Stage 6 Node Corruption
Alright I expect this to get spicy if people read it.
So I had a random thought after reading some comments regarding mega guilds, and just big guilds controlling end game content and I had a sort of light bulb moment that could sort of help with this, but its actually mostly about promoting a changing world and preventing any server from becoming too stagnant due to any 1 of the stage 6 nodes simply being too powerful due to being either too fortified with massive alliances, the most skilled players maintaining them, just an overall difference in power balance between players, etc.
First I will say that the main goal SHOULD be for players to conflict with each other, bring down and raising up nodes through natural gameplay. This is the most ideal and intended way things should evolve on any server.
However, sometimes things may not work out that way, so to insure that these sorts of things do happen, I propose STAGE 6 NODE CORRUPTION!
Its obviously a take away from player corruption, but it would more or less be caused by a stage 6 node not being sieged successfully for a certain amount of time. I would say that it should be a substantial amount of time, literally 3 to 6 months minimum, before corruption could even become active, and I would even also recommend having a required amount of attempted sieges against the node as well, maybe 10, dependent on how easily or often sieges can be done. The corruption gains would be based on more time as a stage 6 node after its initial corruption activating, and increase with each siege it succeeds against after the initial corruption. In lore it could be based off of corruption following prolonged power in long established nodes, corrupting the system within.
What would Stage 6 Node Corruption do? Destroy the node? NO! That's just lazy design. Weaken the node? ALSO NO! That makes being a level 6 node eventually a bad thing. I merely suggest that as time goes on for a corrupted stage 6 node, sieges against it cost less and less resources to activate, as well as perhaps more monster attacks happening. So while the defending node will still be very capable and their skill set wont be affected, the outmatched attackers would at least be able to make more attempts against them as time goes on. I would say to make a cap on how low the siege cost can go as well, but make it relatively cheap compared to the original cost once it hits that cap.
While it doesn't guarantee a successful siege, because it shouldn't, it can guarantee a plethora of events, a solid mechanic to make an exceedingly powerful node to receive a bit more difficulty to match that power, and it encourages making the world change and evolve instead of remain the same once the initial powers settle in and advance to endgame.
