Part of me always has been itching to come back, though, so apart from this being the first of many (yay) I've been thinking about whether I can bring a particular thing to the community
That is very, very nice and generous of you. Thanks for that.
However, and it breaks my heart to say this, I would not recommend you to do so.
While in the past, creating tools or code for the community was possibly the best way to make money with this engine, nowadays, there's not enough people left, especially not those who would pay for such a contribution.
Focus on something you really WANT to create, something that you'd enjoy creating and seeing finished, don't try to cater to the needs of what might very well be a dying community.
Lastly, I am aware that asking people to not contribute is not helping matters.
