Originally posted by Mharr:

Are the workbench ranges spherical rather than vertical cylinders? The latter is faster, simpler to code and easier to parse for players. Odd decision.

No idea, I guessed at the sphere. Seems like it would fit in with the merchant bubble. But now that I think it out loud I feel like i remember reading (somewhere) that the merchant "bubble" was actually a cylinder.

I have no citations.