I'd have to vote yes in a new york minute- sounds like it would add alot more fun to the game

on/off button might be good, so that inexperienced players don't screan 'that's not fair' - but i think experienced players would like it. perhaps some events could be back-story based? (drengin/torian, yor/iconian) or alignment based conflicts (good vs evil with neutrals changing sides as the wind blows)

Yes, as an option. And it's an option I'd always turn on. I'd only turn it off for MP if MP came in. Really, the one area I was really disappointed in GC2, and feel that they should have done better- was in the events.

They should have been of the quality and probably the style of the Europa Universalis series- that would have added a ton of fun to the game.

I'd love mega events, if the AI responded to them. I'd hate to see a race start getting +1% to all stats a turn, only to have to kill that race without any help from anyone else.

Definitely. I would love to see this.

I would love it. It adds something to the game that can't be easily measured. It's the shock of having to completely rethink your game strategy and if you make enough of them, they can always be new and exciting. I'm totally in favor it.

Ultimate Doom. A particular civilization is getting their abilities increased by 1% each week (turn). Eventually they'd be gods. What is to be done?

don't we have this one already? its the random event where the race discovers an artifact or some crystal (there are like 3 random events with similar effects to this) and slowly becomes more powerful and 'must be destroyed or we will be enslaved by them'

Anyway, the Mega Events sound like something really cool and give some major twists to the game.

I love "Mega Events". I like having to really refocus my strategy because something strange and unexpected happens. It's a lot of fun to have to react rather than just playing my game.

Perhaps a few could be (off the top of my head):

Defection- a portion of a civ's ships/fleets/starbases join another civ.

Revolution- conquered planets revert to the old civilization that controlled them (perhaps even if that old civilization was eliminated).

Hyperspace turbulence- all ships that moved in the previous week are destroyed.

Limited resources- random galactic resources are used up and disappear from the map.

Corporate collapse- All trade routes are eliminated.

Economic collapse- tax income is halved.

Disappearance- a random AI civ is completely eliminated (including all ships and starbases) and all planets revert to uncolonized status with no improvements.

Anyway, I think Mega events are a great idea!

I like them! Especially Plague,Culture Shock, and Space Pirates. Oh Sweet chaos!

Love the idea of Mega Events as well as al of the ideas posted above.

I wouldn't mind seeing mega-events, but I admit there's one I'd be particularly interested in: The Dreadlords suddenly showing up!

Whether they simply start with a "swarm" of ships and invade straight away, or whether they first colonize a previously-uninhabitable system and then go on the rampage, I don't care. But I'd really love to see a Dreadlord invasion in my regular sandbox games.

These could all be intersting if they start late enough in the game. Here's my 0.02 on two of them and one of my own.

#3: This could work, but only if the player gets to actively engage in a dialog with the other AI factions to figure out a solution. Probably involving a UP-type dialog with multiple steps. For instance, factions could opt into an emergency temporary alliance to destroy the uber faction - for the AI factions, it would be a random choice based on the amount of influence each faction is experiencing. Then the temporary alliance could vote on trade sanctions or some such for those who don't join.

#5: Pirates just are not that organized. I would like to see a Berserker-type scenario where, for a random number of turns, one side of the map starts spawning slow-moving, planet-killing, battleship-eating robot ships that try to wipe out all life in the galaxy. Emergency alliance option as above.

#6: Core Exodus. The star-crowded nucleus of the galaxy has become unstable. Powerful, ancient beings from the galactic core are migrating outward in waves. Over the course of several turns, they offer every faction outrageous wealth and new technologies of unheard-of power. Their price? A paltry few planets. What are their motives? What are their long-range plans? What do they eat? You can't be sure, because their alignment and behavior are randomly assigned in each game!

#5 - Oh, you mean bring pirates back to original game levels?

First time I ever encountered them was in 1.0, my very first game and not very far along at all. My entire (read: tiny) military was wiped out and I was picked off. I lost my very first game and all I could think was: "That was so damn cool."

I'd like to see an event that is similar to the Fundamentalists of GCI with one change. Rather than being based on morality, this new group takes x% of every civ's planets. This would mean that each race would be effected (in theory).

In any event, I'd like to have the option.

Count me in!