I love running low level, it has that dangerous feel. By 10th level the only death is an unprepared death at 1st level you treat every threat as a real threat. I give a lot of slack to lowbies and let them only die for stupidity. The whole attititude of "OMG we died again, I hate this game!" Is...
I would personaly pay upto $30 for high quality, pretty, tough and durable maps. The problem with the current FL and Starter PAck Maps is they rip, and far to easily. The Dreamblade Super-cool play mat is a great example of what I am talking about. It comes in a tube and is cheap enough to purchase.