@tiredewok, I might be a bit belated, but most folks are friendly and helpful, especially if you're open about being new (default really is to assume someone's return-ing from a who-knows-how-long-hiatus).
Pernworld's wiki has this page on what Technology and society changes have happened in the game since it's set post-All the Weyrs of Pern and AIVAS and all that: http://pernworld.wikidot.com/theme
Knowing some basics is also helpful. Most the population lives in Holds (traditional agrarian, pretty feudal setup even with leaders that are called Lord Holders).
2nd largest subset of society would be the Crafters, that have their main Hall where most are trained, although crafters can also be posted at Holds and Weyrs as well. The Weyrs would probably be the smallest population although that's where most the RP happens (it's Dragonriders of Pern so most people do end up playing as Dragonriders).
Weyrs were structured with the support and care of dragons since they were the one thing saving the planet deadly space rain falling down on the planet for decades every 200 years or so. Thread's no longer a thing, so dragonriders have gotten resourceful in what they do to support themselves now, but they are also bounded to giant, intelligent, telepathic, teleporting dragons so there's a lot of possibilities in what they can do.