Again, a lot of people who didn't live on the Vale would probably disagree! Obviously there is the differences in travelling to uni, as people there may choose to opt for the train or bus to speed things up, but it can easily be argued that they have a better community feel.
It's certainly detrimental to imply people need to live on the Vale in their first year, as this can foster panic when the majority of first years aren't actually placed there (obviously not all opt for it anyway).
As I've already mentioned, QHC suffers a bit due to being a mixed university accommodation, but the other off UoB halls not on the Vale (or Pritchatts etc) it is not so. In the same way the halls on the Vale have a residents association who put on events that you've just mentioned, so do the non Vale halls. As well as this, the community atmosphere tends to be more close-knit given you're not just a face in a crowd of thousands.
Obviously I'm not saying that you're wrong in feeling you had a good experience on the Vale, but its important to point out that this feeling is pretty reliant on you having lived there.
When it comes to finding coursemates in these smaller halls, of course its "less likely" that you'll come into contact with them immediately, but its pretty much certain that there are a good number there as well (unless you're on a very small course). I know some halls managed to get people of similar courses talking before they had moved in, so there really is no issue with this.