I find it completely sad. (Questing)

[Vespar]

Snip

And that's okay. But it may just be your personal preference. I kinda like spending my spare time reading articles or forum entries the devs post when I cant be near my main PC.
It adds depth to me. I would be perfectly fine with the information being put in game as well. Sometimes that just not possible, but its awesome that they try to give us that info, even if its through another medium.

But as for the information presented Solely in game, I think its great. It does require the player to read and interact with NPC's to sift it out but a good chunk of what you were asking about is there via NPC or quest dialogue^^