I took a character I previously created solely for the purpose of testing a basic movement mechanic. That viking has not gathered anything, crafted anything, interacted with anything. He has just moved a few meters in one direction or another.

I created a new world for him and started the game. Once I pressed the Start button, the screen went black except for the cursor and the word "Loading..." in the lower right quadrant. Then the screen dissolved to the initial spawn point for a game with the viking facing the center monolith and Hugn off slightly to the left.

No scrolling text about Odin, no gigantic raven with a viking in his claws flying over a world.

A new world is created during that initial screen, black except for the cursor and "Loading...".

magic moose's workaround is the method I would use. Karsul's suggestion should also work but I don't like the idea of permanently altering the program to gain a trivial advantage over the workaround.