All this talk of "you don't have to do this or that" is absurd. The adventure pretty clearly instructs the DM to prod the PCs into certain actions, whether through NPC interactions, leading circumstances, or flat-out blocking the paths that actually make sense. It punishes (or withholds rewards from) players for being sensible in many cases. Instead of role-playing and trying to do what smart adventurers would do, my group eventually started meta-guessing what the module wanted just so we could get through the stupider encounters. I'm sad to say, it worked.
That's not fun, it's not what D&D is supposed to be, and it's a bad way to introduce people to the game.
That's not fun, it's not what D&D is supposed to be, and it's a bad way to introduce people to the game.