[Benholio]

You could make the buddy list system something you can 'opt out' of. That way, if someone doesn't want to be chased around/tracked, they won't be.

Of course, the buddy list implementation won't be much of a positive/negative for a while, unless you are joining an already highyl populated network.

I'll throw my 2c in the area of player notes. Pokerroom has the best note-taking system of all the sites I've played it. What separates it from the rest is that you can quickly add a colored dot type icon to any player (there are 5 or so options, like green, yellow, red, yellow plus, red minus, or something along those lines). This is much better than using the same 'note' icon for all players, since you can quickly identify everyone without having to read each individual note.

Okay, I lied, I have another 2 or 10 cents.

-Sounds: Make sure that you have an 'alerts only' sound option, and that the alerts do a good job. Some networks the alerts are poor, which slows down the play for multitablers, in turn slowing it down for everyone. Bodog, Crypto's, etc, are good examples of how NOT to alert. I never miss an action on Party, though.

-Graphics: Like others have said, have the graphics customizable so that you can have a more plain layout if you want. Also, having re-sizable tables or a mini-view is a BIG plus.

-Multi-tabling: Allowing more than 4 tables to be played is a plus. Worried about adverse effects of mass-multitabling? Just take a look at PokerStars. I can play 8 (or more) tourneys at a time there, so when I do, I don't go looking for another site, and they get all of my action. I like the UB and prima mini-view (UB especially).

-Rewards program / rakeback / incentives: I'm sure this has been covered in this thread, but give customers a good reason to play high volume at your site. Frequent player freerolls (worth more than $1), bonuses for frequent players, frequent player point rewards that are desirable.

Anyway, good luck, and keep us posted.