New player interested in PVE

I am interested in casual PVE and am thinking of starting a character on the TBC server. Previously I tried to level a warlock on Icecrown and was put off by the prevalence of ganking. I am all for BGs but hate wasting time getting killed over and over again in open world while trying to complete quests. How “bad” is this behavior on Outland? I was thinking of rolling Alliance but question whether negative experiences with world PvP would be less if I went Horde (due to what appears to be a faction imbalance).

Also how well are warlocks and mages coded? Are there any significant bugs that affect the comparative performance of these classes that I ought to be aware of?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Leveling as both Horde and Alliance, I have faced more deaths as a Horde character. Alliance players tend to camp more than Horde. PvE wise, you need 2200 gearscore to be eligible for Heroic Dungeons (yes, it's a thing on Outland). Overall, you will take some time from 1800 to 2200, then it becomes a bit easier since you can fit into more groups.

Significant bugs, not that I have encountered many while leveling as a warlock, but I've seen that some people were having problems with imps in the beginning.