I got to thinking about this on my drive into work this morning... (A sure sign that I'm playing WAY too much EQ!)... where do you leave your toons? I tend to keep mine at the bank in their *home town* so that if I need to move something from one character to another it's not a hassle. Unless of course I'm on an extended quest or hunting expedition in which case I just camp somewhere safe in whatever zone I happen to be in. Nothin like *waking up and having something RED chewing on you from the git-go!
Anyway, it seems to me that once you get up there into the upper levels you are less tied to that starting location by the need for training etc.
Soooo, do you even need a home base or is it just convenient for knowing stuff like the location of your favorite merchants and where the oven or brew barrel are.
And if they've been bad to you put them in a really awful place?