We are now deleting "playground", fullbright, etc. type maps
I assume (almost to the point of "it goes without saying") this excludes WIP maps. At least on the quality/lighting elements. I threw a few lights on Ascendence after hearing so many complaints about fullbright in other maps, but I still haven't gotten any good at using lighting creatively or effectively. Future map concepts may start with fullbright and stay there until the chambers themselves are finished, at which point I'll work on adding lighting that makes sense and is supportive of the puzzle.
Of course, those would all be in the WIP section.
I'm in favor of this. Though I'm with some of the others on the "no playgrounds" ruling. The playground that came early on, with the control room, wasn't bad, as sandboxes go. Wasn't great, but with as many features and mechanics as Portal 2 has, it dealt well with providing access to almost all of them in a clean, efficient way. IMO.
I personally find playgrounds, with the appropriate elements and mechanics, can be used to test out potential new puzzle-solving mechanisms to be added to maps. I've been using them to figure out potentially new ways to solve puzzles. 'Course, having half the maps here as playgrounds would be terrible, so I agree with the idea, generally.
You did bring back from the dead, as it were, which is what I was referring to.
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Map names shouldn't be so overlooked. "Get the cube" is the dumbest name ever, but the map itself is fantastic.
In my post, I specifically state this is for "Released" maps. Not having lighting or a "goal" in a WIP map isn't really an issue, since they are obviously still in progress. Released maps are just that - maps that, for all intents and purposes, are completed and finished maps. Yeah, there might be a bug fix or an explot fix update, but there won't be any major changes to them. And Released maps are expected to be of a certain just basic quality - having lighting, being actually playable, and so on.
You sent me a PM asking what, in my opinion, would constitute a "worthwhile playground map", and I'll answer that with an example. A friend of mine who would later go on to work at Infinity Ward made a CS:S surf map several years ago under the same pretense - make a "surf" map that isn't a bunch of fullbright 1 texture blocks floating in the sky. And that's exactly what he did. I think that one of our many, many talented mappers could take the concept of a playground map (a map as simple as just having all of the game puzzle elements and a space within which to play around with them) and make it more interesting than a single box room with 1 light in it.
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Imo one that is incredibly customizable in-game (panels galore), Garry style.
Finally. I was just getting afraid this site is going to get polluted by first-time mappers who release every map they made in 5 minutes. Great to see some quality control here 
(percentage calculation sphere self-test failed!)
108.1% done, -8.1% remaining...
Released here!
All maps for Portal (1/2) worth playing are mirrored here.
The only playground maps that I would understand to have zoo maps (game mechanics, animations, etc). Other than that, the playground maps can remain with the sandbox games (ex. Gmod). The fullbright maps tend to be annoying to the player for obvious reasons, and maps without goals will to be pointless to even waste the bandwidth downloading. Honestly, I understand the move to remove the files and support the Idea. It is not really difficult to put in a temporary light entity here, or set up a basic goal there. Doing some of these simple things will significantly improve the quality. The maps don't have to be a master work of art right off the bat. They need to at least be functional, have a goal, and have some form of challenge.
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Thanks mods, way to keep the forums up to a standard.