Lizard said:
Really, the reason we have Color Animal Power naming is, based on previous comments by designers, to make it easier for players to find optimal builds without having to read the rules, understand them,and find patterns of powers which fit together. Instead of discovering combos organically, players just pick powers beginning with 'White Raven' (or whatever) to build their master of tactics. "No rules mastery!" is a mantra of 4e.
Speaking of baggage-laden things....
First, I really like the idea of moving away from requiring "Rules Mastery". It's what makes the game feel elitist and insular, and discourages new players from trying to play because of the seemingly daunting task of first achieving rules mastery before you can sit down and play with people who have achieved that mastery.
Second, there is a good reason to use this naming protocol that has nothing to do with your suggested motivations.
Mechanically if you use a theme in the names then you can also (
and this is important, and remains ignored so far) have additional powers/abilities/feats/spells/whatever that gives a benefit or change to all powers you have with that name in it.
So, for example, lets say you have a White Raven themed set of powers. One White Raven power lets you get +1 damage when you flank, and another White Raven power let's you give someone else a +1 attack bonus when they flank, and both have "White Raven" in the name. Now there is a feat released, "White Raven Power Boost" or whatever, that says "add +1 to any bonus granted by all of your White Raven powers". That is something easily done if you follow this naming protocol. There are other ways to do it, but this is one of the better methods in my opinion.
To demonstrate what happens when you don't do this, take the 3.5 Eberron feat "Song of the Heart". That feat says:
When you use inspire courage, inspire competence, inspire greatness, or inspire heroics, any bonus granted by your music increases by +1. Thus, a 15th-level bard with this feat grants his allies a +4 bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws against fear when he uses inspire courage, rather than the +3 he would normally grant. If he uses inspire greatness, the same bard grants up to three allies 3 bonus Hit Dice, a +3 bonus on attack rolls, and a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves.
Also, when you use fascinate, suggestion, or mass suggestion, the saving throw DC increases by 1.
If you have the Haunting Melody feat, the saving throw DC for that effect also increases by 1. If you have the Music of Growth feat, the bonus bestowed by that feat increases to +6. If you have the Music of Making feat, the bonus on Craft checks bestowed by that feat increases to +6. If you have the Soothe the Beast feat, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on your Perform check to improve the attitude of an animal or magical beast.
That's a mess of text, three paragraphs long, mostly devoted to spelling out in fine detail exactly what powers gain a benefit from this feat. And, if/when a new feat or power comes out after that book, the feat doesn't apply to them even if it probably should have given the theme.
If WOTC had instead made sure all those feats and powers and spells and such had the word "Muse" in the title (for example), then the feat could have read: "When you use a Muse power, any bonus granted by your Muse power increases by +1." Simple, elegant, covers both past and future books, and doesn't take up half a page of text.
That is something most easily done by the naming protocol, and it's got nothing at all to do with the motives you have attributed to it.
