I think "can the characters only have an opinion?" will be a design question on all events I write from here on in. Feels like a good guideline.

I still enjoy a good status effect event (game I'm in just had a sexy monster TF event and it was good fun) but I also get what you're saying, that it can get samey if that's all there is.

The vibe I'm getting right now is ICly talking about an event is ok as an option but it shouldn't be the only option. And it would probably help the event mods to have a list of results ready if characters want to investigate, fight, fix, or break things. Doesn't even have to be an essay of things (that could be a fast track to burn out) but like some quick sentences:
"Bob investigates the cold spot in the poltergeist room and finds a piece of amulet." Or "Bobert works on holding a seance with the poltergeist. The seance table gets broken but they learn about violent deaths in the spooky mansion."

I figure players don't expect essays, but they do like hearing their actions lead to at least a small blurb they can build their own fun off of.