Hi, it's quite alright for your first map. 96x96 is basically a 1v1 size. The bases are too close to each other imo. The layout is quite basic but due to the size of the map I guess there wasn't much space to work with. One of the main problems is that the bottom-left and top-right bases have trees closer than the other two. However the bottom-left/top-right bases have this huge gap that leaves the goldmine open (=harder to wall and protect peasants).
The other problem would be the drops. Rather than to use item level drops, you chose to select some from ilvl 4 and ilvl5. Also, making items drop from ghosts isn't a good idea as the item is destroyed if they use possession. What more, there aren't any tomes that would drop from the creeps, it's mostly just permanent items.
To answer your questions, the gold in goldmines should be alright. And the atmosphere of a graveyard is pretty good, it isn't a common tileset/theme in melee due to undead creeps being hard to pull off right.
It's a fine map with mistakes that everyone did when they started with melee. I'd suggest looking at some blizz maps or some hive maps for inspiration. There are also some good guides for item drops etc on hive. Good luck with mapping and stuff.
Here's some things to consider:
- The cliffs in the middle are buggy, fix the pathing in the corners. (press P to show pathing)
- There's some free space between the trees. (press P to show pathing)
- Creeps at the merchant might aggro easily
- The wendigo creeps at the base don't drop any items
And here's some tips that might help you with terraining/doodads:
- PgUp/PgDn moves doodads on the Z-axis up or down
- Holding Shift while placing doodads basically ignores pathing
- Using the modeling terrain brushes might make your map livelier and less geometric.