WIP - Unnamed World Map

[Elzevir]

Yes, it's supposed to be elevation differences, kind of to show hills. However, I see what you're saying, and I think a large part of it is that the shading is so stark on the hills, the elevation changes so drastic, that it looks really... well... sick. Perhaps, if I go in and change some of the areas to be larger plains or concentrated hills, and show more non-uniform variation, that might help. What do you think? Any suggestions how to change or fix it?

IMO the difficulty to depict hills is somewhat related to global shading, in a sense where there is no real indication of lightsource. Sometimes i see the whiter patches as flat lands, and in another part of the map as a potential elevation... I have no precise idea how to fix it, but larger plains should be a good try. For example, i find the top-right-toundra-part better than the middle-part of the same region...

Also, regarding your forests and glades perceptions, I've been debating whether I should actually try to make forests and vegetation, or leave that out of the overworld map, using the coloring alone to depict vegetation. Thoughts?

I don't think adding vegetation would improve anything on a map of this size. Coloring seems very good to me. For the glades, should i suggest to add some water, like drawing inlets as in the everglades ?
Samples of what i mean here and here.