I did this once at the start of a mid-level campaign and it worked extremely well. All of the players had ideas of where to go and whom to talk with after the beginning scene. They even argued, in character, about what to do next.Ed Greenwood said:
That's the key: enough information. You have to fill the page with facts and figures so that the one critical piece of information isn't blatantly obvious.
I tend to prefer the "exposition in the course of play" approach. I find stuff is more likely to be remembered that way.
For what it's worth, I've found that's a separate issue. I have a player that's devoured every line of handouts, but can't remember which priest in town is named what.
Yeah, that's my approach too and still the remembering rarely happens. I suspect it has more to do with each player's random access memory being used for other things. I swear one knows every episode of Doctor Who.
