The PROBLEM is that the supposed characteristic conflates a bunch of things that are absolutely not inherent to a person, but rather are situational.
Rinku says "normal people, rich & famous, and unsophisticated". Except it isn't that. Because it has nothing to do with how much money you have or how sophisticated you are. You can spend 25 years as a corporate executive or financial broker and still be "lower class" (because there's no SOC modifiers possible from those careers, except +1 if you make Rank 6 as corporate citizen).
It's not how charming you are, because it specifically isn't that. It's not how nicely you are dressed or what your bank balance is, because that changes all the time. It's not your gear or your servants, because you don't necessarily have them.
It's saying that you are intrinsically more or less influential everywhere in human space because of your innate social status. You and your buddy step off the tramp trader onto a new world in your work uniforms and folks will recognize your superior breeding and treat you better than him because you have a SOC 9 and he is only SOC 8. If it was your social acumen, that might make sense. But it isn't. And if you say "well, that's clearly a situation where it isn't the right stat to use, well, then when is it? If it is that niche, why is it worth putting in the same mechanics category as your Int or END?
And, no, I don't want stats to be tied explicitly to Abilities. But I want stats to be things that are intrinsic to the character and broadly applicable in a way that makes sense.
Rinku says "normal people, rich & famous, and unsophisticated". Except it isn't that. Because it has nothing to do with how much money you have or how sophisticated you are. You can spend 25 years as a corporate executive or financial broker and still be "lower class" (because there's no SOC modifiers possible from those careers, except +1 if you make Rank 6 as corporate citizen).
It's not how charming you are, because it specifically isn't that. It's not how nicely you are dressed or what your bank balance is, because that changes all the time. It's not your gear or your servants, because you don't necessarily have them.
It's saying that you are intrinsically more or less influential everywhere in human space because of your innate social status. You and your buddy step off the tramp trader onto a new world in your work uniforms and folks will recognize your superior breeding and treat you better than him because you have a SOC 9 and he is only SOC 8. If it was your social acumen, that might make sense. But it isn't. And if you say "well, that's clearly a situation where it isn't the right stat to use, well, then when is it? If it is that niche, why is it worth putting in the same mechanics category as your Int or END?
And, no, I don't want stats to be tied explicitly to Abilities. But I want stats to be things that are intrinsic to the character and broadly applicable in a way that makes sense.
