In an rpg, would you rather see all the cities in the fog of war(ex: set vision on, then set off) and leave the wilderness to explore, or leave all of it to explore?
None.
Explore all of it, unless the character has a map or something with wilderness uncharted.
so leave it all to be explored?
What I like to do, is use the fog of war layer, and do a pattern in the fog of war, that makes it even darker than it would be, but still slightly visible, it let's the player kinda see where things are, but also makes it more of a discovery when you actually get there.
None.
Everything stays black. This allows you to:
Implement a Map System.
Place Anti-Hacks.
Implement an Exploration System.
Add more "adventure" sequences.
And some more advanced stuff.
None.
If its a 256x256 map, it's better to be black. I remember using black sheep wall in single player rpg's, which would end up getting me more lost because I didn't know where I had not gone yet.