Yes but if the syntax of /var and /set were the same, it will avoid some confusion.
Thinking back, I can't recall having any confusion about this whatsoever and I'm thinking that most don't have any confusion either. Just put the stupid = in there. What's the big deal?
~ Edit ~
Also, if you think about it, /var %var is more like describing the temporary (soft?) meaning of %var to the currently executing script, where /set %var is permanently (hard?) setting %var with the provided data. So using the equal sign with /var makes perfect sense really.
