SG1 was the first map, and for many of us the first map we played. It's a spruce forest map with the occasional landmark to guide your way, with an amazing Hunger Games feel. The PvP is nice, the land is nice, and the texture variance of the map is nice too.
But I don't think the gameplay is particularly amazing. Half the server goes in the direction of the boat and the castle, because those are 2 of the best routes on the map, an eighth of the server goes for the code room and double chest there, and everyone else on the server runs around the map with no idea what they're doing.
The first few minutes of the game are action packed if you're part of the half that goes towards the boat. You're racing to be the first one to get a weapon and then kill people as fast as possible to be the only survivor. If you're not doing that, you're getting the first chests on your route or random chests you happen to come across trying to get as much as possible. There are also people dying in traps they didn't know about.
And then it gets boring. You've already gotten all your chests, and you're heading back to the cornucopia for the chest refill. You don't find anyone on your way, and then when you get to the cornucopia you wait. A minute or two before refill, someone else decides to come and you have another fight, you easily win and you continue waiting for refill. You get refill and now you have full iron armour and a diamond sword.
What now? Do you go on your chest route again, and hope you come across someone? Do you explore that other tiny fraction of the map that you actually know? Or do you wander aimlessly and hope you will one day stumble across someone and then eventually start deathmatch, and if you don't risk getting lost?
Well, you kill two more people on your route then you start exploring the other fraction of the map you know. The chests are refilled for a second time and you couldn't get to the cornucopia in time to get the loot. You find someone else, and now there are 4 people left. You continue wandering around the map, hoping to come across someone and start deathmatch until randomly, deathmatch just starts counting down. You realize the 30 minutes are up, and it's starting automatically with 4 people.
Deathmatch starts, and there is a team of people that got the second chest refill. You randomly ask the 4th guy to team, and he runs away and hides at the edge of the cornucopia while the team goes after you because you are more of a threat. You take out of one the team members, but you're tired of waiting and that has slowed down your reflexes and the second member of the team kills you, while your deathmatch teammate stands around wondering what to do. The tribute that kills you then proceeds to kill him easily, and he wins.
You've just wasted 30 minutes of your life.
This may have been an exaggeration, but this is generally how my games on SG1 go. It's mostly boring, and they removed all the aspects that made the map more interesting from beta. Since SG1 has a Hunger Games feel, and less of a quick-paced Survival Games feel in my opinion, you need something more than just the other tributes to add to the feel of the game.
The mobs and dogs they used to have improved SG1, and this is the only map I can say this is true for. I don't think SG2, SG3 or any of the other maps were improved by the mobs and other things scattered around the map. They often just get in the way and be nuisances. Having the mobs on SG1 made people more afraid of night time, and though it made the game longer because people were camping, there was more time for the game to finish and still more reason to die even if you do camp.
The dogs made PvP more interesting, and the fact that just about everyone was new to SG in beta made the MCSG aspect fresher, and more exciting. As time has passed and the game has been changed, the excitement of SG1 has died away and the fresh feel of MCSG has changed along with the game itself. It's just not the same as it used to be.
TL;DR SG1 was more interesting when it came out, and when the game itself was new.
