I wonder if some of those rituals have been rendered obsolete by improvements to the quality of components and materials.

I've been building my own wheels, since I started messing around with internal-gear hubs before they became fashionable. Today I follow the method as you describe -- aim for consistent high tension first, and then true it up. The gradual improvement of my technique seems to manifest itself, not so much in the truth of the wheels, but in greatly reduced spoke breakage.