Stuck on Bane at level 10 where are all the side quests ?

I reached level 10 and am trying to do the boss encounter Bane . Tried it several times and can't do it . Looking at advice it says its best to level up to 14 before attempting it . That is fine I am happy to do that but apart from a level 1 quest to explore Metropolis I can't find any other quests I can do apart from a pvp one that I've tried to do buy cant complete because I have to kill 5 heroes and there doesn't seem to be anyone playing . OK I decide to do alerts but no ones doing them so I seem to be running around all over the maps with nothing to do and no way to level . 

On top of that when I type something in the looking for a group channel it doesn't see to work no writing comes up and I cant see anyone speaking in any of the chat channels . 

Would be greatful for some advice .