There are quite a lot of people who register to the tournament and then aren't able to play the tournament for whatever reason, so they are sitting out. Also keep in mind that it's very common and good strategy to play tight in a 10 seat tournament folding 20 hands in a row isn't that uncommon. I agree that it's sometimes quite boring to watch people fold around in no limit holdem tournaments, that's why I suggested earlier to have Pot limit omaha tournaments added to the schedule, PLO has way more action and is imo much more fun game than No limit holdem.
This. Although, folding 20 hands in a row is tight for even the nittiest of nits. I would say those people are just sitting out of the game.
Poker is a very popular game, but it's not for everybody. Purely for fun, PLO is a much better game.