Woofers in or out?

You already summarized it.....it depends.

My high end floorstanders with their side firing woofers have their OEM manual direction to experiment both ways .....depending on speaker placement within the room, and room acoustics strengths and warts.

In an anechoic chamber it won't make a difference, but in real rooms, there is no one best answer.  You must try both ways to see which is best in your room.

I would have also started with woofers out and experiment if possible with the distance between side and rear walls... I'm also wondering if facing them toward each other would have a null effect and reduce bass?

Oddiofyl( love that name!)

That was always one of my concerns on woofers in.
Whether it actually really occurs is likely doubtful but I guess it all depends on room reflections, position of speakers etc.