What WOW needs is a betting system. Probably the easiest to implement would be one that would allow players to wager on the outcome of their duels. Right now when one duels, the winner gets nothing more than the ephemeral satisfaction of having won. And presumably adding a wager system would still allow people to duel for fun, or make a miniscule wager of a single copper piece. But for people who prefer higher stakes or have a firm belief in their ability and their gear, being able to offer a duel and say “I’ll bet you 10 gold I can beat you” and have a system that prevents the loser from welshing on the deal would be nothing short of fantastic. Even better would be a system in which other people could wager on a duel between two other players, though this would be more difficult to implement, I would imagine. Perhaps duel won-lost records could be kept and successful duelers could enter competitions. With the ability to put some money on the outcome, imagine watching and participating in duels in Gurubashi Arena or in the center of Gadgetzan. You could have a whole new system of PVP rankings. Gladiatorial combat in WOW with money changing hands in wagers. Oh, yeah.
My first inclination (like you probably) was that if people other than the participants are allowed to wager on duels, this will lead to rampant cheating and problems with goldfarming through wagering on fixed fights. My friend who suggested that aspect of the idea, however, thinks that it could be kept under control in the same way that ninja looting is kept under control; that is to say, do it but once or twice and everyone will know not to bet on your fights. Your reputation will suffer so that no one will play with you any longer. I’m not fully convinced that’s feasible, but I’m open to the idea since that would be even cooler.
Neh 