Am I the only one looking forward to the scanning device?

Depends on its use and how long before it starts to feel tedious like the Mako sections in ME1 or Planet Scanning in ME2

The investigation bit shown does seem cool though

Ouuuuh, I would LOVE that!
Imagine there were class-based responses to scanning. Something like this:

Engineer Ryder: Wow, LOOK at this mineral here. [Insert scientific speech.] I can't wait to get back to the Tempest and do a proper analysis. I bet we can make fuel for the Nomad out of it! Isn't this exciting, Drack?

Drack: U-huh.

Engineer Ryder: Liam?

Liam: Whatever... my feet are cold. Can we please move on? We've been out here for HOURS.

Engigneer Ryder: FINE!

----

Peebee: We should probably scan this. Might be useful?

Soldier Ryder: Ugh, again? I just put the damn scanner away! *grumbles*
...oh look, it's another useless ROCK! What a surprise...

Peebee: It's not just ANY rock. This one is green! And shiny. Come on, Ryder. Look at it. It's pretty, right?

Soldier Ryder: U-huh.

And before somebody starts crying "But my Ryder wouldn't be like that", I don't care. I want it. And now I'm sad we'll never get it.

I didn't mind it too much, but you did give me a chuckle there m8.

I think the scanner's neat in basic concept, and I like it for things like solving mysteries, tracking, etc (I actually liked the Witcher Sense ), but if it's a glorified radar ala the pinging from DAI... eh. I don't even mind if it's used to help find materials in general, I just hope it has more uses than finding crafting materials. As most have said, please no space elfroot or shards.

It does occur to me as increasingly likely that the crafting system MAY work like DA 2s or even DAIs alchemy then anything. Granted in DA I I did not really appreciate it but given how much crap they got over constant resource collection. The idea being that you unlock certain things from scanning, and then you have to have resources to build that thing, but...that's it. Once you build it you have access to it and any additional resource collection goes into upgrading that thing to the next level.

i kind of...have mixed feelings about this. I didn't like it so much in DA 2, in DA I it was better, but I just really liked having control over the stats I put into my gear...and if I am right with this theory...I do not think we will have control over our stats exactly and won't be able to really recraft something if we find something better.

I mean, to expand, we know in MEA that resources deplete, there is a finite number of resources in the game. Now in DA I they made the consious design decision to not make resources finite. Resources could 're grow'. And for DA I this worked because it gave people flexibility in what they could craft and how many times you could craft it. That, as long as you have resources available to you, you can craft the same armor, with a new fade touched material if you liked it just a little more The fact that resource gathering is finite in ME A, that it can deplete, is indicitive that BioWare also does not expect you to be able to craft as many different things this time as you want. THere is a limit.

Though personally I am hoping Masterworks does make a return, or an ME quivalent, it would be really awesome if you could give your weapon/ armor additional abilities to help flesh out the 'three ability limit' thing.

No, you are not the only one. Yes, exploring in DAI sucked, but MEA fits perfectly with exploration so it makes sense for such a huge emphasis be placed in it.

I know we are in the minority as most people here just wants to pew pew, but actually exploring, not combat (or romances) is what I am mostly looking forward to.

Bioware,

Sign this fine person up as a writer for squadmate banter. This was so good.

I NEED THIS IN MY GAME!!!

Well, that's why I suggested it be related to how much you upgrade the scanning rather than class. At least upgrading scanning implies you're interested, even if it's not perfect. Other than that, they could let us either geek out or not in specific instances.

Lots of people here love exploring, including me, we just hope that ME:A exploring won't be tedious or grindy, and we hope we'll get rewarded for exploring with meaningful content. That's all.

Sometimes I think a personality quiz of sorts during character creation would be a cool thing. You could tick off interest in stuff like scanning, relationship with sibling, maybe even general demeanor and sexuality. Auto-dialogue could feel more personal then. Of course that would increase the word count of any game dramatically, so it's not feasible. But as an idea I like it. Or they could make this into interactive banter like in DAI?

As for scanning itself, I'm looking forward to it. As long as only new things will be properly scanned. I do not want to have to scan space elfroot every time I pick it up. That's stupid. The pinging was annoying. I don't like things lighting up in general. Feels lazy. I want to look for things naturally. It should suffice for an item name to pop up when you get close.

I liked planet scanning in ME2 at first. But after a while it just got annoying. Everything you gather becomes a chore at some point, I guess. It cannot be avoided. Every game mechanic is repetitive. It's fine as long it's not designed as necessary to "win" the game. It's ok if you have to spend maybe 20min in total doing something to have enough resources for a plot relevant upgrade. Anything beyond that should be optional so you can craft things you don't really need. But these things will marginally make the game easier. Like better armor stats or gun mods. But even then, it shouldn't take dozens of hours to gather resources.

I don't look forward to it. It seems like an excuse to make barebones quests objectives and time-consuming collectathons.

Also I expect the tone to be all over. Apparently we're going to have one-off CSI stories with it and Ryder must be some sort of jack of all trades everything & nothing character who becomes whatever the writer wants her to at any given point.

Impressive loot collection there. Is that a Dalek on the right? I recommend some model stairs to keep it in line.