I don't understand the distinction you are making between A and B. It seems to me that in both A and B, the same number of monsters get added to TA, just on different blocks.
> We have cleared several squares since the invasion started, and I have not noticed a difference in the quantity or frequency of invaders.
This is exactly what I believe my research has shown. There won't
be
a difference unless there is some event triggers or army thresholds built into the game at which the invasion rate changes or stops.
> A) A predetermined quantity of invaders are dispensed randomly among invadable squares.
Do you mean predetermined as in "1000 per day", or something else? Personally, I'm with Occam's Razor on this one. The following are invader counts for 23 sample invasions that I observed during my research. The exclaimation mark indicates they maxed-out a block.
2, 3, 5, 4, 6, 1!+1, 3!+1!, 2, 3, 4, 4, 2+1!, 4, 4, 5+1!, 5, 4+1!, 1!+5, 2, 6, 4, 1!+1!+1!+1!+1, 4
Size 2: 4 times
Size 3: 3 times
Size 4: 8 times
Size 5: 4 times
Size 6: 4 times
If it's predetermined, it's needlessly complicated, cause it sure seems random to me!
> If A is true - then we will always have a similar number of invaders regrardless of how many occupied blocks remain. If this were true, then as we clear more squares the number of invaders would increase.
Is the second sentence supposed to read "the number of invaders PER block would increase"? Otherwise, it seems to contradict your first sentence.
> B) A random number of invaders (2-6) are dumped on random invadable squares at regular intervals.
> If B is true - then decreasing the number of invadable squares will have an effect on the number of invaders we are forced to clear.
I don't understand this conclusion either. Do you mean "per day" again, or something? The fewer invadable blocks there are, the more monsters each block will get, on average, over time.
In my opinion, this is how it works:
1. The computer decides if an invasion will happen this minute (which seems to be about a 20-25% chance).
2. Once an invasion IS happening, it chooses the number of invaders (approximately 2-6, usually 4).
3. Then it chooses a block and adds the invaders up to the max capacity of the block.
4. If there are still invaders remaining, go back to step 3.
If we have any provable theories to try out (ie. patrolling the front lines decreases the number of invasions, or clearing the 500k blocks may trigger something good), I suggest we formulate them and prove or disprove them to keep our footing on solid ground as much as possible. Personally, I won't be blindly working away based on assumptions any longer. While I don't LIKE what my study is suggesting (that nothing we do is going to make any difference to the invasion rate), I certainly prefer making my decisions based on conclusions drawn from carefully observed phenomena as distinct from conjecture and superstition!
Sandy