks he game's looks. I use maps as part of my story plotting process.
When I start plotting the game's main goal, the main quests related to that goal, and any side quests, I always think with maps first. Side Quests are always opportunities to use maps to enhance the story.

My biggest challenge with maps is I want to make too many. Maps are the little darlings I need to kill and cull constantly. The world map that I have tossed together may change a few times, because as you can see I have villages. I want to make maps for all of the villages and all the farm land around the villages, and all of the land between that...
I want to map a whole continent! No! The Whole hemisphere! NO! The whole world! NO! THE WHOLE SOLAR SYSTEM!

Mapping and plotting go hand in hand for me, so when I get to excited I return to the plot - the main goal and the quests that facilitate it - and that helps me pull my self back from over mapping. 

What, in the end, do I really need? 

In the end that's the most important question I can ask about all parts of this game, not just the maps.
I want to have exploration and little hidden gems to discover, but I need to keep my plot tight and flowing. I want moments in maps where nothing happens. The Japanese call it "ma". But I also want to keep things moving when they need too.

How many maps do I really need?

I have  no idea how many I will eventually need. I know that anyone can make a game with just one map but this won't be that kind of game.

I am excited to find out how many maps I do actually end up with!

What about you? Do you enjoy mapping? Have you ever found your self making too many? Not enough? What is your favorite part of mapping? What's the worst part for you?

~Me