@Ozzy
I kind of like the idea of a huge map but it doesn't really seem like that would be a sparring tournament; it would basically be like any planeting session (two squads fight over one large map). When I think of sparring I think of a relatively "pure" fight in a small, simple arena where dodging and shooting are brought to the forefront. Really thats the only difference between spar and the rest of PvP.
Also in iEra did the gst have walls like we have in iZone that you can shoot through? In my opinion regular walls you can't shoot through would be less of a problem than the ones we have in squad spar right now. Too many of those leads to people camping in a spot and shooting people while being invulnerable. I agree the maps should be symmetrical but I hope there are less of the walls you can shoot through and more true walls if there are going to be obstacles at all.