Someone please tell me if I get end-game right

Hello folks,
I am new to Path of Exile, and this is actually the first time I'm posting in these forums.
First let me tell you that this game really exceeded my expectations, and I had a really great time testing it so far. I'm a Diablo player, been playind D2 for about 10 years, went through D3 inferno and HC lvl 60, about 300 hours played, 4200 achievements, but this game really didn't have a good feeling for me. In its current beta state, I think PoE is already MUCH MORE finished then D3 (alpha) is.

So I've unlocked the end-game "maps". I've been looking for infos but I'm not certain about what I'm doing. Please tell me if I'm wrong.
From what I understand :

-Maps can only drop from level 60+ monsters
-Ancient pyramid has level 58 monsters
-Champions (magic) monsters in that area are lvl 59 and rare/elite monsters are lvl 60. So in order to farm maps, you need to only kill those yellow/rare monsters in that area.
-Vaal's oversoul is lvl 60? (guess)

So far I've killed the act 2 boss in merciless 3 times, and I haven't seen a map yet. I'm not sure of what I'm looking for, it could be white/blue/yellow, what does it looks like? What's the name of the item?
On average, how much "vaal runs" you may do to find a map?

Thanks in advance for your much appreciated answers and feedback!

Actually maps drop from level 53+ mobs, although all mobs in the Vaal Pyramid area have an increased chance to drop them.

Maps have a white border around them since the latest patch, they're impossible to miss now (as long as you have white items shown).

Thanks for this info! That's great, so I won't have to only kill those rare monsters, which is pretty annoying!
I already found my first map, yipee!

Can anyone tell me if my other assumptions are right?

The best way to get maps is to buy them from people who have plenty of them.

"

zriL wrote:

The best way to get maps is to buy them from people who have plenty of them.

I'm not sure of how you trade in this game since there is no trade interface. All I know of is d2jsp, whats others ways to trade items?
Do people really trust eachother on droppping items on the ground?

Your assumptions about blue being 1 level and yellow 2 levels above area lvl is correct, however as said earlier you can find map anywhere in act 2. Within maps levels, map drops are alot higher than even pyramids.

I sledom run a map ithout finding a new, but ofcourse it does happen from time to time. Best way to ensure you find more maps is adding your item quantity mod. I recommend running atleast 50% quantity on your gear so that you seldom will have to farm act 2 areas for maps.

About trading everyone is very trustable in here. Ofcourse nobody can guarantee that you wont get scammed, but it has never happened to me yet, and i've done lots of them.

For trading I assume that for now at least since the majority of us a either invested or picked we have a much better/trustworthy community. Once OB starts it will be much more hinky, though there will be a better trading system so no worries.