Non-player entities?

In showing off the game to a few people at a LAN party I  attended this weekend, one of them wondered about the possibility of adding events or entities to the experience that are largely not instigated by players. We already have shortages, surpluses, and the occasional storms and earthquakes which strictly affect market prices, but in thinking back to MULE I'm wondering if there's the possibility of adding creatures or meterological events that are visible and can be reacted to outside of just buying/selling commodities.