I also like the idea of achievements.

They are just something fun. They also surprise you with a sense of accomplishment. I don't honestly know if that is doable though. Usually achievements are created by the development team, right?

I think the fact that achievements are pretty much everywhere now sort of reiterates the fact that "lots" of people enjoy the challenge of "a little something extra" in their game. You might not even realize you have slain 500000000000000 orcs, but the fact that you won an achievement for it sort of makes you feel better about yourself. It might be sad. On the other hand...you might also wonder about the birth rates of said orcs. o.o

Anyhoo...what feature would I like? Hrm...

I think I would like a GOG to design some sort of multiplayer service to play some of these good old games online with my fellow GOGheads. I still can't play Alpha Centauri with my friends no matter how many third party applications and unofficial patches and settings I try. It would be nice if GOG could design something that links us together like gamespy. I would be delighted. I bet you would be too.

Thanks GOG! Here's hoping.

Either way, I think it's safe to say that achievements are something of a mixed bag in that some people love the challenge (as bolted onto the actual game as most of them may be) while others couldn't care less.
Personally, I fall into the latter category, especially when it comes to single-player games. Seeing as how most achievements aren't part of the actual game, I don't feel they take anything away from my experience.

Be that as it may, achievements are hardly the one important thing GOG lacks compared to Steam.
If there is one thing that makes people prefer buying a game on Steam, it's that Valve still does a better job at providing localised versions (censored versions aside - this is indeed where GOG shines). Few things are more annoying than not being able to play a game in its *original* language version for no apparent reason... That's kind of like selling a DVD with nothing but the dubbed version of a film on it.

Another point that'll likely gain importance before long is providing Linux versions of games where possible - don't know how far GOG has come in this regard (I'd imagine that it's on their radar), but as far as I know, Valve already has a public beta version of Steam for Linux out there, so I'd keep an eye on that as well ;)

You can disable the Steam overlay in-game, so you don't get achievement and social notifications. I have no idea whenever I achieve a Steam achievement.

Got it working via Internet Explorer (doesn't work via Firefox).

I don't use Facebook, so I would like to be able to get the same credit for posting on Google+ instead :p

For me, the next big step is Linux support.

Congrats on 500! Great to see the fantastic catalogue of games grow and the site do so well as a result.

I already have about half of the catalogue.
Try to keep up! :D

I say that the next step is to entice more publishers, especially those whom have gone to the dark side with DRM!

Congratulations on the milestone.

I am going agree with the several people that have already said it, that the the next big thing for GOG is Linux support.

Okay I'm in but I don't facebook and I don't tweet so I'm stuck with just the one entry. What do I care, I get enough cool free stuff from all of the groovy forum members.

I signed...

I wrote a message but while i was thinking the cat jumped up and hit enter :>

Oh well i hope you guys consider more indie games and so on. DRM free ofc =)

More bundles maybe you can even host things like "pay what you want bundles" (with a minimum of 1$)

:>

I know what to do next: Buy the Principality of Sealand! :D Then set up a base for DRM free operations there! Really make the world open their eyes and show them that this is not bullshit!

Who else uses them besides Microsoft and Valve?

Also, I'd doubt that anyone grinding 500000000000000 orc kills truly enjoys the game. They might get some satisfaction from checking off an item from a list, but I don't think it would make the game itself any more enjoyable.

Here's a critical take on the broader phenomenon of gamification: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWfMjQKXZXk

Next thing should be getting System Shock 2 finally here