As per usual, anything said during the show is subject to change by CIG and may not always be accurate at the time of posting. Also any mistakes you see that I may have missed, please let me know so I can correct them. Enjoy the show!

The show is live! Today on the show is Lead Writer, Dave Haddock. Writer, Will Wiessbaum and Technically Designer, Johnny Jacevicius from the U.K.

[What does a Writer do?] Essentially it's building all the lore for the universe and supporting the various disciplines across the studios for guidance when it comes to creating weapons, environments, armour, etc to make sure that it's accurate to how the lore is written.

This Town hall they're going to be talking about the Banu as well as the other aliens races.

[What's up with the Banu Defender visibility?] Johnny: It's important to know that concept is to give you a feel for how the ship will look. There may be small changes here or there when they begin developing it. They have an idea they're going to implement.

[Will it be possible to buy Vanduul goods from a Banu merchant?] They would expect so. They've talked about the possibility of Banu trade centers where you can go there and see a wide variety of goods from different races.

[Can you give us a quick rundown on the Banu Defender?] The ship doesn't come with one size one shield, but one size 2 shield. It was also listed as having one size power plant, but it actually has two. For weapons it comes with four size 2 weapons on size 3 gimbals so you'll be able to swap them out for size 3 fixed guns on them.

[With the Defender having components from Banu and Xi'An, how does this make the Defender unique?] The Banu tend to take what works best for them. If they like another races technology that will suit them best, then they'll use it in their design. With previous ships it's been all about one race or one or two races instead of a large mixture like the Defender is.

[Are there Banu that dislike humans or is it more just towards the UEE?] There are Banu who have issues with humans, but as a whole they're fine with them.

[Banu Language, can you tell us anything about their language?] As far as the language itself they haven't quite gotten to it yet as they're working on Xi'an and Vanduul. They're fairly proficient in speaking their language.

[How will different metrics between humans and aliens be dealt with?] For the most part they've been able to modify cockpits to what they need. For example the Scythe having the "Massage Bed" seat as Johnny called it was a way to make it human compatible. For something like the Defender the Banu made it with humans in mind.

[Do the Banu have a Senate or a way to have all the planets keep in contact?] For the most part planets run themselves, but if there was an issue that needed them all, then they would have a "Gathering" as it's called to discuss the issue which acts similar to a senate.

[Is the BMM getting bigger?] Yes, it's getting significantly larger, but not to the size of an Idris that some people have made calculations from concepts. It's likely to be around the size of a Polaris, but they won't know until they build it.

[Is a size 3 fixed mount being considered with the Mustang refresh?] Johnny: He's not working on the refresh so he doesn't know.

[Is designing an Alien ship more difficult than a human one?] In some ways it is, and in other ways it's not. Cockpits can be a challenge because of converting alien to human, but some ships are built with humans in mind like the Defender as the Banu intended it to be that way.

[Will it be more difficult to repair alien ships?] Not necessarily, you can put components from other races inside the ships, but you may not want to mess with it too far or you may break something.

[Does the writing team favour certain Sci-Fi series for inspiration?] They do take inspiration from other series, but it's more of a starting point rather than direction. They want to make sure that they create something unique and not just different for the sake of it.

[How do Banu procreate?] They don't share the same style of parenting as humans where there's a male and female, but rather when a child is born, they're sold off to the state as to encourage brotherhood as you don't know who your family is and therefore anyone could be your family. When a Banu reaches a certain age they're assigned to career based off their talents.

[Can the Defender dock or land inside the BMM?] It's the case of they want it to, but they want it to fit properly so if they can't then they won't.

[What type of handheld weapons do the Banu prefer?] They haven't figured that out yet, but do have some plans for alien weapons in the works, but nothing solid for the Banu.

[Do the Banu breathe other atmosphere's than humans?] They haven't quite gotten that far, but Banu have a better survivability than humans to where humans dictate certain planets lethal, but they're survivable to Banu. There's even a case where the Banu created a place for humans because they wanted them to visit as humans couldn't otherwise.

[Can you hire Banu for crew members?] Most likely.

[Because the Banu don't like war, does this make them more diplomatic?] In a weird way yes. When an agreement is made, it's tied to the Souli and so when that Souli dies then the agreement has to be renewed with the appointed Souli. So because of how many times they have to renew, they've gotten pretty good at diplomacy.

[How close do the writers work with developers like Johnny?] It's a give and take approach to where the writers give insight and ideas, but designers may have to cut things down to where it's possible to make it work. So writers don't have the last word, but rather what will work best.

[What gameplay opportunities can players look forward to with the Defender?] Well the way the ship is designed, it's capable of hit and run attacks, very nimble, but its personal defenses are weak in itself and so players can absolutely use it to attack.

[If I choose to go into Xi'An space and pass through Kr'Thak space to get into Xi'An space, would I be considered hostile?] They don't know, but more than likely the Xi'An wouldn't be pleased.

[Will having a Banu ship make it easier to travel through Banu space?] Not likely as the Banu don't start with hostile action to begin with and if anything they would be happy seeing someone flying their ship.

[With Xi'An engines in the Defender, how would it fair in racing?] Of the non racing ships, it'll definitely be a contender, but against other racing ships it will fall behind.

[Will we have a chance to see Banu landing zones like we do with currently landing zones in that fidelity] Yes, they have them planned.

[Ballistic weapons and the Defender, will it be shredded to pieces] It will be an advantage, but the Tevarin shield does take ballistics into account.

[Has there been consideration to adding an EMP weapon to the Defender?] It make sense, but they considered giving EMP missiles to the Defender as standard, so it's possible.

[Regarding the Tevarin, how extensively was their history destroyed?] Well the Tevarin didn't' lose history, but rather wanted to forget the past and distance themselves from it.

[Sataball, why do the Banu like it?] The Banu like competition and enjoyed the competition aspect rather than the teams.