Players characters evading direct questions

[Quertus]

I'd phrase that much stronger. A group of twelve players, in tabletop, is doomed, full stop. A group that large will not function.

You might be able to get a 12-player group to function for a one-shot or a convention game. No, I would never run a long-term campaign for that many players.

Of course, it may have only been a 12-character group, with some players playing multiple characters or including NPCs accompanying the player characters.

12+ players, 30+ characters - that’s my jam! That’s one of the best ways to play D&D, IME.

Of course... this still doesn't address the initial thrust of this thread, which was less to complain about my specific players, but to ask why so many players, both in and outside of my group, refuse to just answer a direct question from an NPC!?!?!?!

This still doesn't explain why they won't just answer a direct question.

It might be wise, if you actually just want an answer to such a question, a) to only post the question, not the contextual example; b) to read, respond to, and internalize responses to the core question; c) to make posts summarizing these responses, rather than a “only solution a railroad GM will accept”-approved post of, “so are we all agreed that, in this case, we’re looking at X?”.

Senility willing, I’ll dig through this thread and re-post at least my own answers to the purported thread topic.