Having issues setting player attributes using temporary variables

[aeasone]

Currently i have it set for players to refresh their attributes on join, and i have a separate line with the scale variable working:

set player's scale attribute to product(arg-1,{_cm.mod})

but when i sub the attribute name for a preset variable (which is a list of the valid attributes), it will log the change correctly, but the player attributes in game will not change.

on join:
    set {_s} to {species.%player%}
    loop {species.attributes::*}:
        set {_a} to loop-value
        send "%{_a}%"
        set player's {_a} attribute to {species.attribute.%{_a}%.%{_s}%}
        log "%{_a}%: %{species.attribute.%{_a}%.%{_s}%}%" in "dev/var/species/feature/attributes/%UUID of the player%"
    log "----------------" in "dev/var/species/feature/attributes/%UUID of the player%"

current list for {species.attributes::*} is:

    add "armor" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "armor toughness" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "attack damage" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "attack knockback" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "attack speed" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "block interaction range" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "burning time" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "entity interaction range" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "explosion knockback resistance" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "fall damage multiplier" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "gravity" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "jump strength" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "knockback resistance" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "luck" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "max health" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "mining efficiency" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "movement efficiency" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "movement speed" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "oxygen bonus" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "safe fall distance" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "sneaking speed" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "step height" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "submerged mining speed" to {species.attributes::*}
    add "water movement" to {species.attributes::*}