dboeren said:

That reminds me…I wonder if Upgrade (SysOp) cards will be available? The mythical "white hat hackers".

I don't see why not, they were a significant card type in the old game.

Here's a list, looks like there were 16 different Upgrade/Sysop cards back in the day: http://www.netrunneronline.com/search/?q=sysop&Find.x=0&Find.y=0

The Return of Dr. Dreff!

Buhallin said:

I like the idea of factions, partly because I like when a card set has some obvious deck directions for me to try out, but this is a concerning point.

I think it would be a very Netrunner-esque solution if the identity cards were hidden at the start of the game, to be revealed when necessary (e.g., before playing a card restricted to that faction.)  It would make sense that the Corp wouldn't know what kind of Runner they're facing at the start….it's stranger for the runner not to know who they're attacking, but there have been plenty of stories that started with someone stumbling upon a heavily-secured secret without knowing the ultimate owner, so I don't think it would be too out-of-theme for the runner's first hint that they've crossed Haas-Bioroid to be the polite knock of the robot hitmen (or whatever).

 They may be, and if not, it sounds like a very simple alternate format.

 Reminds me of the "hidden powers" variant of Cosmic Encounter, where you keep your special abilities hidden until the first time you need/want to use them. So in theory, whatever benefits your Identity would give you are deliberately ignored until you wish to reveal.

Unless there's something inherently game-breaking about these benefits being sprung upon the opponent without any chance for preparation…

dboeren said:

I live in Atlanta too, and my gamer group is interested in playing a lot of NetRunner on release as well. See you at the Secrets Factory soon.

Big Head Zach said:

I wouldn't expect there to be a problem with it - the whole rest of your deck is secret until the cards are actually played, so it doesn't seem that likely that the Identity card being secret would cause a problem as long as the benefits of the cards aren't enormous.  I'm just expecting minor perks from them, perhaps one Runner adds a free +1 strength when breaking Sentry ice, or another one can install Viruses for one less bit, things on that level of magnitude.

@Flamejuggler - we'll definitely be in touch on setting up some game days between our groups.  After the launch (probably at Gencon) we'll start figuring out some demo days to get new players interested and see who wants to join in and who might be interested in a tournament, etc…  Eventually I'd like to have a regular game night at least every other week or so and a stable group of players attending.