I would argue that 333, 522 and 900 *are* distinguishable (although they share common characteristics) in that with an event happening on every beat the first "every beat is a throw", the second "1 throw, two hold beats" and the third is "1 throw, two empty hand beats"
I don't really buy the argument that "they're the same pattern with different timeslice resolutions" because as you say, siteswap says nothing about timing, only order.
522 for example gives you the opportunity to do something with those twos (so many "active two" options) which aren't possible to accommodate within the 333 throw order.
900 gives you the opportunity to do something with your empty hands (eg snap your fingers) which it's not possible to accommodate within the 333 or 522 orders.
So while I agree wholeheartedly with your intentions, I think you picked a poor example to illustrate it with :)
by Little Paul, in response to this post 2015-11-06 14:11:00