I mean, I hate Plunderstorm … in its current iteration.
Having it come back two or three times a year, constantly being iterated upon, wouldn’t be a bad thing to have during quiet periods of the game, and would also be a novel way for Blizzard to bring back older transmog, mounts and pets, based on the theme.
An invasion into the Firelands could be a novel re-use of the technology, with team-based rather than free-for-all, with the players taking the roles of supporters of the Elemental Lords all fighting over the now-vacant position of the Fire Lord.
A more comical slap-fest take in a giant magical vault, with everyone thinking they’re after some powerful magical macguffinite, and instead the Mage who made the place preferred to make toys for children and had a slapstick sense of humor.
Kobolds vs Troggs vs Gnolls, a three-v-three team version in the Blasted Lands or some other area, just a no-holds barred brawl for the shinies at the center of the map.
Hot Potato, where we invert the system and instead you’re trying to hand off MacGuffinite abilities to other players, and the more you have, the stronger you become but the quicker you’re likely to explode …
The Golden Ticket, wherein one player has a MacGuffinite that makes them hostile to all other players, and the longer they hold it, the stronger they become. And the person who lands the killing blow becomes the next host to the MacGuffinite and is now being hunted down by the surviving players.
An awful implementation the first time around doesn’t necessarily mean the whole idea needs to be scrapped.