What do in-game holidays do right, and what do they do wrong?

Maybe it’s just because World of Warcraft is a 14-year-old game and Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm are much newer, but it feels like WoW could definitely learn a few things from its younger siblings when it comes to in-game holiday events. I mean, Overwatch is rocking it with Halloween Terror, and yet we’re supposed to get excited about running the Headless Horseman? Again? For the exact same stuff he’s always dropped? Not even some new transmog gear — just the same rings and sword and plate hat he’s dropped for years now. I’m well and truly underwhelmed here.

Now, reliability and letting people get the stuff they missed the previous year — letting people try to get the mount or the transmog looks they didn’t get before — is a good thing, generally speaking. But I really feel like the Headless Horseman could drop some new items — maybe a mail or leather or cloth item, or a variant on his mount, or even a giant flying pumpkin that you could use as a passenger mount. I don’t know, something new. Seeing the same old stuff year in and year out just does not excite me.

Meanwhile, Halloween Terror 2018 is awash in new skins, has new characters added to the Junkenstein’s Revenge event, and is overall just more fun. Why not pop in a new boss for Hallow’s End instead of just repeating what we’ve already done? Blizzard clearly knows how to make an exciting event, so why can’t we get some of that holiday energy focused back on WoW where it could come in handy? Let’s face it, the current crop of holidays need some work to get the excitement back.

But what do you think? What holidays work in Blizzard games, and why? What would you like to see? For the ones you’re tired of — likely WoW’s — what would you change to make them better?