If your dearest friend would call you up after 30 years, would he still be your dearest friend, or just a nice person, or even less...?
Everything decays, up to a certain degree. I think we first have to see what it does, but I don't consider it a biggy.
I was wondering if the merits (for the powers indeed, not the reputation) was still degrading while offline (instead of degrading while you're online and not working for a power). But I'll probably have to ask again when people have downloaded and tested the game