I received this anonymously : http://killstring.blogspot.ca/2016/06/table-for-one-party-of-twelve-large.html
Reading through it, I would say I agree that in larger groups the middle chemistry is gone. This is of course further exasperated by my telling folks to cram the cross talk.
Last session was the first session I watchd through and what I realized is that I quashed the life of the adventure. Everyone had a moment, but as the article states, that percentile gets really low.
Do I have too many players? Is it much ado about nothing? I wonder, and I hold true to my philosophy: The group engineers itself.
If the answer is to lose players, folks will leave. If the answer is to bandy up into micro parties, then so be it, new challenge for the DM.
Having played with a table of 12, I would say under the right circumstances, it can work, but it's no number for a normal party. Having a regular group of 7 right now, I wonder if folks will grow together or become confrontational. Only time will really tell there.
Maybe I should split the group into two separate games and run a Saturday and a Friday stream.
Food for thought. Good article. Thanks; whoever sent it.