Part 2 of the example! Here, I've added four more spotlights, each pointing in the right direction, but forming a cross with 1 foot long diagonals. The light intensity has been evenly distributed between the fice lights. Notice the softer spot and the softer margin of the unlit region. Of course, the effect is very subtle here, but I guess with more lights and a larger array diameter, one could create really smooth lighting here. The problem, as maclean mentioned, is that many lights will need a lot of render time. The setup was actually easier to do than I thought. A square is parented to the central light, and the additional lights are parented to that square.

-- I'm not mad at you, just Westphalian.