Quick note: I'm not sure if this has been suggested before, or if it has already been implemented. It may have been. If so, feel free to ignore whatever I'm about to say.
I've been seeing pleas/suggestions on this forum, and the official WoW forum to "bring back World PvP" since TBC. And I'm definitely one of those people who would love to see it in it's full glory again. But I'm not really convinced it's every going to happen.
World PvP back in vanilla was a kind of emergent game play. It didn't happen because it was encouraged. It just happened. People found it fun and new so they just did it whenever they could. These days though, they're catering to a different audience. People want tangible rewards for going to the effort/taking the risk of killing another player.
So why can't they implement those kinds of rewards similar to how they would in PvE?
People raid for loot. And content, but after those initial few go-arounds, it's definitely the loot that brings the back. So why not introduce loot into PvP? Why can't players drop gold? Not their own gold, but generated gold? Or occasionally drop an item appropriate to their level?
And similarly, why can't there be 'bosses' in towns? I think it'd be great if Goldshire had a 'mayor', the equivalent of a miniature raid boss, who would drop some kind of PvP loot. Or maybe raiding the SW/Org bank would allow players to loot a significant amount of gold? That'd give a really fun alternative to gather/working the AH, professions. Just rob a bank instead.
None of it would be instanced. The challenge comes in completing the task when faced with guards, mini bosses and more importantly, other players. It be like a CTF battleground, but much more relatable (I bet not a lot of players even know why they are in AB anymore).
I'd really love to hear people's thoughts on this.