I don't think people who play status games are worse off than people who don't.
you can get a lot out of playing them well.
it's easy to convince someone to work for you if they think that everyone wants to work for you.
easy to convince someone to give you money for something if they see that everyone else is.
easier to go from 1000 followers to 10,000 followers than to go from 0 to 100.
but you'll rarely get as much out of playing status games as people who didn't play them.
do the real work, and let it speak for itself.