Even burn/light

Nah, you're not missing anything. Just use your tamper to gently herd the outer ring of tobacco toward the ember in the middle. If nothing more, you'll catch that tobacco on the re-light.

Still pretty new to this, but it has been my experience that it takes a lot of maintenance with a tamper, ideally one that is canted, to keep the whole top of the pack evenly lit. I have settled for getting the inner 2/3s of the pack lit during the true light and then let it go down the middle. If I try to tamp the tobacco around the edge in with my flat-faced tamper, I usually just end up over tamping this edge tobacco so that it is even harder to get it to burn on the relight. Usually after the ember has dropped to 1/3 to 1/2 way down the pack, the pipe will go out as the tobacco at this depth is less dense and the ash above starts to choke it off.
Once it goes out, I won't dump the ash, as then I will have a V-shaped depression in my pack. If this happens, you then have to repack the top of the tobacco to get an even surface, which can be difficult to do and not over-compact the tobacco below. Instead, I will tamp the ash in the middle as best as possible to cut off air flow to the center, and then light the edge tobacco. It is hard to get the annular tobacco to burn evenly, so I usually have to relight one or more times to get all the annular tobacco burned to the same depth as the center tobacco. Once this happens, I dump all the ash, and start over.
This is with using the 3-step method. The Frank or air pocket method probably does a better job of burning the tobacco out to the edge, as the tobacco should be denser in the center than at the edge, which should draw the ember out to edge where the air flow is higher. I like the 3-step method better though, as it gives me more control with pack density with depth.

Sometimes the uneven lit pipe tastes better. Its not as much smoke and requires the tamper swirl but it allows a nice cool burn and more flavor of the blend gets through.

After about 2 months of using my hemp wick to light my pipe, I find it helps to light the top of a bowl of tobacco without excess heat. Re-lights too are accomplished w/o fear of burning fingers if you have a deep bowl and you're getting closer to the bottom.

Hemp wick burns just like candle wick. I think it actually IS candle wick. I bought a big ole spool of the stuff for under $20.00.

My ashtray now only gets ashes. No more half burnt matches or singed fingers. There is a certain comfort in the process of lighting with a wick. No real time limit, no super heating, and a nice step in the ritual.

When smoking non flake tobacco, I prefer to use the center punch technique before lighting my pipe. Simply take your tamper pick, and gently punch a hole straight through the center of your tobacco before lighting. The fire will follow the oxygen flow, giving you a center burn, similar to the burn that flake tobacco provides.
The reasons I prefer this method, are that it barely keeps the pipe lit, which provides maximum flavor, and it also tends to protect the rim and outside walls from too much heat exposure.

I like a nice, even all over char. I pay attention to the flame as I float it looking for an even burn. A gentle tamp and turn with the finger, reapply the flame and I'm smoking.

I noticed the other day I have this happen with Dunhill Elizabethon Mixture. No matter how I go about it it ends up burning in the center. I'll have to investigate this matter further now!

Even light? No such thing ever happened to me, especially in Arkansas where the humidity is 90% 8 months out of the year. Nope, never experienced a "fine white ash" either.

Have to have the right tobacco for "fine white ash." Kind of sad noone ever mentions the "fine grey ash," because it's just as good.

I've recently started to do it in this order, and I'm getting almost perfectly even lights (at the expense of some 'waste' of tobacco)
I tamp the fresh bowl, not too tight. Then light the top with a match as you normally would, but with deep huffs. I then tamp it down while still deeply huffing. Tobacco will now stay lit in a way where the red-hot chunk will spread horizontally instead of going deep down.
Also, I make sure that the tobacco airs for 10-15 minutes, I think that matters a lot as well

I've observed that an even light, helps with no relights. Also, some tobaccos do not want to light evenly. 1792 Flake and SG Chocolate Flake come to mind, relight heaven.

Unlike a cigar, you don't want the entire surface cherry red (or I don't want it anyways, I cannot speak for others). But, you do not get the flavors from the actual combustion of the tobacco, you get it from the surrounding warmed tobacco that emits its essential oils into the smoke. Even on a cigar, it is the tobacco just behind that cherry that gives you the flavor. But, in a pipe it is all around the cherry that emits the flavors. Also, by keeping the cherry small in the center of the bowl, you increase the caking of your pipes, which is a negative to me.

Side note: I suck at keeping flakes lit.