[Cat15]

To note, Bright Darkness actually was already nerfed awhile ago so that it only reduces Holy damage while the vampire is the Vampire race. Using spirits does nullify the mitigation.

Concerning the lore, I believe that vampires having mostly neutral starting reputation is less because people are fine with vampires, and more because it's near impossible for your average person to tell the difference between a vampire and anyone else just through normal social interaction. If I were to take a guess, the lower reputation in Lispool is due to the Church Knights there being trained to spot them.

Additionally, there have been PC vampire hunting groups active, and for the most part the law's looked the other way so long as they aren't attacking suspected vampires in the middle of the street in broad daylight. If you're referring to individual characters being completely fine with vampires, PCs being exceptions to the majority of IC social norms is hardly limited to views on vampires.