If villages are to be destructible (and from what I read of Jorb's thoughts they will be) it would be nice if a mechanic could be worked out that allows for proper contest without forcing the players to be online at the same time.
Maybe some sort of ritual that can be started, and takes a few days, possibly up to a week to finish, and can then be interrupted by the village owners if they expend the necessary resources or defeat the guard or whatever.