Looking for suggestions for an idea I had

Hey r/minecraft. I had an idea a few months ago called 'Wooden Warriors,' which essentially consisted of a group of players getting together and trying to defeat the Ender Dragon on hard, with each player only having one life. Oh, and wooden tools/leather armor was the highest tech level we were allowed to reach (Bows were allowed as well). This was meant to be an extremely hardcore version of minecraft, and something I'd hoped would be entertaining to both participate in and watch.

Now, I'm well aware of the current Ultra-Hardcore series going on with several prominent youtubers. I in no way mean to copy that idea (Didn't even know about it at the time), and I really respect those guys.

On to the issue at hand. Last night, me and a few friends attempted to start the series. And it sucked. It wasn't that it was too difficult or anything, it was just downright boring. During the game however, one of the players mentioned a way to tech up involving certain tasks. An example of this, albeit a bad one, would be something along the lines of "Kill X of mob Y to have stone".

And that's what I'm here for. I was wondering if any of you had on ideas on what the requirements would be to tech up - this is, after all, primarily designed to be recorded for you entertainment. Hell, even ideas on how to modify the idea as a whole would be welcome.

It should be noted that I also have a PvP version in the works, and while that seems to be holding its own in terms of feasibility, it also requires the players to have the capability to record - something which not all of them have.

Anyways, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!