im on the free version but cant seem to change the area i start my character in. i thought i remember when i made my first character there were other options?

No, everyone starts in Korthos village. Then you move onto the Harbour.

Depending on when you played... they changed the storylines and some of the quests when they changed to forgotten realms. They were different at launch.  But that was a while ago.  They never had "options" though for it.  You always followed the games progression.