Alright, here is my take on knife (T)DM's. Also may or may not be a summary of this topic.
Most of these that I have seen are multicolored platforms floating in the sky. They generally form a large square, the platforms themselves being small squares, and the center is sometimes raised a bit. Hosts sometimes mix this up a little by adding things that launch you to other parts of the map. It may even have a "DJ" room, where an admin plays music. However, I have never seen a KDM deviate from the standard loadout that is Grapple Hook + Knife.
The problem that most people are complaining is that all of these are the same. Only a few people have deviated from this, and the "genre" is suffering because of this. Its basically like what would happen if Call of Duty was the most popular thing ever and all shooters were exactly the same as it but with some aesthetic changes. The core mechanics are all the same, and no amount of ping-checking, music, or other tertiary features is going to change that. If you were to, say, host a knife CTF or KOTH with two castles or floating islands (or regular islands), then yes, that would be different. If you used a throwing knife instead of a regular knife, sure, that would at least be a little different. If you used a hang glider instead of a grapple rope, and had multiple levels of platforms, that would be different.
But no, you are continuing the terrible incarnation of the Knife TDM that gives you a knife and a grapple rope and makes you fight against three other teams in a small area with a hill.
