Imo you should create some blog, where you put this as an article with images and create one thread where you post new articles. I guess you'll do more threads like this and they will be lost in spam, like tears in rain. Blog won't.
1 blog, 1 thread = win. 

Your "what you want to avoid" list sounds a lot like Quake e4. Now, I won't argue that e4 is anything other than an acquired taste, but once you've acquired that taste it can be the best of the original Quake episodes.

What I'm saying is that part of the magic of Quake is that it's stuffed full of things that aren't supposed to work - but yet in that particular combination, they do.

I'm not inclined to over-analyze this, so I'll just leave it by saying that if you stick rigidly to things you should avoid, part of the danger is that you could end up with a dull, generic design. 

Suspension of disbelief allows it to work in Episode 4. The universe has already been built to allow it, however it's still within reasonable limits. 

You have some great points and they all make sense, but I will construct my levels any fucking way I see fit.

If the level is fun - that is all that matters. Think about Ziggurat Vertigo... it breaks pretty much every rule you have here. And so does E4 as mh states. If everyone made levels your way, Quake would suck as bad as Quake 2 does. :P

Thank about any Super Mario side-scroller and re-think your position here. Fun is all that matters in a game. I think Q3DM17: The Longest Yard is the greatest MP map of any game I have ever played and it makes zero sense. It's fun tho.

Go play jam9 and check out Kell's level or PuSLaR's. They are beautiful and fun. That's really all that matters. My level makes no sense architecturally and started as a remake of a Doom level that made no sense. 

I used Half-Life and Quake as my examples. This wasn't directly oriented at Quake 2.

Besides in my comment before yours and in my first post I stated that as long as the suspension of disbelief allows it, it's fine. 

Had to break my weeks (months?) long posting hiatus to just say that you are wholly wrong.

This is Quake, and bugger all makes sense in Quake, and I'd say the game is better off for it. 

Generic level design tips 101. Most people here have probably heard the same shit parroted 20 times over. Heated debate none the less. Good show 

Baby Bugger Boasts Building Brainyness But Bricks Briefs Brown Because Brilliant Ben Bypasses Banishment Before Bringing Bueno Banter 

There is a reasonable sense to give a map a sense of reality. It goes without saying, that the mapper needs a lot more time to make the map, than it is necessary to play.
Therefore, it is understandable that making a good card can take a long time.
If I can get an acceptable insight at that time, I would like to work on it.

There must be elements that attract me to it, a kind of witz, an architectural rarity,
Unexpected fight.

While I read your statements, I can largely agree with it, but the medieval character.., the unintentional.., does not match my imaginary fantasy.
As soon as I try to "get straight" and
make something reasonable, it turns out flat.
So most really good maps occur when I do not have the slightest idea what I am doing.
More in a state of coïnsedence. 

Most people half-arse what they are doing.

Either they're too focused on one thing to forget the other, or they simply don't care enough to put in 100% of the effort needed, and it shows.

Most of the maps in Quake-games are centered around structures of varying sorts, so why not make the most out of it?

What makes a map look good to you, and how do your own maps compare to that definition? If the maps by Simon/Arcane Dimensions is the goal, then I'm afraid many of you have a long way to go. I see many talk about improvement of overall map quality, but I'd like to see more going the extra mile to incorporate this heightened quality into their own work. I'm not perfect either, but I want to do my best to improve, and when I see I did something wrong I will address it.

And I did go all the way to the bottom of the history of the threads on this place before I posted this. If someone had posted this already I'd probably just bump that thread instead. 

Just wait and be patient, there will be coming couple episodes in the future that will cover many of those aspects. But remember there is whole list of talented/creative people doing their best, for free. Maybe it is better to look other things than ad all the time, just because it is most talked now doesn't make it perfect for your taste. 

I'm mapping in my spare time only, and I would assume that's what mostly everyone's coming to this place would do or is doing too. 

"... then I'm afraid many of you have a long way to go." 

Your posts are getting more condescending as the hours go by. I hope that's not what you are intending. But comments like: Most people half-arse what they are doing are extremely insulting. If you're hoping to be welcomed here, I'd cut this shit out right now and be more cordial.

As far as AD. Did you know sock (is or was) a professional developer? He's used idtech for a good portion of his career. So he has quite a vast body of work under his belt. (I played the hell out of quite a few of his "Territory" maps!)

As a paid professional he has a lot more experience than hobbyists here on func could hope to have. Like 12+ hour days for years of his life. That's a lot of time to hone your abilities. Sock has my respect for his talents but you certainly can't compare hobbyists against him - it's simply not fair or realistic.

That said there are some massively talented people on this board. Excellence comes with time and dedication. So friend, go map and stop telling us all we have to do better. Many of us know that already! 

Do you know that John Romero described Quake as "the best example of abstract level design..." Quake maps are beyond explanation, absurd, and fantastical. How many Quake 1 maps have you made that you would come here and post your twisted, snide insinuations and presume to tell this community how to map for Quake?

You want more realism in your maps, such as crates being able to realistically fit into a room? I think this gardening simulator is more the game for you:
https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/galleries/x701/75113.jpg

Perhaps you should use your time more constructively and go create a forum for insane Quake 2 zealots to post their self-righteous ramblings on... 

It would be unfair to compare people to the Sock and the AD team. Sock is a pro game designer and specifically cherry picked some of the best designers in the community to make AD a high quality mod.

Also, people making maps and content are of hugely varying degrees of ability. So you may get someone who has only been mapping for 6 months being compared to someone mapping for years.

I'd say focus on your own work and if you have anything to say then make it constructive and helpful to the content creator in the respective threads.

Also just chill out in general. 

How did Sock come to where he is if he didn't work for it? Do you think he was born a professional?

I'm not pro either, but I am damn well trying to be better at what I am doing. 

He literally WORKED for it.

We all just do this in between our day jobs.

If sock didnt "git gud" hed be working the assembly line with the rest of us. 

I dont think this is something people struggle with. At least in quake mapping.

I struggle with monster placement and encounters. With naming conventions when you work a few hours per week or after one month of not touching the editor.

I struggle with architectural consistency, which is what i thought you meant with that title.

I don't really struggle with what you say.
Also, that thing that you say about ventilation reminds me of retrojam6. No ventilation can build an atmosphere some maps feel suffocating indeed. 

It doesn't bother me big boxes. Boxes can be assembled in situ.
But doors that move and disappear into a solid brush bug me.
Or a sky box in an enclosed room deep in a building. Although this can be done right, specially in quake.
But these aren't concerns about realism but things that are just wrong.

Some things are ok if they feel ok to most people even if they're BS in reality. Who cares? 

Had a courtyard with large windows...2 secs later you go thru a hallway that's right behind them.

But I agree with topher. 

is gloom's keep what you mean?

yeah, but it's a room above ground. i have more of a problem with the placement of windows. near the yellow armor secret there is a window in a wall 32 unit thick that doesn't go to the other room (the silver door elevator room). that bugged me a little even in 1997. unless you think that stained glass as a mural decoration.. but i can't.

the skyboxes it's something that you don't notice while you are playing, so it's wrong but it doesn't matter.

that thing about windows, ventilation and atmosphere wich the OP says it's true. but it's not something that you want to avoid. it's something that you can use.

the retrojam6 maps that i was talking about are pulsar's and breezep's maps. i replayed them and i was slightly disapointed that breezep's map have sky brushes, but oh well. the suffocating atmosphere is there nonetheless, and the messagges that pop up help, and that's why i really liked that map 

Skimmed the first 1/3 of the topic, good thoughts, good topic :)