Having given the 'Description' section a more thorough read, I can see at least 2 significant changes. Firstly, the graphics are a lot clearer. Some of the print on the old cards was very tiny. They have done away with 'colour coding' as well. The old 'Agendas' were very blue and the 'Nodes' very green. It made identification of the 'types' very simple, but a quick flash of a card would also give a clue to the Runner. Yes, it looks like FFG have done their usual high standard graphically.

The second is a whole new concept. That of different 'styles' of Corporations and Runners in the form of 'Identities'. I can only speculate as to what impact this might have on the play. Will these be like 'Factions' allowing only their kinds of cards in their respective decks, or specific 'abilities' usable only by specific 'Identities? The former would open up the 'deck building' element, but the latter could lead to more difficulty in balencing the 2 sides.

I shall be monitoring this games progress very closely as FFG have a hard act to follow, but first impressions look favourable. We need a bit more to go on, but knowing FFG, they get so far ahead of themselves in announcements, that it seems ages before anything really concrete comes out. This may help with the excitment, but if expectations are allowed to go on too long, apathy can set in or the final project struggles to fullfill the hype. Cheers!

For me one of the biggest change is the apparition of "clans", do "old" players know the impact it may have on game ?

armakis said:

Nobody can answer that since FFG hasn't explained what game-play effect these "clans" (i.e. factions) will. All we know are their names and their associated thematic differences.

On a purely game-play related note, only the Runner "clans" make any sense to me:

Anarchs cards will be aggressive, leaning on virus manipulations and the like.

Criminal cards appear to be better bit generators (they're all about money generation and other "professional" pursuits) and might have better resources for probing the Corp before making a run.

Shapers will lean heavily on mods and equipment, easier access to upgrades and the like.

All of this was easily extractable from the limited textual descriptions we were given in the faction overview (reprinted below for convenience).

That said, we're not sure whether these differences will be hard coded (like in Lord of the Rings, where unless you've got a hero of a particular card type you won't be able to play any of those cards) or the more likely and popular notion that factional associations will relate to discounted and/or increased costs (the latter being if you're not associated with the faction, of course).

I'd imagine that identities are somewhat separate from Factions, in the sense that -- on the runner's side at least -- they relate to individual personalities (e.g. Noise Reilly, Gabriel Santiago and Kate McCaffrey), though I suspect they'll ultimately just be the key to locking somebody with a mixed deck into a specific faction for those aforementioned discounts.

Incidentally, anybody notice that Gabriel (Correa) Santiago makes an appearance in Infiltration? Sadly, his character card isn't online anywhere (the Geek or otherwise), but he is named and listed as the team's Tech Expert.

Reprint of the faction/identities for the curious:

• Anarchs like Noise Reilly work from their hatred for corporate corruption. Some might say they champion the oppressed and the downtrodden, but it’s more likely that they’re interested purely in the act of ripping apart corporate lies and spreading their viruses to hinder the corporate machine.
• Criminals like Gabriel Santiago are in it for the credits. They get paid for the secrets they uncover. Consummate professionals, these runners believe in taking as few risks as possible, and never the ones they consider unnecessary.
• Shapers like Kate McCaffrey are considered idealistic naifs by many. They’re not in the business to tear down corporations nor for personal gain. They run because they can. They take joy runs to see what they can make out of new combinations of hardware and software. Accordingly, their tech is usually among the most modded and sophisticated of any runner’s.

I knew I had heard the name Noise before! He is one of the suspects in the Android boardgame!

Here is his brief description:

Ji Reilly, or "Noise" as he prefers to be called, is a G-Mod - a genetically modified human. Noise's IQ is off the charts, and his skills with computers and robotics are formidable. He is suspected of several counts of hacking, but has never been caught.

Rashley said:

The cards are still color coded, but it indicates faction rather than card type. Hard to say what a reveal on this might actually indicate without having any more info on what factions do.

So this game….ISN'T co-op? lol

el Igore said:

He is also mentioned in the Android: Free Fall novel as well

And now we have his identity card!

I was surprised we got two article so close together, but I'm not complaining

He also confirmed that the Trace mechanics have been simplified, but unfortunately they didn't say anything about how they work now.

i don't understand why Richard Garfield speak there of a limitation of 4 copies per cards since the gale never had limitation …

Because A) he is not infallible, or B) because he said metagame, meaning a lot of people adopted the rule in their local environs to conform to the frequency limitation that Magic was using.

dboeren said:

He also alluded to other mechanics that were changed which we might find more contentious. I wonder what those are.

I think getting Richard Garfield to essentially OK this game was a smart move on FF's part. It will hopefully quiet some of the angry old timers that wanted to make noise when this was first released.

Penfold said:

It was pointed out on the BGG forums that, if you look at the copyright information parallel to the image, and follow that out to the top of the card, the little dash mark to the left of the power symbol probably indicates card frequency. If you look at the identity cards, they have only a single "dash," where as the other revealed cards have anywhere from two to three from what I've seen.

Confirmation of lumpy distribution? No, but the case is looking pretty strong.

Anarchosyn said:

It's certainly completely convincing for me. So far the only 1x cards we've seen are the faction identities; hopefully it'll stay that way. Even if it doesn't, however, haters'll hate, and the game will go on.

The character design looks very '80s. Which I guess is in keeping with the tone of the setting.

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but it looks like MU has been completely discarded. Not sure how I feel about that…

What makes you say that?

I just don't see any MU costs on the chip or icebreaker which have been released. I know this is not to say that MU or some similiar mechanic does not exist - but it foreshadows a bit that it has been "steamlined". I am all ears if I am missing something.

AussieKSU said:

Wait, are we talking about Corroder?

I'm going to assume the 1 in silver in the memory-looking icon up by the bit cost is MU, unless that was said to be something else already.

Was under the impression that hardware didn't have a MU cost because it's… well… hardware. There traditionally wasn't a limit on hardware except for a few specific types, like Decks. That limit was printed right on the card.

AussieKSU said:

They're in the upper portion of the image, within the "chip" icon, immediate to the right of the bit cost.

Compare the chip icons of these two images:

1. http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1311977.png (has a 1)

2. http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1320237.png (has a 2)

Cool! Totally missed it