They do, but in a way that I think felt limiting. You can’t have too many identities without making them quite weak, and then you have limited slots to have them do something cool or just substitute for skills/stress checks.
There’s also the feeling that your character can’t progress at anything outside their identities, because progress in one skill is regression in another and is entirely at the fate of a dice roll.
I’m sure it’s great for other people’s playstyles, it’s just not my cup of tea.
Given the context of the article, the alternative suggestion isn’t “set up your own server” but “use software that doesn’t require a server”, which sidesteps most of that list.