I think it would be fun to have special match types available, like an all Light Mech match or an all Assault Mech match. You could have a separate queue for these events. If you keep the number of concurrent special matches low, this shouldn't draw off too many people from the QP queue. Also, that should help the queue fill up fairly quickly. Advertising in advance could also help the queue times be short, as would making these occur like 1 day per month.
I once saw a video posted by someone who had a private match where they had nothing but lights, and it looked like a blast! Here are some other types that might be fun:
- No guided missiles
- Only guided missiles
- Lasers only
- Ballistic only
- 8v8
- 16v16
Just a thought about how to change things up a bit. Keeping things fresh avoids the same old, boring (to some) matches. Me, I try to do that by using different mechs with different weapons. I even tried sniping lately...without much success (so, I guess that makes it a skill).