[2022] Any Concerns Regarding Map Size Increase?

This post aims to start a civil discussion about how the change in map size affects the development/release of Alpha 2 and beyond. I am a massive fan of what the team is doing and the progress we've seen over the years so please don't mistake this for a pile of FUD/hate! I simply want to start a discussion with people who are probably more knowledgeable than me in this area.

With a map increase of 2.5x, does this heavily extend the development timeline? I'm sure working in UE5 means quicker optimization and world-building, however, this already large map is now enormous so I would like to get everybody's thoughts on it.

Also, it's safe to assume that a larger map means more population and fewer servers? I view this as a good thing, as a more populated world with more nodes makes for larger P2P interactions.

Some of you probably share my view that we want the game to be released polished, but also before we develop arthritis... which is why I'm intrigued about how this change affects the timeline.