Area Effect and Wall height

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I'm not arguing that some sort of modifier or option to adjust the height of an Area Effect effect (ow my redundancy) isn't needed and desirable, just that as per RAW, there currently isn't one, and the enhancement is specifically priced such that I don't think it's entirely a good idea to throw one in for free.[1]
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[1] It's true that in many games it's not going to be a big deal, as game events tend to take place on a "virtual" two-dimensional plane - terrain levels happen commonly, but multiple characters stacked vertically happen rarely. But in those games, the lack of vertical distance on the Area isn't going to be missed either and adding it doesn't do anything game-mechanically).

Games with lots of three dimensional movement (with lots of jumpers/fliers or swimmers, for example, or zero/low G, or even brachiators/branch-runners) would make the lack of a significant third dimension very obvious, and make the difference between

Not sure where you were going in that last paragraph, but the penultimate one notes the effect that prompted me to state that changing the proportions of the cylinder [taller and narrower], but maintaining the volume should be a feature. The owning character will usually not get in-game benefit for doing so, and likely will often encounter situations where it would have been better to leave the proportions at their default, so charging them any sort of premium seems heavy-handed.

EDIT:
I'd go with adding a 50%/level enhancement to the AE enhancement itself (if working with an ability that isn't already an AOE) or a 25%/level enhancement on the base ability (if working with an ability that IS already an AOE but you're comfortable with the default radius). If increasing the radius and height of an ability with default radius, add one 25% enhancement, and then go with enhancing the AE enhancement.

This part confuses me a little, but I gather that the bottom line is a +25% enhancer to double just the height of the cylinder, which should be right, since the volume of the cylinder increases as the square of the radius, but in direct proportion to the height.