My take on the respect vis-a-vis hieracrhy is simple: Rank matters less than your actual influence. Don't insult people you can't handle, no matter their station.
^ perfectly spoken.
My characters, all of them, try to use titles as a form of respect and announcement of plain fact.
If my character (me really), can remember someone's former highest held title, and is neutral towards or positively inclined towards them, then my character tends to use it. I've been that way since I started playing.
On one character, if I use just the first name of an individual, it is normally out of scorn and distaste. The other character is just the opposite, he uses the first names of those he is closest with.
And oddly, as different as they are in approach and goals, they are both rather instigatory and precise with their usages of titles.... I wonder why that is....
