Posted September 10, 2015
ET3D: Thinking about it, I'm for a non-curated approach because it will do a lot to promote DRM-free amongst indie devs. As is devs have no real reason to go DRM-free, no indication that it's even worth thinking about. Many don't even consider this point or aren't even aware of what it means.
If GOG wasn't that hard to get into, indie devs would make their game DRM-free to be able to get into it. They would better understand what it takes to make a game with both DRM-free and Steam versions, they might realise that there's a market for such versions, and there's a chance that awareness of DRM-free in general will rise.
While I get your point, I'm not sure having a non-curated store will provide an interesting answer to that issue. Opening the store to any release might even have the opposite effect. When an indie dev allocate the resources to make a DRM-free version of its game available on GOG he knows that he'll get significant visibility space (unless you release your game the same day as a major sale or the new XXXX - insert your favorite publisher's name here - but I noticed that either GOG or the developers try to avoid, if possible, such situation). Steam is starting to be like iTunes or GooglePlay and the only reason indie devs still care about it is the huge number of users meaning that if only a small percentage of users buy your game, it should be enough to make some cash. If GOG wasn't that hard to get into, indie devs would make their game DRM-free to be able to get into it. They would better understand what it takes to make a game with both DRM-free and Steam versions, they might realise that there's a market for such versions, and there's a chance that awareness of DRM-free in general will rise.
GOG does not have this number of users, meaning that if open the "curation gate" (TM) you may have even less interest for an indie dev to care for GOG since its game will get close to no visibility and the number of GOG users is not big enough (at this time) to compensate. Therefore, I see the curation more as an added value for both the users and the devs than an obstacle but that's my humbly bundled opinion (*) and I'd gladly discuss this further.
I'd also would like to point out that, as far as my experience goes with GOG compared to other services I use (Humble) or have friends using (Steam), curation is also linked to (some extent) a guarantee that the game you buy here will be in a working state (and yes, there are hiccups and room for improvements - there always are).
(*) let's put this one on a lack of sleep, ok ;p