A huge part of Vampire is its social setting. If the classic fantasy RPG setting is the dungeon, the classic Vampire setting is a party. What seems like a simple analogy is actually a fairly radical departure.
A party is an event, as opposed to a location. As an event, a party is finite, transient, even gossamer. And all the best (i.e. most socially connected) vampires will, before the conclusion of one party, move on to the next party.
You’ll be left behind if you’re not socially connected (i.e. high-level) enough. But this also gives a window to play against type and indulge in other subversive social activities. Vampires attach themselves to countercultures…
…but countercultures themselves have traditions and mores that can be flouted in the endless dance of the War of Ages. Nosferatu warrens, Gangrel things, Ravnos camps, etc. And it need not be clan-driven. What is the Sabbat but an “anti-Camarilla”?
What is a neonates' coterie but an "anti-elders" alliance of convenience, protection in numbers against the grasping talons of vampire much longer Embraced?
The important part is that, in a social framework, you still need conflict to create stories. But social conflict isn’t necessarily conquest. You can’t just reskin your attack rolls with Wits + Subterfuge and a specialization in Bon Mots.
(Well, you can, but that’s not going to give you a social framework worthy of the Damned.)
When creating a social environment, you should know what your primary actors want. Character motivation (players’ and storytellers’ characters) is the focal point of social conflict. And these don’t have to be open.
Indeed, among vampires, knowing another’s true motive is information, and information grants power. If Lucy the Neonate doesn’t know what Tjinder the Elder wants, Lucy is in a very poor negotiation position.
This is why Nature and Demeanor were two different things. Especially relevant to Vampire, what you can convince others you want is a Masquerade of sorts that can protect what you truly want, giving you leverage.
Contrast this with a classic RPG conflict: combat. In combat, one side plainly wants to defeat the other. Calling into question the obvious goal of a conflict is part of Vampire’s social domain, and also part of why vampires resort to violence as a last resort. 
If you’re undying, effectively immortal, are you really going to wear your wants on your sleeve so that others can manipulate you? Are you going to risk that (cursed…) immortality by fistfighting over petty goals?
Or are you going to adopt a veneer of civility and use it to convince others in your condition to give you what you want (preferably by convincing them that they want it, too… just in case you need backup if another Kindred tries to take it from you)?
Now, of course, there are plenty of king-hell ass-kicking vampires out there who are glad to punch others of the Damned in half, but they don’t usually last long. (And when they do, uh, give them wide berth.)
So the social space extends the metaphor from fights in a physical dungeon to decades-spanning, subtle conflicts in a venue that constantly changes, moving to where the Beautiful and Influential Monsters deem desirable.
