Yes that’s right. We are about to make a change this week where no node will ever be turned down. Although some may not be connectable from other nodes they can connect. So it’s an issue if they became Elders, but any node can be an Adult, they just need to to make sure an always be connected to their Elders.
This will allow 100% participation connectivity wise. Right now this cannot be Elder restriction is not in place, but will be in next iteration.
If a node is on for a while and prevented form being an Elder then it’s owner will be earning nicely. IF they have no direct connection or IGD/UpNP etc. then they can manually port forward. That is a small hassle but at that stage of earning, it won’t be an issue I reckon. Not doing that means you keep earning though.
I think this breakthrough is vital, to have 100% participation to me is really important.
tl;dr if this network keeps splitting it will likely fail in weird ways, but that is cool. The fix is simple and will allow 100% participation. Those poor kids in poor countries are gonna get a chance here.