Range of Area of Effect?

A spell says that it affects "target foe and all foes in the area" or "target foe and all nearby foes." Just how far is "in the area" and "nearby" from your target? From experience with Guild Wars, I take it these do not mean the same thing.

Is there some point of reference that would be useful for measurements like this? The aggro bubble/radar for instance?

Thanks in advance.

Extensive testing of the range of spell effects has been done by community members.

This link is the one I use to determine the size of spell areas:

http://forums.gwonline.net/showthrea...ighlight=Range

The reference used for this testing is a "Unit" equivalent to the width of a single toon, thus avoiding the relative terms of "half a ward" and such.

Also the skill terminology list got some, but its not always accurate
http://manual.guildwars.com/other/glossary.html