I can confirm that lvl 4 is painful to reach for the random new guy.
I joined minis with my lvl 0 BS and got vaporized, but my BS is in T4 gear, not in t1 or blues like some newbies.
And lvl 4 is not that fast to reach, it still takes like 3 weeks for a regular player.
That's 3 weeks of daily minis being farmed endlessly. Nowhere near what anyone with a sane mind would call a enjoyable experience.
Plus now, lvl 1 gives nothing, the entry pvp set should have had its level requirement reduced by 1.