I have to agree that the west, and especially south-west, of the map is not in the the same league as the rest of the map. The income and resources seem to be much lower in west than in the center or eastern parts of the map. Also, the eastern part of the map seem to have many more choke-points, which basically will see nations in centre most likely turning west first (who will be poorer and will have a harder time to defend themselves due to the more open nature of the geograpy).
In all, based on the short experience (I've never before played on the map) so far, I think the Faerun map is damn excellent for SP gaming, but I am not entirely positive how balanced playfield it will be in MP. Remains to be seen, I guess
Until that I am praying I get a start position in the east
