I think “narrative” actually is a better framing in most cases than status as a partial or total order on people. I suspect that usually it’s the frame in which they’re holding themselves that creates an apparent order, “main character” versus “NPC”, or even something like “I know the truth, unlike these innocent bystanders.”
It’s an interesting conundrum because in the realm of actual PvE problem solving, sometimes there is a skill issue. But then the skill issue often gets made a forall-skills issue, and from there into a classical status issue.
I think “narrative” actually is a better framing in most cases than status as a partial or total order on people. I suspect that usually it’s the frame in which they’re holding themselves that creates an apparent order, “main character” versus “NPC”, or even something like “I know the truth, unlike these innocent bystanders.”
It’s an interesting conundrum because in the realm of actual PvE problem solving, sometimes there is a skill issue. But then the skill issue often gets made a forall-skills issue, and from there into a classical status issue.