Yeah, I'd love to see this. I think there's no good way to make them part of the normal progression, and I worry about the issues with who gets to tag it first. So imagine a world boss that's a bit different -- more on the order of the Brewfest Dark Iron attacks:

You're chilling at the AH when a /yell comes out: "Citizens of Stormwind! The village of Goldshire is under attack by minions of Deathwing! Your king requires your assistance in its defense!" So you mount up and head to Goldshire, where a big 'ol black dragon is burning up the place.

Everyone can pitch in. It's the kind of fight that doesn't require a raid group or tight organization, but it does require a certain amount of participation; there's no guarantee that you'll take him down. Maybe it's a 50/50 chance. Characters die sometimes -- he attacks semi-randomly -- but you can zerg him too. The fight lasts for about 15 minutes. If everyone collectively does enough, you take him down and receive the gratitude of the king.

Everyone who was in combat with the big guy -- damaged him, or healed someone who did -- gets a reward. (Either loot the body or be rewarded by the king, who shows up to say thanks.) You get something similar to the [Satchel of Helpful Goods], with material tuned to your level. Plus, there's a chance for some nice drops. For example -- if you did this today, a level 80 toon would definitely get something like a few gems or a couple potions. But you also have a chance for more -- maybe 10% for a Runed Orb, and a very small chance for a BoE epic or a mount.

It's not quite the same thing as a traditional world boss, but you'd get the same kind of OMGWTF effect, along with some fun of contributing -- even for lower levels -- and a decent reward. And it doesn't lead to the 'who tagged it first' worries or the hassles of fitting it into normal raid progression.

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