I may be old fashioned, but I love to start in a tavern. It’s a place that can have a lot of npcs hanging around that can be introduced and then reappear later in the adventure.
Usually I prefer to start with the party already formed, or have the characters have a connection between each other from before the start of the adventure. Imo it speeds up the initial stages of the game and gives everyone a preexisting reason to be in the party.
I had some pain in the past with players that didn’t want to find a reason for their character to join the party, and asking them to have one as a prerequisite can help to filter too mich edginess from the scene.
I also like to start with combat or some other dangerous situation. I start with some talking and a breef introduction to the aim of the adventure, then have something unexpected interrupt the talking, a fight, then back to the talking.
Tim_Eagon