Everything consisting of independant organizations within your empire could be considered:

- Secret societies
- Religious-based groups with influence (type Scientology on google, you'll see)
- Corporation-based groups (they could even try to take their investments elsewhere if they're not pleased)
- Citizen organizations (Greenpeace...)
- Criminal organizations
- others

Of course, it's not necessarily only about "There is an independant political force named ***" but more "The presence of this type of independant political force is ***". Maybe sometimes a single organization big enough to be named could exist... All this is about the level of organization of certain groups of all kinds. They can bring positive and negative stuff.

Besides, all these groups can have intelligence networks. Some of them can have an influence on your parliament (mafia infiltrates politicians, etc.)

A warrior in your civilization has mastered an ancient art of combat from a rival civilization and wishes your blessing to challenge the champion from that race. You have the option to sanction the combat, ignore the request, or eliminate the warrior as a threat to stability.

Sanction the fight
1. Your warrior wins. Huge morale boost to your civ. Huge morale loss to competing race.
2. Your warrior loses. Reverse above.
3. A monumental battle ensues, lasting for hours until finally the combatants tire and agree to an honorable draw. Understanding and respect raise diplomacy between races.

Ignore Request
1. Your warrior wins. Small morale loss for not supporting your champion.
2. Your warrior loses. Diplomacy suffers with opposing race because your failure to support the warrior has lead an uninformed society to hate the barbaric practices of the opposing race.

Eliminate Warrior
1. Success. Government coalition suffers setbacks when they discover your plot and feel affronted by your lack of faith in your own people. Suffer a greater chance of party defeat in the next election.
2. Failure. Warrior escapes and begins a loud and violent protest of your regime, turning the populace against you and undermining your support. Suffer major morale, production, and economic slump.

I really like the Warrior Event by Harry Seldon, As each outcome can have positive and negative outcomes for both the good and evil options.

Coming from Frank Herbert's Dune again...
A proposition to end a problem/war by a battle between only a few to limit the damage on everyone. In Dune, these battles are battles between rulers or people of their families (nobles) but it could be a Chess game, a dice roll or whattever... Anything that makes sense. It may have happened in history in very exhausting or potentially exhausting wars/battles. Like David and Goliath. The question remains: what would decide of the winner?... no idea. I guess such an event would be real rare... No?

Besides, in the case of Dune these were knives battles, since in the Duniverse battles are mainly with blades (some shields are blocking what comes too fast or is laser).

STELLAR EVENTS

there should be stellar events like :

-BLACK HOLE : as you're moving a ship, it gets into a black hole - bye bye
-WHITE FOUNTAIN : a variant of the former : your ship reappears at a totally different location (representing a shortcut in spacetime)

NOTE : as it reappears, he could get some extra moves - representing the fact that his notion of time does not match the standard notion of time of the game.

-X-RAY STORM : an unknown x-ray-emitting star (a "quasar") is preventing radars to work - as a consequence, for 3 turns, your ship doesn't see anything around him.

"Shadow Council- A small, shady, secretive orginization forms in your empire composed of powerfull business men,..."

You've been watching too much X-Files.

Some good ideas here. But people should remember that those events should be something that does not just happen and have a benificiary or devastating effect but forces the player(s) to adjust their gameplay to the situation hence they can DO something about the effects of these events.

You meet a colony of slave women and there masters. You can choose to set them free and kill their masters (good) or buy a few of the slaves (increase happiness of your workers and officers but makes some citizens pissed off because you are an unethical pig)

Ah!
Here it is.
Bumpedybump

random event: format hardrive
frequency: 1 in 100 games

If this event occur, game excutable will perform full format of harddisk on which game is installed. Implementing this feature into game make GalCiv most thrilling game ever made...

*LOL*
I guess this would be part of the Computer Virus Outbreak event mentioned earlier in this thread.

Another idea:
Your leader's stepmom visits.
Effect: Dramatic decrease of morale.
Countermeasures: Building a starbase that hosts a superstar contest and giving her a free ticket and backstage pass.

Is "borrowing" ideas from other sources okay then?

In the Star Wars books there was a fleet of ships known as The Katana Fleet, from memory. It was a large number of ships that had been designed to have an unprecedented amount of automated systems and "slave circuits" that allowed some master control circuitry to guide them remotely. Unfortunately (and predictably) the system went haywire on the maiden test flight and the Katana Fleet went to hyperspace and was never seen again.
Eventually it's found, of course, otherwise it's a pointless story.

Would it be possible to have a "Katana Fleet" event, where one of your ships stumbles across the resting place of an ancient fleet of ships, with technology conveniently around the same level of the current technological leaders of the galaxy. You then have the option of:
Good: Sending recovery crews to bring the ships under the control of your Empire, paying XXX credits per turn to gain control of an extra ship (or multiple ships, whatever balance dictates)
Neutral: Paying a slightly higher amount than the Good option, allowing you to plant remote mines on some of the ships as you retrieve others, to prevent other races taking the ships.
Evil: Paying an even greater amount to take control of the ships but also plant "stealthy" or just "well hidden" remote mines and waiting for someone else to take the ships back to their home planet before hitting the detonate button....

To keep it from being a case of whoever finds the Katana Fleet will dominate the game via having a "cheap" source of good quality ships, each turn after the initial discovery the chance of other empires catching on and also discovering the hiding place increases. Or possibly espionage can result in the discovery?

OH! THERE WILL BE MASSIVE DEATH!!!!!!!!!!
I had a HUGE idea, but AOHell shut down on me, erasing half an hour of planning.

I swear, if this doesn't drive me to take up hacking, nothing will.

Anyway, it's a Galaxy-changing (or perhaps, shattering) event.

#$^#^#&$%&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahh, I'll post it later. I'm going to bed.

They should rot in the deepest, darkest layer of all hell for the utterly useless ISP they have created. The abomination I shall now call the Cerberi (I LOVE BZ2).
Of course, the Devil would probably kick them out of hell because they disgust him.

No matter what, you'll get my big idea tonight. Must ALL my posts come pasted from a Word Processor?!?!?!?!?!

The Borg idea seems neat, but I would do it in such a way that it doesn't discriminate. A vastly technologically superior race cuts a swathe across the galaxy, in an arc or something. It would be a slow 'assimilation', so that you would have to factor in where you think they will go, and avoid those planents, lest you lose them later. Those planets behind them they leave a smaller, defeatable force. You can retake those planets controlled by this race, but it would not be easy.

fleabitfox

POST-
Remember, I'm not one of the Beta-Testers, so some (maybe a lot) won't fit. Just pick and choose what you like. But we NEED one of these deadly "Borg" types.

COPY & PASTE- [Yeah, yeah. I know I'm late]

Okay, people. Here we go. (this might be long.....REALLY long)

I've always loved races that cut a horrible swath across the galaxy (and their subsequent being ground into dust by me).
However, there is an interesting version of it in the great Battlezone, second only to Battlezone 2.

I present to you, my BZ inspired idea.

By the way, I make it so long because we need a really epic random event that can be Galaxy-changing/shattering.
[Woe to thee if thy evil enemies get this]
This should also be REALLY rare (under no circumstances will the players know the consequences of their actions in advance, except basic things like morale and such)

Remember, I'm not a beta-tester. If this is to be used, it should probably be tweaked (a lot).
Oh, and I'm REALLY tired, so I apologize in advance for typos and such.
---------------THE IDEA----------------------
(I’ve really submitted this to spark other ideas…I mean, don’t we all love a “Borg” type race that destroys things)

Ancient Technology Discovered!!!!!
That's right, one of your ships discovered a derelict ship floating in space. It appears to be heavily damaged but intact.....and deactivated.
We could probably fix this up, but we'll have to research it first.
CHOICES:
1)Destroy It. [Good/Neutral=no affect; Evil=people angry at you]

2)Research it [Costly, takes time and money]

So, if you choose #2, you research.

.....[time passes]

Okay, we've got it. We have discovered that this is one of the fabled sentient weapons of the [insert ancient civ. here]. They had to destroy their home planet to defeat these things. This one, however, seems to have escaped the planet. But it took quite a pounding from the planetary defences before the planet. It seems that, without its energy source from the factory on the planet, it just shut down. This is all very fortunate for us, as it is far too damaged to become sentient again.
We can fix it, however, but that would be costly. We do have another option.....
We have discovered how to create the factory that would create these things. However, with our technology, the ships would be considerably weaker than this one. We would also have to strip this one down for the parts needed for the factory. Um...the factory also needs a WHOLE planet as a power source, a good one, too. There could also be unforseen...risks in crossing our technology with this.
CHOICES:
1)Destroy It. It is far too powerful to be unleashed upon this galaxy. [Evil=angry]

2)Repair it. [VERY costly, in time and money. But nets you a VERY powerful ship]

3)Create the planetary factory. [sacrifice the original ship; costly; must use a planet with a good, livable class; nets you production of good ships; the planet can be used for NOTHING BUT THIS FACTORY]

#3 pushes the story onward. [and the factory has a self-destruct option you can use at any time, with one exception.....]

Remember those unforseen risks your scientists mentioned....yeah, well......guess what!
[this is unavoidable]
After you make a certain number of these ships [not many] a random one will become sentient (you can probably blow it away).
After this event, the self-destruct is disabled! JOY!

However, more random ships will become sentient, and it will increase. Then it cranks out ONE of the powerful battleships [just like the original].
Oh, and the ships never leave the vicinity of the planet.
After the battleship is destroyed, the factory self-destructs, destroying everything around the planet. The factory becomes dormant and the planet becomes VERY unlivable.

.....[more time passes]

After a random amount of turns [long, though] the factory comes back online as a FULLY mechanical minor civ.
They can manufacture normal ships (of their kind) and they have unique techs that allow them to produce better ships faster. Eventually leading to the battleship (which comes out slowly, no matter what). They occasionally pump out ships to convert other worlds into their factories.
CHOICES:
1)Tell nobody [this could lead you into contact with the remnants of the ancient alien civilization [if they survive the conflict after helping you, they become a Good minor civ; the other civs WILL eventually find out, and probably be angry]

2)Put out a Galaxy-wide alert [the others might help, and they might have their own agendas. Neutrals do whatever, Goods might try to take you out for unleashing this evil, Evils might try to strike a bargain with the machines]

Either way, you have a mess to clean up.
Scientists tell you how to kill 'em: Destroy the original power source (planet), and they just fall apart.

.....[even more time passes]

So, you somehow managed to stage an assault on their homeworld (the original factory) and invade.

Now you have to take out the factory.....good luck.
CHOICES:
1)Destroy The Factory. [this requires A LOT of firepower, and the planet will explode once you take it out; the people are angered at the loss of so many; also, all other planets they converted would become COMPLETELY unlivable; its ships fall apart, becoming useless as salvage]

2)Shut It Down [Random chance of success -I don't know what would affect this chance-; people are happy for the victory]

In #1, after that, its over. But you've still got to win the game.

In #2, if you fail, the factory and all other worlds it converted self-destruct. I think you know what happens then.

If you do succeed, you have another choice to make…
FINAL DECISION:
1)Destroy It [just like the previous #1, minus the death and unhappiness. Good=happy; Evil=annoyed]

2)Permanently Disable the Factory [again, the chance for success factors in. Success leaves its ships dormant and salvageable. The other planets it converted will remain, class unaffected. If you FAIL, however, it will be just like #1 in the previous choice…BOOM…yes, the bad boom]

Man, had I know there was an event thread... I also sent 95 events to MOO3 nearly a couple of years ago, but perhaps I've got some left for you.
I'm glad you allow more detail in event ideas than QS. I believe about two ideas of mine made it into MOO3, but you wouldn't recognise them, being massively shortened and simplified.
Here are some new ones:

1. All empires are swarmed with little drones out of nowhere. Some of them are spying , some thieving, stealing technologies, gathering intelligence data, and even dragging away some ships, from EVERY empire.
A week later, the Bazaar arrives in the galaxy, a huge advanced ship with the capability of supplying every empire at once. They have many wares to offer, many of which seem quite familiar...

Everything that was stolen is sold, in three steps:

- Every player is shown info and tech that was stolen from him. They may make an offer for every item, and if it suffices, the item won't be offered to other players later.

- All stolen ships are offered to all players at once. All bids are served, highest first. Thus low offers are only served if there are no higher ones.

- All stolen tech and intel info are offered the same way.

When it's over, the Bazaar leaves.


2. Some kind of particle storm engulfs the galaxy. It interferes with one empire's individual ship drives, leaving them sputtering and stalling all the time. That reduces speed, and perhaps also attack/defense due to sick crews.


3. How about a "Night of The Living Dead" event?

A strange satellite orbiting a world makes the dead stand up and hunger for the living. The effect dies down when the satellite is found and destroyed. Effects may include initial population drop, reduced population growth, impaired economy, morale drop, perhaps increased unrest.


4. A fantastically huge space amoeba floats into a system, but it hasn't come to eat, it has come to die. It establishes orbit around the sun, and its dead body takes on the form of a perfect orb.

Practically, there's a new planet in the system, with some atmosphere, mineral deposits and even an ecosystem.


5. Hell breaks loose in outer space: 3 x 3 sectors are filled with swarming insect-like creatures as big as hands, some kind of space ephemera. They shun the proximity of stars, but every ship travelling in space will be covered with a thick hull of these beasts, gnawing away at its hull.

Effect: some per-turn damage, unability to repair. (Flies like space suits. Yum.)
Some turns later they lay their quantic eggs right into the structure of space itself and die off.


6. An entertainment combine invents a new tamagochi-like toy. The public is so entangled in playing and working for money in order to buy add-ons that they lose every interest in public affairs.

Any effects of low morale and bad influence are cancelled for some turns. "I'm repressed! That’s terrible! I hope somebody else can do anything about it!"


7. The latest update to the Space Navy’s tactical assistance tool program contains a basic, yet fiendish bug. In a space battle all ships’ battle computers work with reduced efficiency. (attack drops by X %)


8. In one of your systems, your patrol forces stumble upon the training camp of a terrorist organization that has declared the X empire's leadership is an evil monstrosity that must be destroyed the sooner the better.
By order of high command the patrol tries to establish contact with them and enter negotiations, but the terrorists take them for attackers and open fire. In the ensueing battle the camp is eradicated.

In order to make the best out of it, your embassador with the X empire sends them a communiqué about the discovery of the terrorist training camp and how our patrol forces didn’t hesitate to root out the evil perpetrators at once.
Your standing with the X empire improves noticeably.


9. For evil empires: Their scientists have come up with a psychotropic substance named Kead (for Kill-Em-All Drug). It makes the troops fearless and eager for battle, and enhances their stamina. After the battle they find out that 50 % of the troops die of side effects, banning the drug.
Effect: One planetary battle has a huge fighting bonus, but afterwards 50 % of the troops die.

I didn't play Beta, and couldn't read carefully through the entire thread, so I appologize in advance for repeating something already posted/in the game.
In another thread someone mentioned that there are no events that give good players some advantage, so maybe we can introduce some of these (there will still be grim consequences, though):

EVENT -- "Defectors"
One of the most prominent figures (scientist, merchant, general... this could be random and cause difference in the final effect) of one of the evil civilizations can't reconcile his conscience with his/her government and secretly offers to defect to your empire. Do you?
1. Let him/her come (Good choice. Gives your empire temporary bonus in the field of defectors expertise. On the other hand this would slightly hurt the stats of the evil civ, tremendously hit the relations with them, and give them the immediate reason for war)
2. Secure the passage to another civ (Neutral choice. No bonuses/penalties. Transfers the event to another good civ)
3. Betray the defector (Evil choice. Hurts your overall rating with good civs, but tremendously improves relationship with the evil civ in question)

I got an idea, but I'm not very good at this.

A wandering space ship finds it's way to you and requests aid. You can help them and lose stuff, but they'll join you, send them off and never see them again, or attack them and take their ship.

A strange vortex pops up that teleports ships to random locations if touched, you can do nothing and let it do whatever, you can fix it to help transport stuff, close it so it won't bother anyone again, or adjust it so you can warp into enemy territory.

As I said I'm not good at this.

Also, you guys can maybe think of introducing event "threads". Say, you have a multiple choice event. Now, certain choice could lead to anothere event. I think this would give a great quality and suspense to the game. Here's an example:

ORIGINAL EVENT -- "Pretender"
A pretender to the throne of one of major civs came asking for help for his rightfull claim. Do you?
1. Give him full support (X% chance that civ in question will discover this with serious consequences. Certain ammount of appropriate resources allocated to the pretender, hence unavailable to the player for the number of turns. Trigger rebellion event.)
2. Shelter him, but don't support his claim (Nothing)
3. Leave him to his destiny (Improves the relationship with civ in question)

REBELLION EVENT
With your generous help, the pretender manages to gather a band of supporters and establish a foothold by seizing one of the planets of civ x. Local governor asks for the assistance from the central government which in turn sends some help. The battle is engaged, and even though the rebels are highly motivated they are outnubmered and without outside help their movement will crumble. Do you?
1. Send help (X% chance that civ in question will discover this with serious consequences. Certain ammount of appropriate resources allocated to the pretender, hence unavailable to the player for the number of turns. Trigger civil war event.)
2. Offer mediation (Depending on your diplomatic skills you could negotiate splitting of a small system as an independent state. If you're really bad in diplomacy, the other civ can figure out who's behind all this, with the follow-up consequences)
3. Send them moral support (Rebellion gets crushed. X% chance of pretender beeing caught alive, questioned and mentioning your role in the event, with consequences)

CIVIL WAR EVENT
With your help rebells crush the expeditionary force. The pretender publicly announces his claim, and taken by his successes and rethoric several systems quickly switch allegiance. Civ x plunges in civil war. Do you?
1. Help the pretender (Gives a huge ammount of resources to the pretender for certain number of turns. X% chance of success. If successful, pretender takes the throne, and civ in question improves significantly its relationship with your empire (diplomacy, trade, alliances...), it might even (if game engine allows this) change it's allignment to more suit yours. If unsuccessful it leads to immediate war with civ x)
2. Stay out and see what happens (If pretender wins, he shows a moderate gratitude to you (some one time "payback" -- money, technology, ships...), if he loses the same rules apply as for the end of REBELLION)

This is just a sample, it could branch much more, just that it took me over an hour to think of all of this and type it...

A good/neutral/evil events:
A colonized planet is a precursor (or some one else's) zoo world where a specialized ecosystem for hosting nearly extinct wondrous creatures is maintained by a hyper-advanced powerline system.
Good: Don't touch it. Some planetary ground is lost to nature preserve.
Neutral: Let's at least tap the power system and see what happens. Effect: minor industrial bonus, only negligible space lost due to shrinking populations.
Bad: Out lucky day! Free industrial infrastructure AND lots of subjects for animal experiments. Effect: industrial/research bonus.

You find an ancient derelict colony ship with the corpses of an unknown race.
Good: Let's preserve it as a monument and honor their failed enterprise. No Effect.
Neutral: Take only to most useful components and leave the rest under monumental protection. A colony ship can be bought for substantially less money.
Bad: Mop up those useless cadavers and refit the ship ASAP! Effect: Gain free colony ship.

A planet is infested with a dangerous parasite that sees brains of sentient life forms as paramount opportunity for depositing their eggs.
Good: We have to restrict them to secured natural preserves! (Lose some real estate.)
Neutral: There's not enough room here for the both of us. Root the parasites out! No Effect.
Evil: Let's get rid of them here. They'll surely be happier in other races' brains! Effect: New biological weapon raises soldiering bonus a bit.