AKA: Why do bar-style nameplates (whether from Aloft or even just Blizzard native bar-style nameplates) only become visible for a unit when I am within 15 yards of that unit (or 40 yards, in WoW 3.3 and later)?

This seems to be a "hardcoded" Blizzard limitation.

There is currently no way for the user or any addon to control nameplate display range. Aloft takes over management of bar-style nameplates when they become visible (i.e. switch from text-style to bar-style), but has no control over how/when they become visible.

Please feel free to file a suggestion with Blizzard about this (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/bo...?forumId=11122).