Yeah, as for disasters, I plan to have it automatically PM the affected people (unless they don't want a PM, which they'll be able to shut off)
Something like
"An Electrical Storm has occurred in the News forum. You posted in there within the last week, so you were affected by the storm.
You have lost X Ore."
Yeah, that is a good point.
The attack items will probably be pretty weak, and expendable. (eg. a microwave lynx can be 'used' once, and then it is gone)