One of the things that WoW uses in it's simplest form is the "hardcore quests" (or high-level quests). Adventures targeted to high-level characters, usually requiring special equipment (which means raiding again and again dungeons to get it).
But for me that's not a "hardcore quest", is just a hard-difficult quest. The difference is that a "hard quest" can be just a simple "kill all of them" with high-level monsters, while a hardcore quest is one that puts the intelligence of the adventurers to test, as well as their skills and combat habilities.
For example, in Eye of the Beholder there was a level plagued with teleporters. The map was apparently simple, but you were teleported (and switched direction for further disorientation) from one part to another.
In Berks Worlds, there were just a few "hardcore elements", and still quite simple: Get some runes to be able to access the boss chamber, hidden passages in some dungeons.
But all of this is changing. With the latest patch, some new dungeons are in place and being polished. Dungeons not only for high-level players, but with hardcore quests, true "RPG" quests.
I can't tell you details, but one dungeon is going to be specially hard. Very very hard to finish. With lots of smaller quests that will give you access not only to new sections of the dungeon, but to lore about the creatures that inhabit it.
And not only that... the server is getting some non-dungeon quests. Without giving details }:) There will be some very very hard-to-find-and-complete quests, really hidden and hard to resolve...
Things like "dice rolls" for dexterity, environment-aware objects (to allow complex interactions), advanced enemies (with complex patterns and uncommon properties and skills)...
Amazing things that I haven't seen in other Ultima Online Shards... But things that I've always wanted to see in Computer RPGs.