Wounded Coast "Unable to load area"

Playing the lastest Steam version on Windows 10, trying to enter the "Wounded Coast" area during Act 1 - Quest "Wayward Son" gives me a "Unable to load area" failure, kicking me back to where I started onto the map screen in the game world.

This may be related to the fact that the first time I tried to enter the Wounded Coast, the map move was "intercepted" by the "Blackpowder Promise" quest kicking me to "Old Man's Pass" instead.

Since not entering Wounded Coast means I can't complete "Wayward Son", this means the game is basically over before I have even really begun much of Act 1. Hugely disappointing. I have googled around a lot and found no answers. I have restarted the game, the computer, logged out of my EA account and back in, reduced the video specs, nothing helps. And in any case, I have gone to various other places in the game already, such as Sundermount, so it's not my computer that is at fault....

Any ideas what I could do? I really want to play this game...