You practically had to do it with a guild and the more skilled your guild was: the faster you got it. Not only that but you couldn't just weasel your way into a guild and then get it in a few days. The 1st to get it was always the most important character to get it and in big-enough guilds that was never the carry or the new guy.
That had the gigantic advantage of combining both skill and community; it was no longer an RNG shitfest; it wasn't enough to pay a guild and carry you if you wanted to be the 1st to get it.
And it can be easily improved, by not restricting it only to a few specs. That can even be done by stretching it across an expansion to multiple raids.
The caveat? People need to play actually an MMO. It's not welfare; it's not carrying; it's not RNG.