Absolutely. Even if something is correct down to the letter, if most people don't get it, it isn't much use. I'm with you there. My lengthy explanation was for some others in the thread who were having a bit of trouble distinguishing between the two, not so much directed at you as you seemed to understand the idea but had issue with the lack of language used to explicitly convey the difference.

The concept is one which many effects rely on, and it works as it should, so I don't see a change happening in *how* it works. It does seem to reverse the order of "replace then modify" (though it actually doesn't), and may seem weird, but it does make sense once understood. I'll definitely bring it up to the others to see if we can make it easier to understand on the first read. I believe we can find a way to leave the mechanic functionally the same while better explaining the difference in process,

I'm all for clarity and a lower learning curve, and clarity / intuitiveness are two of our major goals. A high learning curve is bad for new players, so to me, anything we can do to reduce that barrier through clearer wording while keeping the complexity that makes the game interesting is a good thing.

Bolded part is great. There's nothing wrong mechanically, so this is really great.

I can't express how impressed I am with you new orange guys. I'm serious, you all should be Blues, because now I feel like there's some hope.

And if Pulse Wave went through all this effort to make this point clear, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Pulse Wave is the only game effect I can find that tells you to use half of a Combat Value for an effect where that half of a Combat Value is not a Replacement. I consider that poor wording and counterintuitive.

I also consider that nuance.

Some really great examples! I will direct anyone who does not understand this aoe issue directly to this post.

The issue is that area of effect is new. The rulebook could probably be expanded, or clarified on, to explain how area of effects are determined and that they are different and independent of the combat values of a character once it has been determined what the area of effect is.

Pulse Wave tells you to use the character's range to determine the area of effect. However, from that point on you are no longer doing ANYTHING with the character's range. You are using area of effect to figure out who is going to get hit.

I agree with all of this except the bolded part. Yes, AoE is new, and additional clarification may be helpful, but there is nothing in the way AoE is written to indicate that AoE is "independent" of Combat Values, that is a nuance of how Pulse Wave works.
The Area of Effect for any game effect is determined by whatever that game effect says to use. No limitations need to be added to the Rulebook AoE wording, since those specifics should be provided in the effect description of the AoE.
Just because we don't have an effect that states "the Area of Effect is all characters within Range" doesn't mean we won't get one. Rewriting AoE so it is "independent" of Combat Values is unnecessary and could just cause more confusion in the future.

It is independent of combat values in that it calculates itself based on combat values sometimes, but has no effect on what the combat values are by making that calculation.

We will sit down next tournament and I will explain this all in person, maybe it will help a bit

Its already inferred in the rulebook. Area of Effect is independent of combat values. Once you determine an Area of Effect, your range no longer matters (and it might not have mattered to begin with, depending in how the Area of Effect was determined).

Look at Energy Explosion. None of your combat values matter when determining what the Area of Effect for Energy Explosion is.

You could still have an Area of Effect equal to a character's range after specifying explicitly that Area of Effect is independent of combat values.

Does this apply to everyone, or are you only going to Dairoka's venue to give a talk?

This is exactly right

Well, I'm not sure where your venue is, but Dairoka is one of the regulars at the store I play at in Jersey

Ah, dang. Illinois. Too far away. I was hoping you were planning on travelling to all of the venues teaching your lessons of math and English.

Don't worry, we can have an in person session at least once a year at Gencon

You could always come to my venue again. I'm not nearly as hostile as I come off on here.

As I read Area of Effect, the Rulebook explains what it is and how it functions, but does not detail how to determine what the AoE is. AoE, when used, is defined by the effect that is generating the AoE. If it is accurate that the AoE will be independent of a Character's Combat Values, then this should be addressed in the description of AoE in future prints, or at least warrant a Player's Guide entry.
As it stands, I see nothing in the Area of Effect Rulebook entry that states or implies "independance" from Combat Values.