Since we're pitching things that will never happen...
I'd love to see a Zelda ship with an online mode, similar to Four Swords: you get the whole game, plus a little multiplayer bonus. Except that instead of being a
little bonus, it's kind of like getting two games for the price of one.
I would set the game during the Imprisoning War; during the normal game you play as Link, but in the online mode you play as one of the generic soldiers seen in the art above. The single player game would be set several years
after the multiplayer component, when all of the soldiers have failed and Link need to step in and single-handedly save the day. For example, you might play the single player game and find a door is barricaded; in the multiplayer game you might found out that
you are the one who barricaded it.
It would be set up similar to Phantasy Star Online; a limited number of players would hop into a game lobby together and proceed to play. There wouldn't be any persistent world or anything 'MMO-ish' like that. Players would build their own hero, picking their character's sex, race and appearance. I would start players out with three races; Human, Hylian and Kokiri, and then add three races (Goron, Gerudo, and Zora) later as an 'expansion' via DLC or just a second disc with new content. Gorons would only be male while Gerudo would obviously be female-only. Each race would have their own abilities that mirror other tools, items or skills (so, for example, if you play a Zora, you wouldn't have to carry along a Zora Scale to breathe underwater).
There wouldn't be any kind of leveling system, but instead players would grow stronger by tracking down better equipment and heart containers. Players would start with 3 hearts, earn 3 or 4 more from major storyline dungeons, and the rest would be via Heart Pieces. However, these heart pieces are much harder to obtain and could even be randomly placed per-character; my heart piece may be in Cave A while yours might be in Cave B.
Equipment would also follow a similar process; you'd unlock new tiers of equipment as you completed the major storyline dungeons. Once you reach the 'max level' of equipment strength, instead of getting stronger equipment you'd be tracking down equipment that is equally powerful but has some kind of special effect. For example, all of the staves would cause the same damage, but one might grant a weak shield on all of your companions (Cane of Byrna?), another might slowly heal everyone, while another might hurl fireballs or something when swung.
Instead of having classes, I would use a "Triforce system", adapted from an idea I've been tinkering with for a while (seen
here). Instead of the Physical / Mental / Spiritual thing though, you would have Power, Courage and Wisdom. Players would essentially be able to build their own class by selecting how many skills from each Tri-force themed aspect they wanted to use.
For example, if you can have a maximum of 20 points divided between the three skill groups, you could buy 5 points worth of Power abilities, 5 points worth of Courage abilities, and blow the rest on Wisdom. Or any combination of the three. More powerful abilities would obviously cost more points. Thus, if you want a lot of powerful Wisdom spells, you wouldn't be able to pick up a bunch of awesome Power abilities as well; you'd have to give up some for the others. In that way, there's a self-balancing method to character building. This also gives players a quick way to identify what the other players are focused on without falling into rigid class organization.
Power abilities would be about raw destructive power and fierce melee abilities. Think of how Ganon fights; damaging (but direct) magic, powerful weapon attacks, lots of survival and nastiness. Power abilities would let you carry extra sets of weapons, grant extra hearts passively, etc. Some of Link's sword techniques would also fall under the Power aspect.
Courage abilities are more about defense and utility, especially when it comes to using tools. Like Four Swords, you'd be limited on how many tools or items you can carry at a time. Courage would allow you to carry extra tools, use more utilitarian sword techniques, and generally fight more like Link.
Wisdom, of course, would be more magic-oriented, similar to what Zelda might use. Lots of magic spells and such, especially ones from Link's Adventure. For example, you might be able to Seal enemies away in a crystal temporarily as a form of crowd control, temporarily enchant all of your companions' weapons with Fire, or Reflect spells back at enemies. No healing spells though; all healing would be the responsibility of the individual via good old fashioned Bottles (another metric by which players advance).
It's amazing how much of Zelda would fit into an online setting. For example, each race could have their own musical instrument that is both something fun to screw around with (ala Lord of the Rings online) and a teleportation device (ala Hearthstones/scrolls in MMOs).
To add to the experience, once you reach a certain point in the game, you'd obtain the Magic Mirror which allows you to enter Player vs. Player battles. One team retains their heroic appearance while the other (randomly determined) gets to play as traditional Zelda baddies. Players would pick when they get the mirror what enemy race they play as (as well as the appearance). So you might use the mirror and have a 4-on-4 Capture the Flag match with one team turned into Moblins, Darknuts and Miniblins. All of the abilities would carry over but the equipment would be balanced so everyone is on the same footing.
Love that last idea, even if it flies right in the face of what we think of as Zelda.
But hey, we're throwing crazy ideas out so... heh.