Let me see if I don't miss anything, without the quotes something might get lost in the middle.
About: "Everything in society is "made up-stuff": rituals, relationships, bonds, currency, etc"
If you go a nihilistic way... Yes, everything is made up .
Not nihilistic at all, it's the sociological approach. Society is built out of intersubjective negotiations between society members, plus the heritage they receive from the past. That's why societies can be so different in different places, because all is open to negotiation and made up by that social group along history (not saying all can be negotiated at every moment, that would depend on legitimacy).
About: "So, saying power structures are "made up-stuff" is like saying nothing at all."
Can you explain? I would clearly say, that NOT BEVELING IN EVE ONLINE POWER STRUCTURES doesnt equal "is like saying nothing at all." Or in shorter terms: Power structures in EVE are "made up-stuff"≠ saying nothing at all. So I would reword it to: "So, saying power structures in EVE are "made up-stuff" is like saying ......" I hope I have made my "Can you explain?" a litlle more clear.
Yes, saying "power structures are made up-stuff" is like saying "white is white", adds nothing to the meaning of the argument. Reason is because everything is made up in society by social negotiations, be it gender differences, the treatment of aging, social practices, ideals, laws... everything is a product of social interaction within the structures that same social interaction creates (structures which, in turn, condition and modify those same interactions in a two-way direction process).
There's a lot of work on this in sociology and it's hard to explain in a short way enough for a forum post. I'm leaving dozens of things outside, and simplifying infinitely those I said, so take them with an extra grain of salt.
But back to the topic. I would like to think, that Im just a half ass nihilist. So I see a different between the "made up-stuff" in the Real world and the "made up-stuff" in EVE is huge. So huge, that I can say: I dont play along or "made up-stuff", and it isnt a threat to my life (Were you in the RL will hit one day a wall, or being a jail visitor or even dead).
Sure, that is right, but not because one things are more "made up" than the others. The difference lies in power: your boss has power over you, or a law, and you can't just say you don't believe in it because it's made up and ignore it. You can become an antisystem and fight/modify the system, but that indeed means you have to acknowledge it. EVE doesn't have power over you, you can always log off, ignore it, cancel the account, make an alt, etc. thus it can coerce you into accepting it in a much lower degree, only via reputation and social acceptance.
Do note that, when I say it's "made up stuff" I don't mean that they are not real. "Made up stuff" is very real in society because humans don't live in the "real world" but in their perception of this real world, and this perception includes those "made up things" as "real things".
As for our societies we have made those "power structures" along of necessity: To moderate conflicts. In EVE this conflicts exist only in a limited way. Example, you cant die. A lot of "made up-stuff" stuff in our real word is made around the idea, that we dont wanna die (we selfish people ). All moderation and conflict solving institutions are mostly around this notion (nicely show by D. North). This isnt the case for EVE (in EVE made up shit exist for the sake of having make up shit ). So No, it wouldnt be like going to boss/president/police officer/fireman/teacher etc.... and saying Im not below of them.... next thingy... As this conflict solving institution are saving our lifes (could also take our life), we have a fail save in them: Check and balance, monitoring, competition, etc.... This makes me first "not bellow", it makes me a consumer/seeker. Which moderates HIS OWN CONFLICTS thru this institutions (As for me Im such a rent-seeker on this, that I even dont fuck with people I dont like. It is the job of my lawer . Im such a selfish person, which uses "made up" stuff for its own benefit. And their is next problem in EVE, I cant rent-seek my conflicts in EVE-online. Wouldnt be great to have PIE or someone else fight my fight against Eterne? Or having a Public Prosecutor fighting for conflict problems (theft, murder); and that even for free ).
Power structures are not made to moderate conflicts, in fact they often are the source of conflicts in themselves (take the class struggle Marx speaks of, for example, or the elite theory of Pareto or Veblen). Power structures exist because people want to dominate other people, get better ressources, have better women, etc. Structures and systems are created and offer social goods, such as protection, transparecy, monitoring, etc. as a method of legitimizing themselves and the rule of those and power.
But I go to far away... so lets get back to your: " is like going to your real world teacher/boss/president and saying you are not bellow them because it's "made up-stuff"." So first I would change some stuff: "is like going to your real world teacher/boss/president and saying you are NOT PART OF because it's "made up-stuff"." So first as you can see, I wouldnt work a below and above arrangement. And why would I? Even they - teacher/boss etc... - are consumers of safety, of this collective good. So NO ABOVE AND BELOW. Secondly, now that we have not this ABOVE and BELOW arrangement in the REAL WORLD. We can say, that the real choice is between being a part of the "made up" stuff or not. And this choice is easy for me, Im so selfish; that I of course choice to be part of the "made up" stuff (I will would even say, almost all of the made-up stuff is better as anarchy.).
That is a very anarcho-capitalist way of approaching things, but only masks the fact that there are inequalities in power. You are not your boss' client, on the contrary, you are a labor producer in his hand, he has power in his hand over you: he can fire you and replace you, thus leaving you with no income; if you can easily search for another job, his power over you will be small, but if there are difficulties in finding a job his power may be great. You can choose not to be a part of the social system, but only to a minor extent, and usually requires leaving the social system one way or another: moving to other country, going to live on your own in the wilderness, becoming a homeless or some other social minority, etc. If you want to remain with the social group, you have to be a part of it, accepting to some degree the norms and negotiations of that group as a whole, like it or not.
So, as long you, PIE, havent the level of conflict moderation (saving my life) and the same level of possible consumption (rent-seeking conflict moderation) I will and can say Im not a part of the made-up stuff . And my selfish ass doesnt looses something; because those "power structures", aka Institutions in EVE, arent the same as in the real world.
Actually, as long as you play EVE, you'll be part of the made-up stuff one way or another, because it's ingrained inside of EVE. You can look for another corp, which will have other made up stuff, or you can go and build your own corp (the similair thing to leaving the country or going homeless). But you'll still have to accept lots of made up stuff if you interact with others who do accept it: you can't say your a space elf, you can't say I'm above Graelyn, you can't say the Empress is a man, etc. Social conventions, even if they are made up, become social facts (not sure how to translate Durkheim's term), and thus become a coercion over those that want to interact in that system.
I think I'm going to make a post with all this in my sociology blog.