If we have a reputation thing, there should be positives and negatives for both sides of the spectrum. Perhaps the low reputation players have access to a black market and can buy/use cards that high reputation players can't, and vise-versa? Even quests could be different for both sides.
Last night I thought about making the reputation thing even more complex.
Reputation could consist of 13 different numbers, one per element + "other". If I do a guest for

, I would gain

reputation (and possibly lose

reputation). If I killed a

player, I would lose

reputation (and possibly gain

reputation).
If I enter

area, the NPC's react based on what my

reputation is. etc.
This system is of course not my own brilliant idea. It have been used in many games.